The energy and resources sector including utilities, oil and gas, chemicals, and metals & mining is one of the most hazardous in the world.
The top hazards range from explosions and fires, chemical exposure, electrical hazards, dropped objects, machine related injuries, slips and falls, and many more. Despite the hazardous nature, the safety performance has continually improved over the last 4 decades. For example, 2023 had one of the lowest property damage losses for the hydrocarbon industry. According to Marsh Specialty ‘100 largest losses’, just two incidents occurred in 2023 with a combined loss of approximately $600 million, one of the lowest loss years since 1987. Also, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the incident rates of nonfatal occupational injuries for these industries ranged from 1.4 to 1.9, far below the average for all industries at 3.0. Despite this positive trend there’s plenty more room to reduce risk and advance along the ‘journey toward zero’ health, safety, and environment (HSE) incidents that every company in this sector is on.
The power of root cause analysis
Having worked in the energy industry for two decades and seen accidents and have been exposed to hazards, root causes analysis (RCA) was engrained in me by the organizations I worked for and served. RCA is a powerful tool that allows organizations to dive deep into HSE incidents or recurring problems, identifying and addressing the core issues that cause them. Unlike surface-level troubleshooting, RCA goes beyond symptoms to uncover systemic weaknesses. By systematically asking questions-often using methods like the ”5 Whys” or Fishbone diagrams – RCA helps organizations implement changes that prevent issues from recurring, leading to more safe and efficient operations.
Also ingrained in me was the belief that 100% of all incidents are preventable. Any business leader across this entire sector would agree and even reinforce this belief within their teams. There’s one simple equation that can help categorize identified root causes and to assist in finding solutions to prevent future incidents along the journey to zero.
Information + human action = business outcomes
All of us are tasked with creating positive business outcomes. Improved safety performance and reduction of risk are just two examples of business outcomes companies strive to improve upon across this sector. Any business outcome is created from two key ingredients, information and human action. Since this sector is asset intensive, this equation could easily be modified to be information + asset performance + human action = business outcomes. While assets are becoming more autonomous over time, these machines will always require human action in some shape or form. Humans are needed to install, operate, repair, and perform many other actions across the asset lifecycle. For simplicity, the more basic version of this equation will be focused on here.
However, not just any information or human action will create business value. What was considered productive work decades ago may be considered unproductive today. The best use for human action is addressing tasks that machines don’t perform as well, as safely, or as cost effectively. Likewise, the best jobs for machines are tasks that humans don’t perform as well or as effectively. The best information can be trusted to boost human (and asset) productivity, free knowledge workers from manual and error-prone steps and minimize risk. Just as human action needs to be managed to achieve business outcomes, so does information. So, the more accurate equation that is implied in this formula is that ‘management’ underpins all three components.
If an accident were to occur and root cause analysis was performed, examples of failures from the management of human action might be; failure in work prioritization, procedure not followed, inadequate training, poor communication, fatigue, and many more.
Performing the same exercise but for failures in information management might include outdated safety protocols, inaccurate asset documentation, poor visibility into the transaction status of spare parts, no predictive maintenance insights, emergency response information poorly communicated, and many more.
Performing the same exercise using the longer form of the equation that includes asset performance, the root cause of an incident may stem from an asset failure however the solution will always be grounded in either improved human action management or information management.
Gartner defines Information Management, as a method of using technology to collect, process and condense information with a goal of efficient management. OpenText executes to the spirit of that definition by organizing, connecting, automating, and protect data and in the case for energy & resources sector to safely and reliably deliver energy and essential commodities to the world. The some of the root cause(s) of any incident likely stems from inadequate information management where information is disorganized, disconnected, unautomated, and/or unprotected. Utilizing information management technologies and best practices can help continuously improve upon and eliminate these root causes for safer operations. Gen-AI combined with Information Management technologies and best practices will play a key role along that journey to zero.
Gen-AI will play a key role along the journey to zero
Generative AI places information at the fingertips of humans and has close ties to the information management domain. Great AI requires great information management because the results from generative AI will be more correct and trusted when information is organized, connected, automated, and secured.
Here are some ‘art of the possible’ examples of Information Reimagined and how Gen-AI will play a key role along the journey to zero whether inadequacies in information management are identified as a root cause of an incident or whether a proactive approach to risk reduction is taken.
- Use an intelligent AI content assistant that puts chat-based conversational search, content discovery (ex. safety procedures, job safety analysis, material safety data sheets, emergency response plans, operating instructions, and much more), summarization, and translation at the speed of light. Trusted knowledge is available simply by asking a question. See OpenText Content Aviator for more detail.
- Ask a conversational Gen-AI, self-service advisor to gain better insights around supply chain transactions. Examples might include “has a service order been placed for our next fire safety inspection?” Or “Is there fuel filter for Brand X in inventory at the Midland field office?” See OpenText Business Network Aviator for more detail.
- Know the location of personnel in hazardous areas, track the delivery of essential spare part replacements, and predict failures before they occur. See OpenText IoT Aviator for more detail.
- Through a conversational interface, find answers to keep people safe by analyzing 160+ repository types and 2,000 file types. Examples might include “were there any abnormalities identified on the last drone inspection?” And “When is my H2S safety certification valid through?” See OpenText Aviator Search for more detail.
- Elevate customer communications with empathy during emergency response. Craft personalized messages for affected customers. See OpenText Experience Aviator for more detail.
- Tap the knowledge from IT & non-IT service tickets to quickly address unsafe situations. Use a virtual subject matter expert, available 24/7, that speeds up issue resolution and suggests solutions to empower users to self-resolve potentially unsafe situations. See OpenText IT Operations Aviator for more detail.
