HSE Management System Standard - Wood Group

Wood Group 

November 2012 

HSE Management System 

Standard 

Energy Supporting Energy

Wood Group HSE Management System Standard 

Contents 

Introduction 1 

Our core Values 2 

Scope 3 

The system structure 4 

Wood Group Health, Safety and Environmental policy 5 

Key elements 6 

How this book works 7 

01 Leadership 8 

02 Objective setting 10 

03 Organisation 12 

04 Legislative compliance 14 

05 Risk management 16 

06 Health and community 18 

07 Human factors 20 

08 Training and competence 22 

09 Information, documents and standards 24 

10 Integrity management 26 

11 Third parties and suppliers 28 

12 Emergency preparedness and response 30 

13 Environmental management 32 

14 Incident reporting and investigation 34 

15 Change management 36 

Wood Group SAF/B/1.2 November 2012


Welcome to Wood Group’s 

Health, Safety and Environmental 

Management System Standard. 

Wood Group is an increasingly global business operating 

in over 50 countries. It is vital that we conduct all our 

operations, wherever they are, in a way that neither 

harms people nor the environment. We have moral, 

professional and legal obligations to deliver our services 

in ways that assure we protect people’s health, 

prevent incidents and injuries and minimise adverse 

environmental impact. Our commitment to that is clearly 

laid out in our HSE Policy Statement. 

We can only live up to that commitment if we organise 

ourselves in a planned, systematic way and that is why 

we have had a Wood Group HSE Management System 

in place for many years. The regularly revised document 

describing the system has become familiarly known over 

the years as the ‘Red Book’. 

This latest revision for 2012 has been significantly 

updated to reflect current best practice and to fit within 

the context of our recently launched Group core Values. 

Sections on Leadership, Human Factors and Integrity 

Management have been highlighted as especially relevant 

updates and the core Values have been included as a 

reminder of what we are committed to as an integral part 

of doing business. 

We emphasise the Safety & Assurance core Value as 

our top priority, and as it is colour coded in blue, we 

anticipate that this new revision of the Standard will 

become known as the ‘Blue Book’. 

The ‘Blue Book’ contains sound advice for transforming 

our aspirations into practice and it is vital that Business 

and HSE leaders read, understand and apply it. 

Allister Langlands, 

Chairman 

SAF/B/1.2 November 2012 Wood Group 1


Our core Values 

We’ll work in partnership 

with our clients, the 

regulators and our 

employees to deliver our HSE 

objectives. 

Within this 

standard we set 

out the framework 

to protect the 

health of everyone 

that we work with 

and to sustain our 

operations free of 

incidents and injuries. An 

essential aspect of this 

is understanding human 

behaviour and assuring 

training and competence 

is appropriate to the 

risks encountered. 

HSE excellence is a sign 

of a successful business. 

We won’t compromise HSE 

excellence for financial 

gain. 

2 Wood Group SAF/B/1.2 November 2012 

Within this Standard, you will see this 

expanded upon. It will variously use terms 

such as safety, assurance, security, quality 

and integrity. These are all valid and critical 

extensions of the Safety & Assurance core Value. 

Safety & Assurance 

Safety & assurance is our top priority. We 

passionately care about the safety of our 

people and behave as safety leaders. We are 

committed to preventing injuries and ill health 

to our people and everyone we work with. 

Relationships 

Our business depends on healthy relationships 

with customers, business partners and 

suppliers. 

Social Responsibility 

Being socially responsible is integral to what 

we do. We aim to make a positive difference to 

the communities where we operate and seek 

ways to assist them. 

People 

People are our business. We are professional, 

high performing team players focused on 

delivering and drawing on our global expertise. 

Innovation 

Innovation gives us competitive advantage. 

Financial Responsibility 

We expect to receive fair reward for our 

business performance. We are cost aware and 

carefully manage our own and our customers’ 

costs. 

Integrity 

We are proud of our reputation, built over many 

years, which depends on us doing the right 

thing. 

We will be honest, 

fair and open in our 

management of HSE. 

Within this Standard, 

the main extension 

of this core Value 

is in the area of 

environmental care, 

where we define our 

obligations and 

aspirations to 

reducing resource 

consumption, waste 

and any negative 

impacts of what 

we do. 

We’ll use both 

traditional continuous 

improvement techniques, 

as well as embracing 

innovation, to deliver our 

HSE objectives.


Scope 

This document defines Wood Group (the 

‘Group’) HSE standards and provides guidance 

on the development and implementation of 

HSE Management Systems to ensure that 

every Group Business Unit worldwide operates 

in ways which: 

• assure people’s health 

• prevent incidents and injuries, and 

• minimise adverse environmental impact. 

This document applies wherever: 

• the Group manages Business Units, companies, 

contracts, projects etc 

• the Group owns the assets and employs or engages 

the relevant workers in its own right 

• the Group has a contractual obligation to owners of 

the entity or assets in question, or to other participants 

in the activity in question and has appropriate authority 

to conduct the activity 

• the Group has personnel on clients’ premises 

• a Group company is a ‘duty holder’, or holds similar 

status, in respect of applicable HSE legislation. 

This document provides a basis on which to manage HSE 

in a Business Unit. It should be used: 

• by companies acquired by the Group 

• as a credible foundation for status review 

• for new Business Unit start-ups 

• after major organisational change 

• after joint venture partnership establishment 

• during major contract or project mobilisations 

• as a baseline, against which existing or intended 

systems can be assessed, and any gaps identified 

and remedial action taken. 

International standards compliance: this document 

promotes and encourages compliance with the 

two accepted standards for Health & Safety and 

Environmental Management, specifically OHSAS 18001 

and ISO 14001. 

Legislative compliance: this document anticipates 

compliance with HSE legislative requirements applicable 

to each Business Unit. 

Business Unit: In the context of this document, this 

term means any company, operation, contract, project or 

product stream which is required to maintain its own HSE 

management processes. 



The system structure 

Group 

What Business Units are 

directed to do by Group 

Procedures 


HSE Policy 


HSE 

Management 

System 

Standard 


Annual 


Objectives 

Procedures 

Procedures 

Group Procedures and 

Guidelines 

Adopt, endorse 

or augment… 

Adopt or 

translate into … 

Recognise and 

develop… 


Procedures 

Adopt or match with 

equivalents … 

Business Units’ HSE Management Systems 

How Business Units translate Group 

and external influences 


Policy 

Annual 

HSE Plan 


Sub-plans 

Supporting documents 

Supporting HSE organisation 

To ensure the effective connection of the Group HSE organisation with the Business Unit organisation, a Safety 

& Assurance Steering Group exists at Senior Management level, populated by both Group HSE Function 

Management and Business Unit Senior Management, which reports into the Group Board Executive. 

l 

Business Unit Operating Procedures 

Procedures 

Procedures 

Business Units will: 

• have an HSE Management System 

• adopt the Group HSE Policy, which will be 

reflected in the HSE Management System 

• set annual Business Unit-wide HSE objectives, 

and establish plans to attain them 

• have contract or product sub-plans, where this 

is appropriate 

• have supporting documents and guidelines to 

make the process complete and coherent 

• have suitable and sufficient procedures, from 

the Group, or locally developed, as appropriate. 

Procedures 


Management 

System 

Procedures 

Markets/Clients/ 

Regulators 

The various external 

influences on Business 

Unit HSE Management 

Expectations 

Specific issues 

Contractual conditions 

Compliance obligations



Health, Safety and Environmental policy 

Wood Group is committed to delivering the highest standards 

of health, safety and environmental performance. This policy 

statement defines our commitments to our employees, 

clients, partners and shareholders. 

We will deliver our operations and services in ways to: 

• Protect the health of all people impacted by 

the work that we do 

• Prevent incidents and injuries, with a focus on 

integrity and the control of major hazards 

• Minimise adverse environmental impact, use resources 

efficiently and manage our carbon footprint 

We will achieve this by ensuring: 

• Leaders at all levels place health, safety and environment 

at the top of their agenda 

• Risks are identified, mitigated and controlled 

• Clear objectives are established and we measure our 

performance against them 

• We understand legislative and industry requirements, and 

ensure we comply with them 

• Those who work with us meet our standards 

• Our communications on health, safety and environment are 

transparent and inclusive 

We will regularly monitor the application of these 

commitments to provide assurance that we are delivering 

continuous improvement. 

Allister Langlands, 

Chairman 



Key elements 

This document defines 15 key elements which the 

Group deems to be central to the establishment and 

deployment of an effective HSE Management System. 

The existence of controls in these key areas is not 

enough in itself. Leaders must enforce these controls. 

Leadership is a key element in ensuring that this 

document delivers its aims. 

The elements set out in this document will be adopted by 

each Business Unit and assessed to ensure effective and 

efficient application and compliance. 

Compliance with this HSE Management System 

Standard will be formally and periodically assessed by 

the Group. Learnings will be communicated both to the 

Business Unit concerned and to all Business Units who 

might benefit. 

Key Elements The following 15 elements give guidance, 

as well as providing minimum standards in formulating an 

HSE Management System appropriate to each Business 

Unit. Certain situations will demand much more and only 

by exception, will any require less. 


01 Leadership 

02 Objective setting 

03 Organisation 

04 Legislative compliance 

05 Risk management 

06 Health and community 

07 Human factors 

08 Training and competence 

09 Information, documents 

and standards 

10 Integrity management 

11 Third parties and suppliers 

12 Emergency preparedness 

and response 

13 Environmental management 

14 Incident reporting 

and investigation 

15 Change management


How this book works 

The 15 key elements which comprise the rest of 

this document are laid out to reflect the leadership 

responsibilities of those who can shape behaviours and 

culture (‘How we manage’) allied with the system design, 

deployment and compliance aspects of each of the 

elements (‘What we manage’). These two facing pages, 

when combined, reflect the principles of ‘Plan, Do, 

Check, Act’, with the leadership component focusing on 

Planning for success, Checking application and Acting 

on feedback, and the HSE professionals supporting this 

by Doing the appropriate system work, to the necessary 

extent. 

‘How we manage’ 

The ‘How’ component, set out on each left-hand facing 

page, focuses on leadership, obligation to support, 

plan and resource, personal accountabilities and 

responsibilities of leaders. This is the ‘Plan, Check, Act’ 

part of the process. 

Example page 

Wood Group HSE Management System Standard Wood Group HSE Management System Standard 

01 

Leadership 

Leaders shape an organisation’s HSE culture and ultimately its 

HSE performance. Leaders will ensure that mechanisms are in 

place to manage HSE in their Business Units. Leaders within 

the Group will exhibit appropriate and positive personal HSE 

behaviours. 

Leadership accountability 

• Demonstrate continual and constant 

awareness of HSE performance. 

• Ensure that people know they can raise HSE 

concerns freely and without fear of negative 

consequences for themselves. 

• Allocate an adequate level of resources to 

implement HSE programmes effectively. 

• Understand the differences between personal, 

technical and process safety. Recognise that 

these need to be managed separately and 

have the necessary systems in place to ensure 

that they are. 

shape 

commitment 

8 Wood Group SAF/B/1.1 January 2012 

‘What we manage’ 

The ‘What’ component, set out on each right-hand 

facing page, focuses on the essential minimum steps 

and considerations for each element, and relates to the 

specific area being managed. This is the ‘Do’ part of the 

process. 

Requirements 

• Control systems Institute and promote appropriate Business 

Unit-wide systems to support HSE objectives. Enforce and role 

model adherence to these systems. 

• Leadership commitment Demonstrate visible, personal 

commitment to all levels of the workforce ensuring that HSE is 

seen as a key priority for all WG employees. 

• Safety behaviours Ensure that correct and appropriate safety 

behaviours are encouraged and displayed within the Business 

Unit. 

• Continuous improvement Continuously seek ways to improve 

HSE performance. Identify lessons which can be learned, from 

whatever source, and use or share these with others. 

• Speak up-listen up Encourage and facilitate the delivery 

of both good and bad news. Invite, encourage and listen to 

feedback on leaders’ own safety performance and behaviours. 

• Challenge Don’t accept what’s assumed to be correct but isn’t 

supported by fact. Only base actions on verifiable information. 

• Diversity and inclusion Strive to understand the impact of 

different cultures and environments. Seek to include those with 

different perspectives and recognise how these variables can 

impact on HSE performance. 

• Resources Give the appropriate level of resource to 

HSE programmes. 

Assurance and verification 

• Ensure that there are records of leaders’ periodic HSE visits 

or conversations, such as promoted by the ‘Advanced Safety 

Conversations’ process. 

• Leaders’ steps to promote, manage and measure effective 

safety leadership must be recorded and verifiable. 

• HSE Programme implementation must be both evident and 

verifiable. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 

Group HSE Policy 

Group Safety Behavioural Standard 

Group Safety Leadership Programme 

Core Values; Safety & Assurance 

Where to find this: 

www.woodgroup.net/HSE 

SAF/B/1.1 January 2012 Wood Group 9 



01 

Leadership 

Leaders shape an organisation’s HSE culture and ultimately its 

HSE performance. Leaders will ensure that mechanisms are in 

place to manage HSE in their Business Units. Leaders within 

the Group will exhibit appropriate and positive personal HSE 

behaviours. 


• Demonstrate continual and constant 

awareness of HSE performance. 

• Ensure that people know they can raise HSE 

concerns freely and without fear of negative 

consequences for themselves. 

• Allocate an adequate level of resources to 

implement HSE programmes effectively. 

• Understand the differences between personal, 

technical and process safety. Recognise that 

these need to be managed separately and 

have the necessary systems in place to ensure 

that they are. 

shape 

commitment 

8 Wood Group SAF/B/1.2 November 2012


Requirements 

• Control systems Institute and promote appropriate Business 

Unit-wide systems to support HSE objectives. Enforce and role 

model adherence to these systems. 

• Leadership commitment Demonstrate visible, personal 

commitment to all levels of the workforce ensuring that HSE is 

seen as a key priority for all WG employees. 

• Safety behaviours Ensure that correct and appropriate safety 

behaviours are encouraged and displayed within the Business 

Unit. 

• Continuous improvement Continuously seek ways to improve 

HSE performance. Identify lessons which can be learned, from 

whatever source, and use or share these with others. 

• Speak up-listen up Encourage and facilitate the delivery 

of both good and bad news. Invite, encourage and listen to 

feedback on leaders’ own safety performance and behaviours. 

• Challenge Don’t accept what’s assumed to be correct but isn’t 

supported by fact. Only base actions on verifiable information. 

• Diversity and inclusion Strive to understand the impact of 

different cultures and environments. Seek to include those with 

different perspectives and recognise how these variables can 

impact on HSE performance. 

• Resources Give the appropriate level of resource to 

HSE programmes. 


• Ensure that there are records of leaders’ periodic HSE visits 

or conversations, such as promoted by the ‘Advanced Safety 

Conversations’ process. 

• Leaders’ steps to promote, manage and measure effective 

safety leadership must be recorded and verifiable. 

• HSE Programme implementation must be both evident and 

verifiable. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 



Group Safety Leadership Programme 

Core Values; Safety & Assurance 





02 

Objective setting 

Business Units will be aware of, and comply with, all Group HSE 

direction setting, including policy, objectives, plans, procedures 

and guidance documents. These shall be recognised and applied 

by each Business Unit, and supplemented by their own local 

policies, objectives, plans or client requirements as appropriate. 


• Demonstrate compliance with the Group 

HSE Policy and ensure it is visibly displayed 

in all Business Unit premises with evidence of 

effective local promotion and application. 

• Ensure actions to look at how policies and plans 

are deployed and effectively implemented within 

the Business Unit. 

• Show personal participation in HSE activities. 

direction 

intent 

focus 



Requirements 

• Group HSE objectives Business Units will demonstrate 

awareness and adoption of Group HSE policies and objectives. 

• Local HSE objectives and annual plans Business Units 

will, if necessary, develop their own policies, objectives, plans, 

targets or other high-level declarations of HSE intent. These will 

be based upon and enhance Group requirements and/or reflect 

client and contract requirements. 

• Maintain key documents Business Unit documents shall 

show evidence of periodic checks to assure currency, suitability 

and value-adding. Management review is a means to achieve 

this. 

• Sustained focus Business Units should be rigorous in ensuring 

that a clear focus remains on safety-critical issues. We should 

not look to short-term solutions which may not be robust in the 

longer term. Quarterly reviews of objectives and plans should be 

considered. Annual formal reviews are expected. 

• Communication Business Unit and HSE leaders will promote 

these high level documents personally and communicate these 

to all levels of the business. 

• Personal objectives These will contain suitable HSE 

objectives to support delivery of overall Group and Business 

Unit objectives. 


• Business Unit reporting will routinely indicate progress to both 

Group and local HSE objectives and plans. 

• Business Units will effect formal periodic reviews (or 

revalidations) of their HSE plans, objectives or other key 

documents. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 


Group Policies 

Group Annual HSE Objectives 



www.woodgroup.net/policies 



03 

Organisation 

The organisation created to manage and assure HSE delivery 

must be clear, defined and understood. Responsibility may be 

delegated to a nominated person, but accountability cannot; that 

will always remain with the Business Unit leadership. 


• Ensure that the organisation of the Business Unit 

with regard to Health, Safety and Environmental 

management is defined, clear and understood. 

• The HSE performance of the Business Unit is 

the primary accountability of the Business Unit 

leadership. 

• People emulate the behaviours of leaders. 

Business Unit leaders must recognise this 

when establishing their HSE organisation and 

ensure that leadership behaviour is a facet 

of organisational design. 

defined 

accountability 



Requirements 

• Accountability Everyone in the Business Unit must be clear 

that they variously carry certain moral and legal responsibilities 

and accountabilities for HSE. Accountability cannot be shared 

or delegated. 

• Responsibility Responsibility can be shared or delegated. 

If this is the case, then this should be formal and clear. 

• Competence The competence of individuals discharging roles 

within the Business Unit and its HSE organisation must be clear 

and appropriate for the task (ref. Key Element 8). 

• Awareness People must be made aware of their HSE 

responsibilities, preferably by more than one method. 

• Partnerships and joint ventures The impact on the Business 

Unit of this form of relationship will be formally assessed. 

Interfaces will be defined where necessary. There may be 

both internal and external interfaces to consider. Any case of 

applicable standards prevailing which are less stringent than 

those defined here will be made known to Group HSE. 

• Management of change Change can have unintended 

consequence. The impact of all change, including 

organisational change, must be formally assessed and 

managed (ref. Key Element 15). 


• Leader, employee and contractor HSE responsibilities 

and accountabilities will be clear. 

• HSE organisation will be defined. 

• HSE competence will be assessed and managed. 

• HSE will be included in annual appraisal processes. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 

Group HR Guidance documents 


www.woodgroup.net/HR 



04 

Legislative compliance 

Business Units are subject to a wide range of compliance 

obligations embedded in local, regional, national and international 

legislative requirements. 

Business Units must develop and implement a systematic 

approach to identifying and demonstrating compliance with all 

applicable legislative requirements. 


• Ensure that a legislative compliance system is 

developed and implemented. 

• Monitor compliance with the legislative 

requirements, address shortfalls and implement 

updated controls. 

obligation 

verify 



Requirements 

• Legislative obligation Each Business Unit will identify all 

applicable HSE legal requirements affecting its business. 

A Register of applicable legislative requirements will be 

maintained. 

• Legislative compliance Each Business Unit will develop 

a systematic approach which assesses compliance with all 

applicable HSE legal requirements. 

• Nominated individual Each Business Unit will ensure that 

there is a nominated person responsible for tracking and 

monitoring all HSE legal requirements. 

• Compliance and gap analysis Business Units must possess 

a full awareness of applicable legislative requirements and 

be able to demonstrate compliance. This process will be 

maintained as current. Any known failure to comply shall be 

communicated to Group HSE and Group Legal. 

• Accessibility Documentation should be readily available and 

accessible where it is required. 

• Records management Records must be maintained to verify 

compliance and ensure the periodic execution of legislative 

compliance reviews or audits. 


• Compliance monitoring Each Business Unit will conduct 

periodic reviews or audits to assess compliance. Findings 

identified in periodic reviews/audits must be tracked and 

monitored to ensure closure. 

• Compliance reporting Any non-compliance must be reported 

to the Business Unit leadership, Group HSE, Group Legal and, 

where required, to external regulatory bodies (subsequent to 

consultation with Group Legal). Review/audit reports will form 

part of the record of this. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 

Applicable HSE legislative 

requirements 


Regulations, standards etc. 

from authoritative sources 

www.woodgroup.net/legal 



05 

Risk management 

Business Units will establish processes to formally identify 

and understand hazards, and assess the HSE risks involved 

in all aspects of their business. These will be managed until 

they are eliminated, reduced or controlled to the point of being 

acceptable. 


• Ensure hazards are clearly identified, and risks 

assessed and reviewed. 

• Appreciate and understand the key risks 

to the safe execution of their business and 

periodically assure themselves that these risks 

are appropriately managed and mitigated. 

• Maintain currency of process and identify and 

monitor changes which can introduce new risks. 


identify, 

prevent, 

control 

and mitigate


Requirements 

• Risk assessment A formal hazard identification/risk 

assessment process will exist. It will be appropriate to the 

severity of hazard liable to be encountered by the business. 

All potential hazard/risk elements will be considered, including 

the task itself, work environment, skill and competence, third 

parties, Business Unit, behaviour, human factors, emergencies 

and change management, as well as legal and regulatory 

obligations. 

• Risk techniques Consideration should be given to the use 

of standardised and structured processes in risk assessment, 

such as the use of Risk Matrices, Residual Risk Calculations 

and Statistical Analyses. 

• Risk scope The process must consider risk of harm to 

employees and third parties, environmental risk, business risk 

and reputational risk. 

• Risk mitigation Approved recommendations/controls will be 

acted upon. Risks should be eliminated, substituted (by using 

a less hazardous method), reduced or controlled, exposure 

limited and people protected and/or warned. 

• Residual risk Identified hazards will be managed such that 

the residual risk, if this cannot be eliminated entirely, will be 

managed so as to become as low as reasonably practicable. 

• Training and competency Risks will be assessed by 

competent people (ref Key Element 8). 

• Management of change Identify organisational, technical 

and legal changes which can introduce new risks to the 

Business Unit. 


• Records of Risk Assessment will exist. 

• Risk mitigation, compliance and effectiveness will be formally 

determined and the extent of compliance known. 

• Periodic audits will be conducted to demonstrate compliance. 

• Appropriate documentation to verify compliance with applicable 

legislative requirements or standards will exist. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 

Industry, Regulatory or Market Sector 

Risk Management Guidance 


Guidance and publications from 

appropriate institutes, regulators and 

recognised bodies 



06 

Health and community 

The managed and planned care for the health of our people 

is critical, as is the avoidance of harm to the communities in 

which we work. We must operate in a way which ensures this is 

achieved. 


• Ensure that both HSE and Human Resources 

management processes give due and formal 

regard to the protection of people from harm 

resulting from the work that they do. Care 

appropriately for them if these controls fail. 

• Ensure that any processes and activities which 

can harm the health of our people or have 

an impact on communities are formally risk 

assessed, eliminated, reduced or the potential 

for harm mitigated. This will be done in a formal 

and structured manner. 

protection 

awareness 



Requirements 

• Health risk awareness Business Units must be aware of 

any health hazards they may encounter. Employees should be 

informed and made fully aware of any inherent health risks, as 

well as the necessary protection and/or mitigation processes for 

any task which they undertake. 

• Health assessment People joining a Business Unit will 

be assessed with regard to their capabilities and potential 

exposures, such as to eliminate or minimise any potential harm 

to their health. 

• Health protection Business Units will protect employees from 

the effects of any processes they may work with or encounter. 

Typically, this will include elimination, protection or control 

of issues such as hazardous substances, noise, vibration, 

radiation, stress or poor ergonomics. 

• Health surveillance A Health Surveillance Programme, 

appropriate to the hazards and risks encountered, will be 

implemented to detect any resultant ill health at an early stage 

and to safeguard the health of the employee. 

• Communities and third parties Business Units will provide 

appropriate care for anyone negatively affected by our activities. 

This principle extends to non Group or Business Unit people 

negatively impacted by what we do. 


• Formal review of all cases of injury or harm to health versus 

controls and mitigations. 

• Periodic review to ensure that controls and mitigations remain 

current and effective. 

• Compliance with applicable local and national legislative 

requirements in this regard. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 

Group Policies and Procedures 


Prevailing local and national health 

protection legislative requirements 


Regulation, standards etc, from 

authoritative sources 

www.woodgroup.net/Policies 




07 

Human factors 

Business Units will consider and understand the role of Human 

Factors (HF) in initiating and mitigating incidents. All aspects of 

human behaviour, intentional and unintentional, organisational 

and personal, should be considered to help reduce the likelihood 

and consequences of serious incidents. 

HF include leadership, managing human failures, staffing, 

fatigue and shift work, safety critical communication, design, 

procedures, competence, organisational change and culture. 


• Lead, support and actively participate in 

HF management programmes. 

• Ensure sufficient and appropriate resources are 

made available to address HF within the business. 

• Identify ‘Safety Critical Tasks’ and how they may be 

negated by HF, to help identify, prevent, control and 

mitigate Major Accident Hazards. 

• Develop improvement goals and associated 

metrics to monitor and measure the 

implementation and impact of HF management 

programmes. support 

care 



Requirements 

• Planning A programme will be implemented to assess 

the potential impact of HF in all aspects of the workscope. 

Resources will be deployed to areas of maximum benefit. 

• Safety culture Perform gap analysis to identify areas for 

improvement. Monitoring of feedback will support the success 

of wider HF programmes. 

• Objectives and plans Monitoring and measurement 

processes will be used to evaluate the attainment of the HF 

programme plans and objectives. 

• Incident investigation Investigations of incidents must contain 

an element of HF analysis to identify if a human failure has 

occurred and, if so, why. 

• Employee involvement Employee Involvement programmes 

will be in place, led and actively promoted by line management 

to ensure that employees’ views on HSE issues which impact 

them are fully considered. 

• Human interfaces with plant and process HF includes all 

aspects of human/process/plant interaction. Business Units will 

consider: 

– the suitability of plant design for operation, maintenance, 

inspection and testing 

– supporting activities including training, provision of guidance 

and procedures, change management, changing technology 

and process shift. 

• Defined expectations Business Units will establish clear 

expectations of HSE behaviours, at all levels. They will ensure 

these are publicised, applied and compliance assessed. 

They should be embedded in, for example, inductions, 

appraisals, job descriptions, competency assessments and 

incident investigations. 


• HF content in CAIRS reporting and incident investigations. 

• HF content embedded in Business Units’ systems. 

• Evidence of workforce involvement in, and contribution to, many 

aspects of the programme. 

• Safety Culture Assessment processes in place. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 

Group Safety Culture 

Assessment Tool 


Group Safety Leadership Programmes 






08 

Training and competence 

Group employees will only be asked to do work for which they 

are capable and competent. The more critical the work, the more 

rigorous the Business Unit processes to ensure competence 

in that task. 

Business Units must develop and implement a systematic 

approach to ensure training and competence is managed, 

appropriate to the risks encountered. Central to this will be 

formal processes to ensure all employees develop their HSE 

capabilities. 


• Ensure that suitable training and competence 

management processes exist in the Business 

Unit to ensure that risks to people and the 

environment are minimised or eliminated. 

development 

knowledge 



Requirements 

• Training Employees should be adequately trained to perform 

their tasks, with appropriate supervision. 

• Training provision Training and induction of new employees, 

specific training required for specialised tasks, training to 

ensure continuing capability and competence, as well as 

training to recognise new technology or systems should all 

be considerations with regard to training provision and its 

continuing effectiveness. 

• Training providers Training providers or Trainers should be 

assessed for their own competence and suitability. 

• Selection When allocating work, leaders must ensure that 

employees are capable of undertaking the task, such as not to 

pose a danger to themselves or others. 

• HSE training Employees will be provided with suitable and 

sufficient training and induction to ensure that they are aware of 

HSE policies, obligations, standards, behaviours and processes 

with which they will be expected to comply. 

• Competence All employees must have the appropriate 

knowledge, skills, capability and competence to carry out their 

tasks in a safe manner. They should be informed and aware of 

the hazards, risks and control measures. Competence should 

be formally determined, assessed and recorded. 

• Training and competence – currency Training and 

competence will be maintained as current, with formal 

processes established to ensure that training and competence 

arrangements are subject to periodic and formal review. 

• Training and competence – development Processes will 

exist to ensure all employees develop their HSE capabilities. 


• Compliance monitoring Each Business Unit will conduct 

periodic reviews or audits to assess compliance. Findings 

identified in periodic reviews/audits must be tracked and 

monitored to ensure closure. 

• Compliance reporting Any non-compliance must be reported 

to the Business Unit leadership and, where required, to external 

regulatory bodies. Reviews/audit reports will form part of the 

record of this. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 


Group HSE Competence Guidelines 






09 

Information, documents and standards 

Business Units will operate a robust and accessible HSE 

information management system that reflects Group 

requirements, suits the needs of the individual Business Unit, 

permits adequate reporting and delivers factual, accurate and 

timely information into the Business Unit. 


• Ensure that Business Unit HSE documentation 

is understood and best practice is identifiable 

through readily accessible information, in 

whatever form. 

• Ensure the awareness, understanding and, 

where necessary, implementation of Group HSE 

standards and guidance. 

accessible 

guidance 



Requirements 

• Information Concise and correct HSE information will be used 

at all levels in a Business Unit as the basis for improvement. 

Information management will be formal and systematic to allow 

for system audit, analysis and improvement. 

• Reporting Reports will be presented in a structured and 

uniform manner, providing clear, correct and consistent 

information. 

• Records Each Business Unit will ensure that HSE records are 

maintained to comply with internal or external requirements, are 

fully auditable and suitably maintained. 

• Contents Documents will be designed to contain the required 

information and contribute to a compliant and effective 

operation. 

• Standards HSE documents will provide clear direction or 

agreed requirements to permit Business Units to function safely 

and effectively. 

• Language and accessibility Information, documents and 

standards must be in a language and form appropriate to the 

user and accessible at point of use, where required. 


• Information, documents and standards management will 

routinely be included in audits or reviews to verify whether 

compliance is assured and efficiency maximised. 

• Information, documents and standards will be regularly 

assessed as to their necessity and, when implemented, on their 

contribution to improved processes. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 

Group HSE key documents 

Guidance documents and mandatory 

procedures 





10 

Integrity management 

Integrity across the range of our operations (including systems, 

equipment and facilities) must be assured. We will design, 

engineer, construct, operate and maintain the assets for 

which we are responsible to protect life and eliminate loss. We 

recognise the role of our people, their training, competence and 

behaviours in achieving this objective. 


• Ensure due consideration is given to our people 

and their impact on Integrity Management. 

This will include their training, competence, 

behaviours, attitude and other relevant 

influences on their effective deployment. 

• Ensure that designs, products, systems, 

equipment and facilities are produced, 

manufactured, constructed, operated, 

maintained and decommissioned with due 

consideration to safety and reliability. 

• Ensure that procedures are employed 

to assure effective integration of 

these processes. 


indicator: 

near misses 

personal injury 

triangle 

consequence: 

major injury 

consequence: 

minor injury 

awareness 

assurance 

consequence: 

unsafe acts 

major incident 

triangle 

consequence: 

major incident 

consequence: 

high potential incident 

indicator: 

detail breaches


Requirements 

• Scope Business Units shall appropriately implement the Group 

Integrity Management Guide, having considered their activities 

and risks. This will include, as a minimum: 

» Identifying persons with accountability and assurance 

responsibility. 

» Ensuring that the following key principles from the Integrity 

Management Guide are in place viz: 

– Accountability 

– Competence 

– Hazard Evaluation and Risk Management 

– Protective Systems 

– Practices and Procedures 

– Management of Change 

– Emergency Response 

– Incident Investigation and Management 

» Planned and implemented control measures. 

» Performance assessment, maintenance, monitoring, 

improvement and equipment management. 

• Training and competence People authorised to make 

decisions regarding integrity management must be trained and 

competent. (ref. Key Element 8). 

• Human factors Recognise that human and organisational 

factors can cause incidents and manage them to mitigate or 

prevent harm to our people. (ref. Key Element 7). 

• Risk awareness People who use systems, equipment, 

tools and facilities should be made aware of the risks and the 

potential impact of their actions. (ref. Key Element 5). 


• A defined and planned methodology to address 

integrity management. 

• Monitoring of leading and lagging control measures. 

• Inclusion of integrity management into the Business Unit 

audit processes. 

• Inclusion of integrity management into management 

review process. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 

Integrity Management Guide 

Engineering Excellence Guide 



www.woodgroup.net/ENG 



11 

Third parties and suppliers 

Business Units will ensure that client and other 

third-party HSE requirements are met through deployment 

of trained, competent employees and appropriate HSE 

Management Systems. Business Units will manage risk 

importation to provide proportionate and auditable assurance 

that their suppliers and subcontractors meet that same standard. 

Third parties might be those to whom we supply items, or 

those who place demands upon us. While the control and 

arrangements will be different, they are both situations where the 

interfaces must be correctly defined and managed. 


• Ensure that all requirements placed upon 

third parties are appropriate, timely, 

understood and met. 

• Ensure suppliers are fully aware of Group and 

Business Unit minimum HSE standards. Leaders 

may wish to provide Business Unit support 

to their suppliers to meet these, by sharing 

available HSE knowledge, good practice and 

providing feedback. 

goals 

agreements 



Requirements 

• Risk identification Business Units will ensure that all third 

parties whose needs, obligations, provisions or performance 

can present HSE risk for Business Unit operations are identified 

and any potential risk managed effectively. 

• Information received Business Units will ensure that correct 

and suitable information is exchanged between all third parties 

promptly and efficiently, such as to contribute to a safe working 

environment. This might include documents such as interface 

arrangements, dedicated HSE plans, policies and standards, 

drawings, specifications, material and test certification. 

• Cooperation Business Units shall strive to ensure continuous 

improvement in third party performance through cooperation in 

training, information exchange and development. 

• Risk management Business Units will employ risk-based 

decision making as a tool to select, manage and develop third 

party relationships. 

• Benchmarking Business Units will use performance or 

relationship benchmarking to promote effective third party 

management. 


• Business Units will regularly review and audit third parties’ HSE 

performance, and the system which delivers this. 

• Business Units will understand and benchmark their suppliers’ 

performance to be able to demonstrate compliance with Group 

and Business Unit HSE performance expectations. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 

Group Supply Chain Guidance 



www.woodgroup.net/GroupSCM 



12 

Emergency preparedness and response 

Business Units will protect people, communities, the environment 

and the business through proactive and planned management 

response before, during and after emergency situations. 


• Ensure that emergency preparedness and 

response provisions are defined and specific to 

the Business Unit’s individual needs. 

• Ensure that individual Business Unit or 

operational emergency response arrangements 

reflect the needs of the Group. 

• Ensure this planning is part of the annual HSE 

planning and review process. 

practice 

readiness 



Requirements 

• Procedures and plans should be in place and current 

All potential emergency response events and corresponding 

control systems should be considered and designed as 

appropriate. 

• Specific emergency response teams will be established 

People and teams will be suitably trained in emergency 

response situations, appropriate to the likely risks encountered. 

• Exercises should be planned and carried out Scenarios 

might include fire, explosion, hurricane, earthquake, terrorist 

event, unstable regions, environmental incident, structural 

collapse and hostage taking. Exercises will occur at suitable 

and defined intervals, at least once per year. 

• Interfacing Controls should include Corporate 

Communications, Human Resources, Security Consultants, 

Legal, Media, Emergency Services, Government Department 

and Non-Governmental Organisation liaison. 

• Community The scope of this issue may extend outwith 

contractual boundaries of the Group or the Business Unit. 

Even if we are not liable or involved, we may wish to help or 

support the community in the event of a local emergency 

(ref. Key Element 6). 


• Audit programmes will address the activities above, particularly 

those not covered by exercises. 

• Business Unit will record outcomes of exercises and show 

feedback to improve processes. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 

Group Business Continuity Planning 

Group Corporate Communications 

Emergency Media Response 

Guidelines and Crisis Management 

Policy and Plans 



www.woodgroup.net/Insurance 

www.woodgroup.net/CorpComm 

www.woodgroup.net/policies 



13 

Environmental management 

Business Units will protect the environment and minimise any 

adverse impact from our operations through efficient use of 

natural resources and adherence to applicable environmental 

protection standards. 


• Ensure that national and local legislative 

requirements, and Group and client 

requirements in respect of environmental issues 

are identified, understood and administered 

under a formal Business Unit management 

process for compliance review and monitoring. 

• Address carbon emissions, understand these 

and minimise Business Unit and Group carbon 

footprint. 

• Ensure environmental aspects and impacts 

are clearly assessed, reviewed and mitigated, 

and that adequate training and awareness are 

provided to support such efforts. 

• Ensure improvement goals and metrics are 

established and implemented to measure 

performance, minimise risk, reduce impact and 

assure compliance. 

protection 

minimise impact 



Requirements 

• Risk importation Business Units must be aware of the 

environmental risks that may be imported from new contracts, 

suppliers, ventures, operations, processes and property leases 

or acquisitions. 

• Resource consumption Business Units must be aware 

of their energy and natural resource consumption and 

the environmental sensitivity, sustainability and continuing 

appropriateness of these inputs. 

• Wastes, discharges and emissions Business Units must 

be aware of all their waste streams, discharges and emissions, 

their magnitudes, the control and disposal arrangements and 

their impact, both planned and unplanned, ensuring their 

disposal complies with local legislative requirements. 

• Environmental management Business Units will formalise 

a structured environmental management system which is 

fully integrated with the HSE Management System. This will 

be of a size and scope appropriate to the business and the 

nature of exposure. This will be in line with ISO14001 or similar 

internationally recognised standard (e.g. EMAS). 

• Legislative obligation Business Units must fully assess 

applicability, evaluate, understand and comply with local and 

national environmental legislative requirements and statutory 

reporting requirements, including cross-border variations. 


• Conduct periodic audits to demonstrate compliance. 

• Conduct periodic audits of key contractors’ environmental 

performance. 

• Report all environmental infractions in CAIRS and to regulatory 

agencies where required. 

• Retain appropriate documentation to assess compliance with 

applicable legislative requirements or standards. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 

National and local legislative 

requirements 

Group Carbon Footprint Guidelines 

Group Carbon Reduction 

Commitment (UK) 

Group Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 





14 

Incident reporting and investigation 

Business Units will follow Group procedures for incident 

reporting. All incidents will be reported promptly and accurately. 

Business Units will adhere to Group Guidelines on this area, 

and will have procedures in place to investigate incidents. Root 

causes of incidents will be identified and lessons will be learned, 

adopted and disseminated to prevent reoccurrence. 


• Ensure that Group procedures are applied and 

resources are available for appropriate incident 

reporting and investigation. 

• Be familiar with all significant incident details and 

mitigations for their area of responsibility. 

• Ensure that all actions arising from the 

incident investigations are followed through 

to completion in a timely manner and that key 

learnings are shared across the Group. 

• Actively share, or seek out, learning from other 

parts of the Group and assess potential benefit 

to local Business Unit or operation. 

learning 

prevention 



Requirements 

• Caring for people Business Units will ensure appropriate care 

and support is given to anyone injured on Group premises or by 

Group, or Group employees injured by the actions of others. 

• Incident reporting All incidents will be reported in the 

Group online reporting system (CAIRS) within 24 hours of 

occurrence, as defined in the Group procedures. Statutory 

reporting requirements will be fulfilled. Business Units will require 

immediate, detailed internal reporting for incidents of a serious 

nature. 

• Incident management Incidents will be managed to ensure 

that, in case of an injury or occupational illness, the most 

appropriate medical attention is provided and that an effective 

approach is in place for managing incidents. 

• Incident investigation This will be conducted by trained 

individuals. The process will be planned, conducted and 

reported, and the findings appropriately communicated. 

• Report closure Investigations will be formally reported. Actions 

will be identified, assigned and tracked to completion. Employees 

who were involved with the incident should be advised of the 

Business Unit investigation output and remedial work. Preventive 

actions will be risk-ranked to attend to the highest risks first. 

• Trends and learning The Business Unit will undertake incident 

analysis, trending and benchmarking to assess performance 

against peers and industry, as well as to identify potential local 

issues. Business Units will show that the potential learning from 

each incident has been maximised, to the widest benefit. 


• Effective and compliant Business Unit reporting. 

• Effective and recorded incident investigations. 

• Effective action management to completion. 

• Communication as befits the nature of the incident. 

• Analysis and understanding of root causes and any wider trends. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 


Group Reporting Procedure for HSE 

Leading and Lagging Indicators 

Group Incident Investigation Guidelines 

Group Case Management Guidelines 

All prevailing local and national 

legislative requirements related to this 

subject 





15 

Change management 

Business Units will apply an effective risk management approach 

to changes which might impact HSE, considering such aspects 

as organisational, procedural, material, equipment and process 

change. This will ensure the impact of such changes does not 

introduce new hazards into the workplace. 


• Understand that major organisational changes 

such as acquisitions and subsequent 

integration, mergers and downsizing are likely 

to lead to heightened risks of HSE failure, and 

devote sufficient time and resources to avoid 

such problems. 

• Demonstrate their understanding of this 

requirement and commitment to ensuring 

changes are managed. 

• Ensure that proposed changes are properly 

evaluated using a risk assessment approach 

prior to implementation. 

• Ensure that any new, or modified, hazard or risk 

identified during this change review process has 

been understood and mitigated. This will be 

done in a formal and structured manner. 

mitigation 

planning 



Requirements 

Management of change No change that could jeopardise HSE 

management systems, equipment integrity or compromise process 

safety is to take place without a formal and systematic evaluation of 

its impact and the options for managing any potential new risk. The 

evaluation shall typically consider, but not be limited to, the following 

changes: 

• Staffing levels and organisational changes, including changes in 

roles and responsibilities 

• Process chemicals and substances 

• Process operating conditions outside established and safe 

design limits (pressure, temperature, radioactivity, vibration, 

noise etc.) 

• Technology, materials and equipment and their operating 

parameters 

• Operating and maintenance procedures, standards and 

specifications 

• Engineering design 

• Protective systems, testing and inspection procedures and 

frequencies 

• Critical documents, standards, procedures and legislative 

requirements etc 

• Contracts and procurement 

• Buildings, sites and facilities (including projects) 

• Emergency response plans 

• Gradual change and the cumulative effect of this 

Training and competency Personnel in positions authorised to 

make decisions regarding changes that affect the Business Unit 

must be trained and competent in risk assessment methodology 

(ref. Key Element 8). 


• Formal review of all proposed changes that can affect the HSE 

Management System, equipment integrity or process safety. 

• Periodic assessment to ensure that controls and mitigations 

remain current and effective. 

• Inclusion of Management of Change process into Business Unit 

audit processes. 

Support 

Resources 

& References 

Local and national legislative 

requirements related to this subject 

Group Engineering Excellence Guide 



www.woodgroup.net/ENG 




15 Justice Mill Lane 

Aberdeen 

AB11 6EQ 

UK 

Tel +44 1224 851 000 

www.woodgroup.com 

17420 Katy Freeway 

Suite 300 

Houston 

TX 77094 

USA 

Tel +1 281 828 3500

HSE Management System Standard - Wood Group

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?