Communicating BBS

For companies which rolled out new BBS program, the new challenge is to be able to sustain the high level of participation and accountability demonstrated by all involved personnel at the pilot phase. Proper communication is a key to success of the BBS program regardless to the title. Below is the set of guidelines to enable you to communicate BBS more effectively, not to sound like an interrigator and to scare personnel away from the program due to perceived posibility of retribution for participation.

• Encouragement Tips
• Observe BBS Implementation
• Discuss BBS during field visits
• Discussing BBS during Conference Calls
• Discussing BBS during Management Meetings

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Encouragement Tips

Your tone of voice is much louder than your words. Always speak with a supportive and encouraging tone, if you are agressive or harsh, the person on the other end will shut off and not communicate.

Never accuse, blame or question someone to the point of interrogation. Instead ask, how this could have been prevented and how to avoid it from happening again in the future.

If you want the supervisor to take ownership of the problem, ask him for his opinion on a solution. Don’t always give the solution up front. Encourage them to think.

Remember your role as manager is to:

• Influence
• Encourage
• Persuade
• Lead
• and most importantly, Keep Them Safe!

Be transparent, be honest, listen and give the opportunity for them to speak, practice what you preach, beleive in what you say, encourage them to always do the right thing, be assertive and clear in your instructions, always ask how tasks can be performed Safer not Faster!

Observing BBS implementation during Field Visits

• Were you introduced to BBS during familiarization;
• Were you given any blank cards to keep with you during visit;
• Were you asked whether you had observed anything reportable;
• Were the BBS card boxes checked daily by responsible person;

Discussing BBS during Field Visit

• Is the BBS process clear, from uploading an observation to closing out actions?
• Can any task be combined or eliminated from the process?
• Is there something that could be added to the process that would add value?
• What challenges do you face that might impact the quality of observations?
• What challenges do you face that might impact the quality of action close out?
• Where do you keep blank cards?
• How can BBS help to reduce Unsafe Acts?
• What can be done to reduce Unsafe Acts in general?
• What is your role in BBS?
• Which step of the process do you thing you need support?
• How does BBS impact our Company’s business?
• Any practicale benefits to BBS?
• Have you or your team made contributions towards BBS? (comments, App, ideas, posters, etc)
• How do you encourage your team to contribute towards BBS?
• What didn’t I ask you that I should have?

Discussing BBS during Conference Calls

Question	Purpose	Support
What does our BBS progress look like this week?	To understand the statistics (observations, actions, improvements)	Focus on influencers (root causes) as well as improvements on the behaviors (safe scores) Look for Observations raised. Actions raised/closed Example of good quality observations. Which behaviors are of concern this week? What are we doing to improve the behaviors with low percentage safe scores?
Are we focusing on safe behaviors as well? Can you describe any safe behaviors you observed?	To give emphasis that safe observations are equally as important.
In your opinion is there quality in the observation cards? Is the crew able to identify the root casue? Can you give me an example?	We want to ensure emphasis is given to quality observations not quantity of observations
Have we chosen any observations or suggestions for recognition? If so, can you read them out?	To ensure good observations are recognized to keep the motivation	Ensure that the Rig Manager knows how to recognize the individual (using available HSE Rewarding processes)
Do we have any pending actions from the observations? If yes, what are they? If no, is there a reason why there are no actions?	Actions are important and need to be closed out	If there are no new actions this could be because they have been closed out at the time of the observation. Also not every observation warrants an action so please be wary.
What can we do to improve problem x?	To show your support and to also give them ownership of the problem.
Do you have any concerns with the BBS process? Have you raised this to your respective BBS site rep? Do you require more support from them?	No manmade system is perfec, needs continous improvement and we need their feedback in order to improve. Please document the feedback to share with the BBS team.	Overload with a Lot of Work: If the Supervisor claims that this is too much extra work or they do not have time to write cards, you should take the opportunity to remind them that supervision is part of their role. And BBS is designed so they can carry the cards with them during carrying out their supervisory duties  and write them down.
Are there any ideas or suggestions you would like to share?	Encourage them to come up with initiatives and improvements	Any initiatives should be sent through the BBS team to ensure standardatization. Initiatives should include the developer’s names so we can give them credit accordingly.
Do you have any other pressing challenges at site that you would like to discuss?	To show them you are ready to listen and support	Other issues could affect the safety performance at the site, the more people communicate the more you learn about what is going on.
How is the crew? Have they raised any concerns?	To show them you are ready to listen and support	Crew moral etc. has an impact on performance. It is good to understand if the crew is having any problems.
Always remember, if it is unsafe you are empowered to STOP the job.	Keep reinforcing the message.

Discussing BBS during Management Meetings

Conversation Points	Support
Share your implementation progress/Share your status.	For units still rolling out BBS, view the data based on the implementation criteria. Identify what is holding them back from achieving 100% success on that unit. Provide advice, support where necessary. For units that have achieved 100% roll out, look at the statistics to identify improvements or drops in performance, challenge and understand why. Confirm quality of observations. Identify any learning’s, have they been shared? Recognize efforts, reinforce good performance, encourage and support.
Do you have any observations with regards to the implementation/current status?	There may be issues with turnover of staff, moves, budget cuts, new supervisors etc that could all contribute to a drop in performance, discuss these in order to support or put measures in place to avoid similar drops in future. There may be observation made through the data, for example, large number of unsafe observations in one particular behavior, behaviors linked to one particular root cause that may need support eliminating, a large number of LSR violations etc.
Are there any lessons to be shared?	Lessons they may have been learned through suggestions or observations. Any good practices can also be shared here to be replicated in other locations. Recognize any initiatives that may have been developed by the supervisor or crew.

Do’s & Don’t’s

Don’t	Do
Do not ask about number of observations	Ask about the quality of observations that have been received
Do not focus on observations	Focus on the root causes identified through observations / conversations
Do not blend operational topics with safety	Aim to focus on one subject at a time, later on you could ask how safety and the technical aspects coincide.
Do not focus on number of actions closed out only	Focus on the quality and value of actions closed out.