Abstract
This paper presents lessons learned from case studies in onshore exploration and production (E&P) audit program development and delivery. The objective is to outline and describe an audit methodology that will allow the E&P Company to improve business performance through an effective audit program.
Many companies use audit programs to measure the effectiveness of both management systems and environmental, health and safety (EHS) staff process fluency. While many audit programs focus on internal and external findings, they often fail to adequately address the root cause of poor EHS performance.
Meeting these challenges requires a new, integrated approach to assessing and managing EHS risk. Advanced audit programs that move past traditional techniques create a culture of risk control, compliance and EHS that is behavior based. Understanding how to drive these values into the organization on the ground level is a key component to shifting the organizational view of EHS audits from failure documentation to business performance improvement.
Implementing an integrated audit program does not eliminate the risk of non conformances however, it does allow managers to: 1) understand and assess the EHS risk to their business, 2) implement a prioritized risk mitigation program and 3) create a culture of performance improvement. This paper will identify mistakes made during typical program design and discuss simple yet profound recommendations to help your audit program drive business improvement.
