Draft Safety Culture Policy Statement: Request for Public Comments, 75443-75444 [2012-30670]
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75443
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 245 / Thursday, December 20, 2012 / Notices
The Department has prepared an
Initial Implementation Plan based on
preliminary planning and tribal
consultation. The Plan has the following
purposes:
• Recognize and address comments
received on the Draft Plan dated January
31, 2012, and during the public
comment period through March 15,
2012;
• Outline initial goals and priorities;
• Summarize key parameters and
operational concepts for the Buy-Back
Program;
• Outline ways in which tribes might
participate in the Buy-Back Program
through cooperative agreements;
• Describe the primary land
consolidation processes—outreach, land
research, valuation, and acquisition; and
• Describe next steps for additional
tribal consultation, public comment,
and continued program planning and
implementation, including pilot efforts
that will allow for improvement of the
Buy-Back Program.
The Plan also provides additional
data concerning fractionation to provide
context for planning efforts and to
respond to tribes’ requests for more
complete information. This Initial
Implementation Plan is not a final plan.
The Department expects to continually
update its plans to reflect tribal
feedback, lessons learned, and best
practices.
Tribal consultation sessions on the
Plan and Buy-Back Program will be held
at the following dates and cities.
Information about the specific venue or
location of the consultation can be
found at www.doi.gov/cobell once they
are confirmed.
Date
Time
January 31, 2013 .............................................................
February 6, 2013 ..............................................................
February 14, 2013 ............................................................
9 a.m.–4 p.m. ..................................................................
9 a.m.–4 p.m. ...................................................................
9 a.m.–4 p.m. ..................................................................
Dated: December 14, 2012.
David Hayes,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012–30622 Filed 12–19–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–10–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Safety and Environmental
Enforcement
[Docket ID BSEE–2012–0017]
Draft Safety Culture Policy Statement:
Request for Public Comments
Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement (BSEE),
Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is
issuing this Draft Statement of Policy to
announce its expectation that
individuals and organizations
performing or overseeing activities
regulated by BSEE establish and
maintain a positive safety culture
commensurate with the significance of
their activities and the nature and
complexity of their organizations and
functions. The BSEE defines safety
culture as the core values and behaviors
resulting from a collective commitment
by leaders and individuals to emphasize
safety, over competing goals, to ensure
protection of people and the
environment. This draft policy
statement would apply to all lessees, the
owners or holders of operating rights,
designated operators or agents of the
lessee(s), pipeline right-of-way holders,
State lessees granted a right-of-use and
easement, and contractors. The BSEE is
requesting comments on the Draft Safety
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:07 Dec 19, 2012
Jkt 229001
Culture Policy Statement and associated
questions.
DATES: Submit comments by March 20,
2013. The BSEE may not fully consider
comments received after this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on this notice by any of the following
methods. Please use Draft Safety Culture
Policy Statement as an identifier in your
message. See also Public Availability of
Comments below.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. In the entry titled
‘‘Enter Keyword or ID,’’ enter BSEE–
2012–0017 then click search. Follow the
instructions to submit public comments
and view supporting and related
materials available for this notice. The
BSEE will post all comments.
• Email: Keith.Petka@bsee.gov.
• Mail or hand-carry comments to the
Department of the Interior; Bureau of
Safety and Environmental Enforcement;
Attention: Regulations and Standards
Branch (RSB); 381 Elden Street, HE–
3313, Herndon, Virginia 20170–4817.
Please reference, Draft Safety Culture
Policy Statement in your comments and
include your name and return address.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone
number, email address, or other
personal identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that
your entire comment—including your
personal identifying information—may
be made publicly available at any time.
While you can ask us in your comment
to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Keith Petka, Safety and Environmental
Management Systems Branch at (703)
PO 00000
Frm 00038
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Venue
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Rapid City, South Dakota.
Seattle, Washington.
787–1762 to request additional
information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
A major component of each report
that has followed the Deepwater
Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill
is the recommendation to improve the
safety culture upon the Outer
Continental Shelf (OCS). The
Department of the Interior Outer
Continental Shelf Safety Oversight
Board’s Report to Secretary Ken Salazar
(2010) advocated a program that would
‘‘create and maintain industry, worker,
and regulator awareness of, and
commitment to, measures that will
achieve human safety and
environmental protection’’ that would
also rely heavily on the industry to
‘‘make a widespread, forceful and longterm commitment to cultivating a
serious approach to safety that sets the
highest safety standards and
consistently meets them.’’
The National Commission on the
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and
Offshore Drilling (2011) observed,
‘‘Government oversight must be
accompanied by the oil and gas
industry’s internal reinvention:
Sweeping reforms that accomplish no
less than a fundamental transformation
of its safety culture.’’ The National
Commission recommended looking at
the nuclear industry for an example of
drastic improvement in safety culture.
Following the partial meltdown in 1979
of the radioactive core in Unit Two at
the Three Mile Island Nuclear
Generating Station, the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC), the U.S.
government’s regulatory agency for the
nuclear industry, began initiatives to
help influence the safety culture of the
E:\FR\FM\20DEN1.SGM
20DEN1
75444
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 245 / Thursday, December 20, 2012 / Notices
nuclear energy industry toward
continuous improvement. One of these
initiatives was to work with the nuclear
industry and public to develop a formal
policy on the NRC’s expectations for a
strong and effective safety culture.
The BSEE has reviewed the NRC’s
safety culture policy and believes it
provides a strong foundation for a
similar approach for oil and gas
operations on the OCS, with the
ultimate goal of facilitating the
continued development of a robust
safety culture for all persons working on
the OCS.
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with
II. Statement of Policy
It is BSEE’s policy that a strong safety
culture is an essential element for
individuals, both internal to the BSEE
and external, performing or overseeing
regulated activities. As such, BSEE will
include appropriate means to monitor
safety culture in its oversight programs
and internal management processes.
The BSEE defines safety culture as the
core values and behaviors resulting from
a collective commitment by leaders and
individuals to emphasize safety over
competing goals to ensure protection of
people and the environment. Further, it
is important for all lessees, the owners
or holders of operating rights,
designated operators or agents of the
lessee(s), pipeline right-of-way holders,
State lessees granted a right-of-use and
easement, and contractors to foster in
personnel an appreciation for the
importance of safety, emphasizing the
need for its integration and balance with
competing performance objectives to
achieve optimal protection without
compromising production goals.
Individuals and organizations
performing regulated activities bear the
primary responsibility for safety.
Experience has shown that certain
personal and organizational
characteristics are present in a positive
safety culture. A characteristic, in this
case, is a pattern of thinking, feeling,
and behaving that emphasizes safety,
particularly in goal conflict situations
(e.g., production, schedule, and the cost
of the effort versus safety).
The following are characteristics of a
robust safety culture:
(1) Leadership Safety Values and
Actions—Leaders demonstrate a
commitment to safety in their decisions
and behaviors;
(2) Problem Identification and
Resolution—Issues potentially
impacting safety are promptly
identified, fully evaluated, and
promptly addressed and corrected
commensurate with their significance;
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:07 Dec 19, 2012
Jkt 229001
(3) Personal Accountability—All
individuals take personal responsibility
for safety;
(4) Work Processes—The process of
planning and controlling work activities
is implemented so that safety is
maintained;
(5) Continuous Learning—
Opportunities to learn about ways to
ensure safety are sought out and
implemented;
(6) Environment for Raising
Concerns—A safety conscious work
environment is maintained where
personnel feel free to raise safety
concerns without fear of retaliation,
intimidation, harassment, or
discrimination;
(7) Effective Safety Communication—
Communications maintain a focus on
safety;
(8) Respectful Work Environment—
Trust and respect permeate the
organization; and
(9) Inquiring Attitude—Individuals
avoid complacency and continuously
consider and review existing conditions
and activities in order to identify
discrepancies that might result in error
or inappropriate action.
There may be traits not included in
this Draft Safety Culture Policy
Statement that are also important in a
positive safety culture. It should be
noted that these traits were not
developed to be used for inspection
purposes.
III. Questions for Which BSEE Is
Seeking Input
The previous discussion addressed
BSEE’s approach to safety culture policy
going forward and we would like your
input. We will consider any comments
that you feel would be beneficial to this
policy. We welcome your input, your
experiences, and your knowledge. The
BSEE welcomes any comments on all
content in this notice, but we
specifically welcome your input on the
following items.
(1) The draft Safety Culture Policy
Statement provides a description of
attributes that are important to safety
culture, (i.e., safety culture
characteristics). What characteristics
relevant to a particular type of OCS
activity do not appear to be addressed
in this notice?
(2) What safety culture characteristics,
described in the draft Safety Culture
Policy Statement, do not contribute to
safety culture on the OCS and, therefore,
should not be included?
(3) The draft Safety Culture Policy
Statement defines safety culture as:
‘‘The core values and behaviors
resulting from a collective commitment
by leaders and individuals to emphasize
PO 00000
Frm 00039
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
safety over competing goals to ensure
protection of people and the
environment.’’ Please comment on any
parts of this definition that need further
clarification to be useful for operations
on the OCS.
(4) The draft policy statement states,
‘‘[I]t is important for all lessees, the
owners or holders of operating rights,
designated operators or agents of the
lessee(s), pipeline right-of-way holders,
State lessees granted a right-of-use and
easement, and contractors to foster in
personnel an appreciation for the
importance of safety, emphasizing the
need for its integration and balance with
competing performance objectives to
achieve optimal protection without
compromising production goals.’’ Given
the diversity among OCS activities
regulated by BSEE, please comment on
the need to provide further clarification
on this statement.
(5) How well does the draft Safety
Culture Policy Statement enhance
organization’s understanding of BSEE’s
expectations that they maintain a safety
culture?
(6) In addition to issuing a Safety
Culture Policy Statement, what might
BSEE consider doing, or doing
differently, to increase OCS attention to
safety culture?
(7) How can BSEE better involve
stakeholders to address safety culture?
To ensure efficient consideration of
your comments, please identify the
specific question numbers with your
comments when applicable.
Dated: December 13, 2012.
James A. Watson,
Director, Bureau of Safety and Environmental
Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2012–30670 Filed 12–19–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–VH–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Safety and Environmental
Enforcement
Ocean Energy Safety Advisory
Committee (OESC); Notice of Meeting
Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement (BSEE),
Interior.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Notice of meeting.
OESC will meet at the
Department of the Interior’s South
Interior Building in Washington, DC.
SUMMARY:
Wednesday, January 9, 2013,
from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and
Thursday, January 10, 2013, from 8:00
a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
DATES:
E:\FR\FM\20DEN1.SGM
20DEN1
]]>Agencies
- DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
- Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 245 (Thursday, December 20, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75443-75444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30670]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
[Docket ID BSEE-2012-0017]
Draft Safety Culture Policy Statement: Request for Public
Comments
AGENCY: Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE),
Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is
issuing this Draft Statement of Policy to announce its expectation that
individuals and organizations performing or overseeing activities
regulated by BSEE establish and maintain a positive safety culture
commensurate with the significance of their activities and the nature
and complexity of their organizations and functions. The BSEE defines
safety culture as the core values and behaviors resulting from a
collective commitment by leaders and individuals to emphasize safety,
over competing goals, to ensure protection of people and the
environment. This draft policy statement would apply to all lessees,
the owners or holders of operating rights, designated operators or
agents of the lessee(s), pipeline right-of-way holders, State lessees
granted a right-of-use and easement, and contractors. The BSEE is
requesting comments on the Draft Safety Culture Policy Statement and
associated questions.
DATES: Submit comments by March 20, 2013. The BSEE may not fully
consider comments received after this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this notice by any of the
following methods. Please use Draft Safety Culture Policy Statement as
an identifier in your message. See also Public Availability of Comments
below.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. In
the entry titled ``Enter Keyword or ID,'' enter BSEE-2012-0017 then
click search. Follow the instructions to submit public comments and
view supporting and related materials available for this notice. The
BSEE will post all comments.
Email: Keith.Petka@bsee.gov.
Mail or hand-carry comments to the Department of the
Interior; Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement; Attention:
Regulations and Standards Branch (RSB); 381 Elden Street, HE-3313,
Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817. Please reference, Draft Safety Culture
Policy Statement in your comments and include your name and return
address.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Petka, Safety and Environmental
Management Systems Branch at (703) 787-1762 to request additional
information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
A major component of each report that has followed the Deepwater
Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill is the recommendation to
improve the safety culture upon the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The
Department of the Interior Outer Continental Shelf Safety Oversight
Board's Report to Secretary Ken Salazar (2010) advocated a program that
would ``create and maintain industry, worker, and regulator awareness
of, and commitment to, measures that will achieve human safety and
environmental protection'' that would also rely heavily on the industry
to ``make a widespread, forceful and long-term commitment to
cultivating a serious approach to safety that sets the highest safety
standards and consistently meets them.''
The National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and
Offshore Drilling (2011) observed, ``Government oversight must be
accompanied by the oil and gas industry's internal reinvention:
Sweeping reforms that accomplish no less than a fundamental
transformation of its safety culture.'' The National Commission
recommended looking at the nuclear industry for an example of drastic
improvement in safety culture. Following the partial meltdown in 1979
of the radioactive core in Unit Two at the Three Mile Island Nuclear
Generating Station, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the U.S.
government's regulatory agency for the nuclear industry, began
initiatives to help influence the safety culture of the
[[Page 75444]]
nuclear energy industry toward continuous improvement. One of these
initiatives was to work with the nuclear industry and public to develop
a formal policy on the NRC's expectations for a strong and effective
safety culture.
The BSEE has reviewed the NRC's safety culture policy and believes
it provides a strong foundation for a similar approach for oil and gas
operations on the OCS, with the ultimate goal of facilitating the
continued development of a robust safety culture for all persons
working on the OCS.
II. Statement of Policy
It is BSEE's policy that a strong safety culture is an essential
element for individuals, both internal to the BSEE and external,
performing or overseeing regulated activities. As such, BSEE will
include appropriate means to monitor safety culture in its oversight
programs and internal management processes. The BSEE defines safety
culture as the core values and behaviors resulting from a collective
commitment by leaders and individuals to emphasize safety over
competing goals to ensure protection of people and the environment.
Further, it is important for all lessees, the owners or holders of
operating rights, designated operators or agents of the lessee(s),
pipeline right-of-way holders, State lessees granted a right-of-use and
easement, and contractors to foster in personnel an appreciation for
the importance of safety, emphasizing the need for its integration and
balance with competing performance objectives to achieve optimal
protection without compromising production goals.
Individuals and organizations performing regulated activities bear
the primary responsibility for safety.
Experience has shown that certain personal and organizational
characteristics are present in a positive safety culture. A
characteristic, in this case, is a pattern of thinking, feeling, and
behaving that emphasizes safety, particularly in goal conflict
situations (e.g., production, schedule, and the cost of the effort
versus safety).
The following are characteristics of a robust safety culture:
(1) Leadership Safety Values and Actions--Leaders demonstrate a
commitment to safety in their decisions and behaviors;
(2) Problem Identification and Resolution--Issues potentially
impacting safety are promptly identified, fully evaluated, and promptly
addressed and corrected commensurate with their significance;
(3) Personal Accountability--All individuals take personal
responsibility for safety;
(4) Work Processes--The process of planning and controlling work
activities is implemented so that safety is maintained;
(5) Continuous Learning--Opportunities to learn about ways to
ensure safety are sought out and implemented;
(6) Environment for Raising Concerns--A safety conscious work
environment is maintained where personnel feel free to raise safety
concerns without fear of retaliation, intimidation, harassment, or
discrimination;
(7) Effective Safety Communication--Communications maintain a focus
on safety;
(8) Respectful Work Environment--Trust and respect permeate the
organization; and
(9) Inquiring Attitude--Individuals avoid complacency and
continuously consider and review existing conditions and activities in
order to identify discrepancies that might result in error or
inappropriate action.
There may be traits not included in this Draft Safety Culture
Policy Statement that are also important in a positive safety culture.
It should be noted that these traits were not developed to be used for
inspection purposes.
III. Questions for Which BSEE Is Seeking Input
The previous discussion addressed BSEE's approach to safety culture
policy going forward and we would like your input. We will consider any
comments that you feel would be beneficial to this policy. We welcome
your input, your experiences, and your knowledge. The BSEE welcomes any
comments on all content in this notice, but we specifically welcome
your input on the following items.
(1) The draft Safety Culture Policy Statement provides a
description of attributes that are important to safety culture, (i.e.,
safety culture characteristics). What characteristics relevant to a
particular type of OCS activity do not appear to be addressed in this
notice?
(2) What safety culture characteristics, described in the draft
Safety Culture Policy Statement, do not contribute to safety culture on
the OCS and, therefore, should not be included?
(3) The draft Safety Culture Policy Statement defines safety
culture as: ``The core values and behaviors resulting from a collective
commitment by leaders and individuals to emphasize safety over
competing goals to ensure protection of people and the environment.''
Please comment on any parts of this definition that need further
clarification to be useful for operations on the OCS.
(4) The draft policy statement states, ``[I]t is important for all
lessees, the owners or holders of operating rights, designated
operators or agents of the lessee(s), pipeline right-of-way holders,
State lessees granted a right-of-use and easement, and contractors to
foster in personnel an appreciation for the importance of safety,
emphasizing the need for its integration and balance with competing
performance objectives to achieve optimal protection without
compromising production goals.'' Given the diversity among OCS
activities regulated by BSEE, please comment on the need to provide
further clarification on this statement.
(5) How well does the draft Safety Culture Policy Statement enhance
organization's understanding of BSEE's expectations that they maintain
a safety culture?
(6) In addition to issuing a Safety Culture Policy Statement, what
might BSEE consider doing, or doing differently, to increase OCS
attention to safety culture?
(7) How can BSEE better involve stakeholders to address safety
culture?
To ensure efficient consideration of your comments, please identify
the specific question numbers with your comments when applicable.
Dated: December 13, 2012.
James A. Watson,
Director, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2012-30670 Filed 12-19-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-VH-P
