PART 1: PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION Tenneco is an oil rig company located off the shore in the Gulf of Mexico. On an annual basis the company loses about 3 million dollars due to rig’s averaging 3 lost time injuries per month and 9 non-lost time injuries. In May 1987 one of the rigs reached a milestone of working one full year without a lot-time injury. The president of the company was so impressed with the crew on the rig that we flew in personally to present the crew with a bronze plaque. On top of that the crew was awarded prizes averaging about $200 which were to be delivered in July 1987. But in June 1987, Joe Herbert a supervisor on the rig informed the human resource that he had an unreported accident in November 1986 and due to the accident he is going to need back surgery. Even though it was the company’s policy to record all accidents this accident was not recorded. To make things worse Joe had at ATV accident in May and due to him not reporting the accident right away.
PART 2: POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS There are four key issues that need to be addressed; should the crew still be awarded the prizes, ,why wasn’t the incident reported, is there any way to prove that Joe’s back injury is caused from the ATV accident verse the work incident, and lastly are there any other safety programs should be in place. The easiest issue to resolve is to decide if the crew should still be awarded the prizes. Should the crew still earn the rewards or should the entire right be punished because of one person. The next issue would be to determine why Joe did not report his injury. The management needs to decide if the crew is being bullied into not reporting accident’s to make the rig’s accident stat appear better than what it actually is or did Joe not report the incident out of ignorance? Is there any possibility that Tenneco could get out of paying for Joe’s back surgery due to his ATV incident? Tenneco could always hire a lawyer to investigate the entire incident, but this could be very costly. The most important issue is the safety program at the rig. To prevent this from happening again Tenneco’s entire safety program will need to be revised.
PART 3: DECIDE ON A PLAN OF ACTION
If I was the manager in charge I would still award to crew with the prizes, mainly because I do not feel that it would be right to punish the crew because their supervisor did not report his own injury. As for Joe, he should not receive his award because he did not report the accident and Tenneco should just move forward and pay for Joe’s back surgery mainly because hiring a lawyer would be too costly. Workmen’s comp claims can be very serious and costly. Tenneco will need to do everything they can to prevent this from happening again. Below is the action plan for the new Human Resource (HR) Policies as well as the new Safety Policies.
Action Plan
New HR Policies * All crew and managers must watch a safety video every 6 months. This video will discuss steps to prevent accidents as well as steps to take after an accident. The crew will also sign a document stating that they are aware of the safety procedures each time they watch the video.
* Implement a safety team. The safety team will be responsible for training the crew on proper safety procedures, correcting safety issues and reporting any injuries. If an injured crew/manager/supervisor does not report their injury a member of the safety team will be responsible for reporting it to the upper managers. There must be two member of the safety team must be present at all times. Since the safety team is going to be an important part the individuals will be chosen based upon their performance. Each member of the safety team will be awarded with a raise increase.
New Safety Polices * It is mandatory that every accident will be reported. No matter how small the injury it must be reported. When the incident is reported any eye witness must write a statement of the incident.
* All accidents must be reported within 3 days of the incident. Tenneco will not be responsible for any accident that is not reported within 3 days
* Employees must seek medical attention within 2 weeks of reporting the accident. If the employee chooses not to seek medical attention within 2 weeks Tenneco will not be responsible for future problems that may arise.
I think it was a great idea for Tenneco to reward the rig due to them not having any lost-time accidents. This is something that Tenneco will continue on a yearly basis for every rig. This will give all the crew on the rigs something to work for.
PART 4: EVALUATE THE RESULTS To evaluate the progress of the rig monthly safety meetings will be scheduled with the safety team. During the meeting the safety team will be able to come forward and discuss any safety issue for further evaluation. The crew’s accident report should be evaluated on a quarterly basis waiting 12 months is too long. Following up with the crew quarterly will allow the team to see if they are making progress. The top 3 rigs that have reduced the injuries will be awarded a prize. Since this will take one year to determine if the new action plan put into place is working, the prizes will be awarded on a yearly basis. If each rig puts these action plans into place there should be an immediate turn around in lost-time accidents.
