Fostering a Long-Lasting Safety Culture

Challenge

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility struggled to achieve and maintain baseline stability due to a turbulent operational history that, while brief, threatened the health and safety of its workforce, and negatively impacted production.

Interruptions to production and downtimes were frequent, both of which were considered risks to sustaining long-term growth. A serious accident within the last 12 months impacted employee morale. Top management, coming from different companies with varied past experiences, struggled to align on a unified company culture. Although leadership was fully committed to safety, their difficulty in clearly articulating that vision led to added internal tension.

dss⁺ Approach

dss⁺ began a four-month journey that ultimately identified gaps in the organization’s safety culture and developed a three-pronged strategy. The dss⁺ team assessed the skills and capabilities of more than 60 frontline leaders with findings aiding in the development of a training and coaching program that was tailored to address the specific issues at play among leadership. The program also became key in helping the company transfer knowledge and foster continuous improvement to create transformative change.

A project management office (PMO) was established to implement the proposed framework and define a process for project selection and management. A KPI tree was developed to deliver early warning signs, align with the organization’s strategic objectives and goals, and improve operational performance.

Lastly, dss⁺ developed and implemented a series of safety initiatives that collectively established clear expectations and practices among all senior leadership to minimize risk. dss⁺ helped the client put in place communication channels to improve employee engagement and give them a greater sense of ownership in safety.

Assignment

Create a framework that strengthens leadership skills and processes while fostering a sustainable culture of safety and operational performance.

Offering

Operational Excellence (OpEX)

Impact

• Developed a two-year roadmap designed to execute key initiatives in the cultural framework.
• Engaged with more than 60 frontline leaders — 90% of the organization’s leadership — to assess their skills and capabilities.
• Embedded core project management office (PMO) processes into the daily, weekly, and monthly routines of the organization’s management team.
• Developed a KPI tree to align departmental metrics with executive goals.