Editorial LP Awar

Aw ds
ards
Presented
Seventeen Saudi Aramco departments and
Corporate success in today’s global business eight individuals were honored for their
environment is being redefined in terms of “world- safety achievements in the Loss Prevention
class performance” across a wide spectrum of Award ceremony June 29 in Dhahran.
activities. Scan the current trade publications of any
industry, and you’ll see repeated references to this “Whether at the department or individual
new measurement standard. level, all whom we are recognizing today
exhibit the strong sense of personal
How does the concept of world-class performance commitment characteristic of a vibrant safety
apply to the safety field? The first of a two-part culture,” noted President and CEO Abdallah
article, which begins on page 4, provides key S. Jum’ah in presenting the awards.
program elements of world-class safety
performance. The article is based on a paper written Receiving the top departmental safety honor
by Abqaiq Area Loss Prevention’s David Berube, were: Abqaiq Plants Maintenance, Abqaiq
which he presented in March at the 6th Society of Plants Operations, Aviation, Fire Protection,
Petroleum Engineers’ International Conference on Jeddah Refinery, Juaymah Gas Plant, Marine,
Health, Safety and the Environment in Malaysia. Rabigh Refinery, Riyadh Refinery, Safaniya
Look for the second part, which describes attributes Onshore Producing, Shaybah Producing,
that define a safety culture achieving world-class Shedgum Gas Plant, Southern Area
levels, in Vol. XXII, No. 5, of the LP Newsletter. Community Services, Terminal Operations &
Maintenance, Uthmaniyah Gas Plant,
For examples of Saudi Aramco’s strengthening Western Region Distribution, and Yanbu
safety culture, look no further than the sidebar Refinery.
article, which lists the 17 departments and eight
employees whose safety achievements were Honored for completing 35 years of service
honored recently during the Loss Prevention Award without an injury were: Abdullah M. Al-
ceremony. Alwan, Ibrahim M. Al-Alawi, Hamad A. Al-
Binali, Ali O. Al-Ghamdi, Ahmed A. Al-Sahib,
Beginning on page 2 of this issue, we also detail Ali H. Al-Twairqi, Sulaiman M. Al-Ufaiji, and
the major changes to revised General Instruction Mutlaq M. Al-Utaibi.
(GI) 8.001, Safety Requirements for Scaffolds, which
was recently approved. For additional information
or assistance in implementing the new
requirements, contact your Area Loss Prevention
Division (ALPD) office.

Loss Prevention Newsletter (ISSN 1319-1802) is produced by the

Support Services Unit of Saudi Aramco’s Loss Prevention Department
and focuses on operational and on-the-job safety. The editorial staff
welcomes readers’ comments, ideas, and contributions. Please send
your suggestions and articles to Saudi Aramco Loss Prevention
Department, E-1855, Dhahran 31311, Saudi Arabia, marked for the
attention of the Editor, or call 873-2392.

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Saudi Aramco Loss Prevention Newsletter Vol. XXII No. 4, 2002 – page 1
Completely Revised GI 8.001 Issued

Scaffold Safety Requirements

The completely revised General Instruction (GI) • YELLOW scaffold tag (SAP Material
8.001, Safety Requirements for Scaffolds, was #1000123293) indicates that the scaffold has
recently issued. This GI provides the minimum been inspected and may be used only by
requirements, which are effective immediately, for workers wearing a properly anchored personal
the safe construction and use of scaffolds at all fall arrest system, including full-body harness
company facilities and project sites. and lanyard. A YELLOW scaffold tag is required
whenever all guardrails or planks cannot
According to the revised GI, all scaffolds must now physically be installed or must be temporarily
be inspected and tagged by the supervisor of the removed. YELLOW scaffold tags are only valid
scaffold erection crew. In addition, scaffolds more for a maximum of 2 weeks. Then, the scaffold
than 6 m (20 ft) tall must also be inspected and the must be reinspected and a new scaffold tag
tag signed by a scaffold inspector. signed again for another 2 weeks.

Scaffold inspectors may be either Saudi Aramco
employees (i.e., proponent representatives) or
scaffold contractor employees. Beginning July 1,
2003, all scaffold supervisors/inspectors must be
certified by Saudi Aramco. Until then, these
supervisors/inspectors do not need to be certified.
These scaffold tags can be obtained through the
Saudi Aramco SAP Materials System.
According to the GI, proponent organizations are
to provide scaffold tags to contractors constructing
scaffolds within their area.

Scaffold tags For detailed scaffold tagging procedures, see the

Saudi Aramco scaffold tags must now be placed on
all scaffolds. Only Saudi Aramco-approved scaffold
tags may be used. There are three types of scaffold
tags, as follows:
• RED scaffold tag (SAP Material #1000123277)
indicates that the scaffold has not been
inspected or is not safe for use. The RED
scaffold tag also serves as a holder for other
scaffold tags. Only scaffold erection crews are
allowed on a scaffold with a RED scaffold tag.
• GREEN scaffold tag (SAP Material #1000123290)
indicates that the scaffold is complete, has been
inspected, and was found to be safe for use at
the time of inspection. A GREEN scaffold tag is
only valid for a maximum of 2 weeks. Then,
the scaffold must be reinspected and the
scaffold tag signed again for another 2 weeks.
Loss Prevention (LP) Intranet site at
lp.aramco.com.sa. Select Reference Materials and
then Scaffold Tagging Guides. For step-by-step
instructions on how to use and fill out scaffold tags,
view the PowerPoint presentation, titled
Introduction to the Use of the New Scaffold Tags.
Checklists
Checklists have been developed to help scaffold
supervisors and inspectors perform and record their
scaffold inspections. A scaffold field inspection
checklist must be completed during the initial
inspection of all scaffolds. The completed and signed
checklist must be given to the work permit issuer,
who will keep it on file until the scaffold is taken
down.
There are four scaffold field inspection checklists
for each of the various types of scaffolds used within
Saudi Aramco: Base-Supported, Non-movable

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Saudi Aramco Loss Prevention Newsletter Vol. XXII No. 4, 2002 – page 2
Scaffold Field Inspection Checklist (SA Form 9614);
Mobile Scaffold Field Inspection Checklist (SA Form
9615); Underhung (Suspended) Scaffold Field
Inspection Checklist (SA Form 9616); and Bracket
Scaffold Field Inspection Checklist (SA Form 9617).
A fifth checklist, the Scaffold Plan Completeness
Checklist (SA Form 9613), helps reduce the time
required to review scaffold plans.
Copies of these checklists can be printed from the
LP Intranet site or obtained from your Area Loss
Prevention Division (ALPD) office.
Certifications
Scaffold supervisors and inspectors should become
certified by Saudi Aramco as soon as possible and
must be certified by July 1, 2003. The four possible
certification levels follow:
• A Certified Scaffold Supervisor I can supervise
construction, inspect, and sign scaffold tags for
all scaffolds, including special scaffolds. For a
definition of special scaffolds, see the GI or Vol.
XXII, No. 2, of the LP Newsletter.
• A Certified Scaffold Supervisor II-T can only
supervise construction, inspect, and sign
scaffold tags for tube-and-coupler scaffolds
less than 12.2 m (40 ft) tall. He cannot sign
scaffold tags for special scaffolds.
• A Certified Scaffold Supervisor II-S can only
supervise construction, inspect, and sign
scaffold tags for system scaffolds or fabricated
tubular-frame scaffolds less than 12.2 m (40 ft)
tall. He cannot sign scaffold tags for special
scaffolds.
• A Certified Scaffold Inspector can inspect and
sign scaffold tags for all scaffolds, including
special scaffolds.
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Saudi Aramco Loss Prevention Newsletter Vol. XXII No. 4, 2002 – page 3
Certification Training and Testing
The scaffold certification tests, which are
administered in English only, have two parts—
written and performance. The written test requires
a passing grade of 80 percent. After passing the
written test, the candidate must take a performance
test. The performance test involves inspecting three
scaffolds constructed with known defects.
Candidates must identify all the known defects to
pass the performance test.
Saudi Aramco employees who fail the written test
may be enrolled in one or more scaffold training
courses offered by Training & Career Development
(T&CD) depending on their score. Contractor
employees who fail the written test must wait 3
months before retaking the test.
Candidates should thoroughly study GI 8.001 and
the Saudi Aramco Scaffold Safety Handbook (SSH)
before taking the written test. For more information
on test topics and procedures, see the LP Intranet
site. Select Reference Materials and then select
Scaffold Certification Tests’ Study Guide.
To schedule a Saudi Aramco employee to take a
scaffold certification test, contact the program
supervisor of your local T&CD Job Skills Training
Division as follows: Northern Area, 673-1680;
Southern Area, 577-1038; Riyadh Area, 285-2536;
Jeddah/Rabigh Area, 425-1381; and Yanbu Area,
397-8171.
Contractor employees must be scheduled to take
the tests through their proponent department and
must have a valid Saudi Aramco badge number.
Encourage your scaffold contractor to schedule their
scaffold supervisors and inspectors to take the
certification tests as soon as possible.
Other requirements in the revised GI have not
changed, especially the need for scaffold plan
reviews. See GI 8.001 for more information.
World-Class Safety
Editor’s note: This is the first part of an article based on safety culture, which, when combined, provide the
a paper written and presented by David Berube at the 6th
Society of Petroleum Engineers’ International foundations for achievement of world-class safety
Conference on Health, Safety & the Environment in performance. Let’s begin by establishing what
Kuala Lumpur in March. Mr. Berube has been a contract should be measured to accurately determine the
Loss Prevention (LP) engineer at Saudi Aramco since
1998. The second part of the article will appear in Vol. level of an organization’s safety performance.
XXII, No. 5, of the LP Newsletter.
Safety performance measurements
Abstract
Outcomes. Until now, most companies have been
To successfully compete in today’s global using accident and injury statistics to measure safety
marketplace, companies must achieve world-class performance levels, such as:
performance in all business areas including safety
as measured against their peers. While accident • Fatalities
statistics have been used to measure safety
performance, safety management systems are more • Lost Time Accidents (LTAs)
accurate indicators. However, the effect of safety
management systems on safety performance is • Recordable Injuries (RIs)
determined by the level of compliance, which is
driven by the organization’s safety culture. • First aid cases
Therefore, achievement of world-class safety
performance (WCSP) requires two major • Noninjury accidents
foundations: world-class safety management
systems and a world-class safety culture. • Near-miss incidents.

Introduction In addition, most are required to record and report

As globalization has touched all types of industries
around the world, we have seen a drive both to
establish worldwide standards and to benchmark
companies against others in the same industry in
order to determine “world-class” performance. This
globalization movement started in the area of
quality (where we now have ISO 9000 performance
standards), spread to environmental protection with
ISO 14000, and is now at work in the safety field.
Therefore, today you’ll find that achievement of
WCSP is becoming a critical objective in more and
more organizations’ business plans.
The objective of this paper is twofold: to identify
key safety program (management system) elements
and to describe attributes that define a proper
these figures by regulatory agencies in their
governments. In fact, for some companies these
outcomes have been the only indices they used to
evaluate the success of their safety program.
But do these statistics alone tell them how safely
they are working? The answer is NO; in reality, these
statistics alone are not a complete and accurate
measure of safety program effectiveness. For when
using accident statistics as a measure of safety
performance, companies only identify the need to
improve safety systems when these rates are
perceived to be higher than expected (e.g.,
exceeding set objectives). As a result, injury rates
become the driver of their safety efforts, and safety
programs are only modified in reaction to
unsatisfactory statistics. In addition, some people

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Saudi Aramco Loss Prevention Newsletter Vol. XXII No. 4, 2002 – page 4
Reaching WCSP Levels
expend their efforts on manipulating these These criteria are not only used by consultants and
outcomes rather than on safety process OSHA but also by many other respected
improvements. organizations in the safety field. This widespread
use indicates a consensus that these are critical
Inputs. Now, while eliminating injuries and elements of any organization’s safety management
accidents is the ultimate objective, an effective plan system. Therefore, by and large, these safety
to do so must strive to reduce all potential risks to program elements all represent good business
their lowest level, not only to eliminate causes of practices that if properly employed and conformed
incidents that have already occurred. So rather than to will yield excellent safety performance results.
focusing on the results/outcomes of our safety
processes, we need to focus on our management The safety performance pyramid
systems and the processes
themselves. By measuring The Safety Performance
conformance to established Pyramid (see Fig. 1) depicts
systems, risks can be the relationship between
identified before an injury controls (program
occurs. In turn, improving elements) and
systems based on the consequences. There is no
identified deficiencies standard program for all
reduces risk and produces facilities; key program
improved statistical elements must be selected
performance over time. So based on their applicability
what are the safety and importance. The
management system pyramid illustrated here
Fig. 1: The Safety Performance Pyramid
criteria/elements that should includes the key safety
be measured to determine program elements
safety performance? mentioned earlier to indicate they are controlling
factors in what outcomes are experienced. The
Safety process measurement criteria pyramid provides an understanding of why it is so
important to measure the inputs along with the
Representative examples of key safety program consequences. This will provide a more accurate
(management system) elements include: leadership, picture of an organization’s safety program.
training, employee involvement, communications,
safe work practices and operating instructions, The level of conformance with these management
inspections and maintenance, management of system elements will actually determine their effect
change, task analysis and procedures, emergency on performance outcomes. When conformance is
preparedness, and incident investigation and high, the risk is low and undesirable consequences,
analysis. These elements, among others, are used shown in the upper portion of the pyramid, are
as measurement criteria to audit safety programs unlikely to occur or will occur less frequently. In the
by international consulting firms and government next installment of this article, conformance and
agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health its prerequisite, a world-class safety culture, will be
Administration (OSHA), a US regulatory agency, in discussed.
its Voluntary Protection Programs and Process Safety
Management standard.
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Saudi Aramco Loss Prevention Newsletter Vol. XXII No. 4, 2002 – page 5