United Safety Celebrates 25 Years

Transcription

1 United Safety Celebrates 25 Years

2 We live in the hazard protection business, For almost 100 years, Alberta s landscape has been home to thousands of oil and gas rigs. From the iconic pump jacks to massive drilling rigs operat-ing in the foothills, these landmarks serve to remind the public of Alberta s resource-rich land. Most often, these rigs are seemingly in the middle of nowhere until the highway bends into a neighbouring community that s bustling with activity. The rolling fields of hay stretch out, the scent of nearby ranches and farms comes and goes, depending on wind direction, and life for these towns folk remains unhindered by the not-so-distant oil and gas activity. But the unobtrusiveness of the industry is not easily achievable. Rigs just like all big machinery have their risks: many of them operate sour wells (wells containing hydrogen sulphide, or H2S, a highly toxic gas); refineries and processing plants need to be properly maintained in order to operate safely; and safety equipment needs to be provided and safety services implemented to ensure the workers on site can work in a safe environment and that the surrounding communities are not affected. This is what United Safety Ltd. does every day around the globe. We live in the hazard protection business, says Lee Whittaker, President and CEO, United Safety Ltd. Their scope of work includes upstream and indus-trial safety services and equipment as well as integrated risk management services. United Safety has become an innovative global leader through their vision and drive to create safe work zones in high-risk environments. For 25 years, they have been protecting communities from the potential hazards associated with the energy industry. They quietly go about their business, working in the background, to ensure people are out of harm s way. Their mission is simple: to provide the best service and equipment that s available, coupled with an unwav-ering commitment to quality and safety. As United Safety celebrates their 25th anniversary, the team who helped build the company pauses for a moment to recall the early days as well as where the company s evolution has taken them.

3 History in the Making Safety beyond the well site In 1987, Alberta s economy was anything but flush. The price of oil was about $8 a barrel, the oilsands were in the early phases, companies were downsizing and overall, the market was fairly lean. But that didn t stop Lee, along with two other partners, as they established United Safety. Even though gas prices were low, we focused ourbusiness on sour gas protection services, explains Lee. Our first contract called for the installation of breathing apparatus and gas detection equipment, along with the manpower to run it. We worked directly with the oil companies, rather than the drilling contractors, in an effort to bring value to the asset owners and establish ourselves as contractors in our own right. United Safety recognized the opportunity to put together a service offering that gave their customers some comfort. By understanding the customer s wants and needs, and by leveraging their experience, United Safety observed there was no consistent approach to mitigating the high-risk environment it was considered more of an add-on service with little planning or foresight involved. The oil companies needed help looking after their contractor workforce and as we became trusted suppli-ers, it did not take long for the asset owners to engage us in a purposeful manner, adds Lee. United Safety recognized ways to create a consistent approach for the protection of their customers assets namely the work-ers, the environment and the physical assets themselves. Unlike many contractors, United Safety works through the whole life cycle of the asset: from drilling, comple-tion, stimulation and testing, through midstream, and finally to the processing plant. They developed a way to execute these services in a repeatable format. Their service profile is scalable and their mandate is to contin-uously improve their service offering to their customers. A core group of about five United Safety employ-ees who all started in either the field or the shop pooled their expertise and repackaged how the indus-try approached safety. We saw how things were being done and we wanted a very different approach to elevate oilfield safety, explains Lee.

4 The first two years were very lean and it was the offshore work that kept United Safety alive. By 1990, Alberta s economy was starting to recover and concurrently, oil companies had started to pay attention to the safety of sour gas wells. The public had to be brought into the mix because if the oil companies had an event that got away on them, there were other lives at stake besides the oil company s employees, recalls Lee. The concern expanded from the drilling site itself to the public located around these sites, and that was a new dynamic. We had the site protected, but we needed a plan to address the potential hazards of off-site dangers, says Don Pye, director of business development and one of the original core employees. The result was an emergency response plan (ERP) that covered both issues: the site work with proper notification and support for the surrounding communities. It was a massive undertaking because at that same time the market focused on drilling for deep gas (the deeper the well, the greater the risk of H2S content). In the 1980s and early 90s, a good portion of our customers drilling campaigns had an element of high risk given their target zones. If the gas gets away from the site, it can become potentially very hazardous for people in the vicinity, Don remarks. United Safety along with the oil companies created a planning zone concept that worked in conjunction with the ERP to protect the public. The process worked very well to protect the communities, raise awareness and elevate safety standards. During the early 90s, the price of oil dropped again and according to Lee, Canada was viewed as an exhausted reservoir. The money left Alberta and United Safety had to either diversify or close the shop. In 1992, United Safety launched their international group taking them first to the Philippines and then to Vietnam. Both jobs were considered high-risk sour gas environments, working offshore. Working offshore exacerbates everything because you ve got less chance for error and more environmental impact, says Don. It can get away on you quickly, so there s a heightened awareness around quality control and procedures. We adapted some of our processes and equipment to help our clients complete risky business in a more controlled and effective manner. United Safety used their operating model to leverage the international market and continued to forge relations overseas. With one of our early international jobs, we were going to the Beaufort Sea, explains Dave Dyck, training manager and one of the company s core group. We had to assemble all the equipment and ship it into an area that was foreign to us, but the equipment performed exactly as it was supposed to. Every time we took one of these challenges, it was do or die and we always came out on top. As they honed their industrial applications through a joint venture with a U.S. company, they were leading the way once again. We professionalized the industrial component of the business, asserts Lee. We wanted to be the go-to company, so we returned to Canada in the mid 90s and reinvented the entire industrial service profile, and that changed the face of our company. Today they operate offices in 13 countries, not including their North American operations. Their head office is located in Airdrie and they have major facilities in the USA (Houston, Texas), Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Italy.

5 As we operate around the world, we need our suppliers to be aware of workloads and cus-tom requirements in any region, On the Ground United Safety has three divisions: upstream envi-ronment and protection services, industrial safety services and risk management services. Woven among the three divisions, they provide site safety man-agement where they work in conjunction with their customers to create a safe environment. Our cus-tomers are experts when it comes to the drilling and refinery business, but when the maintenance contrac-tors roll on to site particularly during outages and turnarounds our customers rely on our expertise to further the creation of a safe environment for them to work in, says Lee. Contractor management is a large portion of their site safety management. Many different safety cul-tures are present on one site and United Safety s role is to manage these cultures and create continuity. United Safety has also broadened its scope of services to include refineries, petrochemical facilities, gas plants, power generations and similar structures that require maintenance programs. The risk management division handles both low and high-risk environments and provides general safety services. From the office to the field, this collaborative effort includes analyzing how policies and proce-dures can be improved to ensure proper measures are in place. This is what United Safety has coined their suits to boots service. Over the decades, United Safety has built solid rela-tions with equipment manufacturers, often playing a key role in their product development and earning Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) status with key suppliers. As we operate around the world, we need our suppliers to be aware of workloads and cus-tom requirements in any region, says Randy Becker, vice president of technology. According to our key suppliers, we have the largest inventory of rental equipment in the world. When our customers have an emergency call-out due to unplanned events, we respond quickly and we have tremendous influence with our suppliers.

6 A United Force Working in the background On any given day, United Safety has hundreds of people on various job sites throughout the world. They also have an equal amount in training to get the new hires battlefield ready. There is no infrastructure for the services we provide, so we have to train all of our people, says Doug Heeley, SVP, human resources, integration and development. There is a whole lot of backfield in motion to get our people ready and most of them are brought in as entry-level, safety-watch employees. United Safety has developed its own internal resources out of necessity because there was nothing in place when they started the business. According to Doug, it s not just about hiring the people, but rather the investment in time and resources to train them. United Safety hires hundreds of people at a time, but we don t hire them off street and then put them on site. We have to make sure they are properly trained and in alignment with our systems, processes, morals and values, he says. Our customers expect the best and that s why we are in business. It s all about quality and if you are going to work at United Safety, you are going to be the best in the field. Being on site for the first time is called being green. But United Safety s customers say There s green, and there s United Safety green. Their clients recognize that the training they offer their people means the workers actually know what they are supposed to do when they get out there; they know what role they play and why it is important that they do it the way they were trained to. Whether the employees are on site or at the office, United Safety has instilled standards of excellence in everyone. You don t walk past someone who s struggling to lift something or do something and not help them, asserts Lee. I ll buy the guy a new suit if it gets messy lending a hand, but that s our mentality and it s the whole thrust of teamwork. We are a call-out business and we task ourselves at planning the future, says Lee. It takes a certain type of person to survive in this industry and we have a very unique group of people that manages the business. United Safety has sold about $1.3 billion in services, something that translates into millions of man-hours. On our watch, no one has ever been hurt because of sour gas exposure: not a customer, the general public or any of our employees and that s our mission, remarks Lee. When an oil company calls us, they aren t calling us to throw money around, says Lee. They are calling us because they have a concern and that concern becomes our sole focus. We want to help customers ensure that every-body on site goes home that night and if we achieve that, that s good enough for me. This has been a truly rewarding career, says Lee. I encourage the adventurous to come and join us! We have really just started to scratch the surface in terms of what we do and the values we add. I would pick this career all over again and the future is extremely bright for our team.

7 Assisting Communities Overseas Training a global workforce As the old expression goes, Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will never go hungry. About 10 years ago, United Safety committed to a joint venture in Italy and a few years later, committed to another one in West Africa. There was a shortage of safety skills in these regions and United Safety engaged in a technology transfer program to build these skill sets. Today, oilfield safety is a professionalized occupation in West Africa and our joint venture operation there is 100 per cent locally staffed, says Doug. Our Italian joint venture is also 100 per cent locally staffed and is operating in Europe and North Africa at a world-class standard. United Safety also has a corporate office in Dubai, servicing their international customers. From this operating base, they work every day with over 23 cultures. This is a testament to United Safety s versatility; this is a company that has the geographical, technological and cultural experience to be able to operate anywhere in the world and they thrive on it! It is very challenging and rewarding to add value not only for the customer but more importantly for our people, says Lee. Closer to home and as Alberta s economy picks up, the available labour market shrinks. But United Safety has a plan in place to stay one step ahead of the curve. As the available labour force decreases again, it s a challenge to bring new people into the industry, remarks Doug. We have spent 25 years developing scalable training pro-grams and facilities and we are poised to be a solutions provider for an industry that will be needing 5,000 10,000 people in Canada over the next couple of years.

8 A Moment of Gratitude Giving thanks As United Safety celebrates their 25th anniversary, they would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of the business partners, suppliers, customers and employees who have contributed to their success. This isn t a one-person story: there is no way we could achieve the things we have without a consciously-committed team who s here for the right reasons, adds Lee with a smile. When I look around the market, there are order-takers and rain-makers, and we are rain-mak-ers. We make it happen for our customers and that s what has kept me coming here for 25 years!