Step Change in Safety Wins European Accolade

UK safety body Step Change in Safety has won a commendation by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for its efforts to improve workforce engagement in the offshore oil and gas industry.

Step Change, which is focused on the oil and gas sector, reported Wednesday that its Workforce Engagement Toolkit was shortlisted for a European Good Practice award. The toolkit is designed to help oil and gas firms measure workforce engagement at individual worksites, identify areas of improvement and provide practical guidelines on how to make these improvements.

The accolade came at the 11th Good Practice Awards in Dublin April 29.

Step Change in Safety Team Leader Les Linklater commented in a statement:

"We know that worksites which demonstrate positive engagement with their staff on safety matters are the ones which have the best safety records, therefore the Workforce Engagement Toolkit was designed to help companies measure and improve how they do this.

"It's an honor to receive such commendation at a European level and it is testament to the passion and drive of Step Change in Safety’s Workforce Engagement Steering Group which led the project. I believe using the toolkit will benefit not just individual worksites, but could transform workforce engagement across the UK Continental Shelf if widely adopted. Other industries across Europe and the rest of the world will undoubtedly find good practice within the toolkit which could be adopted across a much wider spectrum."

Jake Molloy, a regional organizer for the RMT union and member of the Workforce Engagement Steering Group, added:

"This is great news for the whole Step Change team but I think in particular for the Workforce Engagement Steering Group leaders, Ian Sharp and Mike Bowyer. Without their drive and commitment it might not have made it off the drawing board. It is a great initiative and, with the right input from workers, the toolkit has the potential to make a real difference."

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European equities look ready to rally

Money Observer's hypothetical balanced portfolio is making good progress. Manager Jason Evans at Kohn Cougar tells Helen Pridham why a Japan holding has rallied and why he is increasing European equity exposure with a new fund.

Stockmarkets have continued to recover since October's previous review. Investors are beginning to increase their equity exposures, although they remain unsure about the future.

The outcome of the US election resolved one uncertainty, but there are plenty of potential pitfalls ahead. That said, investors are becoming more positive. The FTSE All-Share rose 3.9% over the quarter.

The portfolio did not rise as much as the stockmarket, because of its asset mix, but it had a relatively good quarter, returning 2.7%. The Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers Balanced Portfolio index rose 2.3% over the quarter.

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A European Perspective on the U.S. Shale Energy Revolution

The intersection of a recent anti-natural gas fundraiser at the trendy Brooklyn Winery – featuring fabulous culinary delights prepared by a group of talented chefs – and the natural gas that made the evening possible was, well, simply mouth-watering.

New York Daily News columnist Bill Hammond writes that the “Taste of the Marcellus” event last week was hosted by a group called Chefs for the Marcellus, to showcase the kinds of foods they say could be jeopardized if New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo OKs hydraulic fracturing in that state’s portion of the Marcellus Shale. Hammond:

"Guests were treated to eggplant-stuffed okra, smoked lamb belly with fermented tofu and whipped ricotta jewel on toast — along with wines from the Finger Lakes and beers from Cooperstown’s Ommegang brewery. Th... more »

Jill is a district manager for Total Safety, a company that provides service solutions for various aspects of the oil and natural gas industry, as well as power-generation and industrial markets. For her, the industry is about future job security: “It’s really an industry that’s not going away.”

Her video:

Visit American Energy Works.org for more videos and information about the people who’re at work for America’s energy future.

A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds two of the top three issues that Americans care about the most in this election year are … jobs and reducing the federal budget deficit. Check and check. America’s oil and natural gas industry can help with both. Respondents were asked to weigh the importance of a number of issues (see chart), and 92 percent said creating good jobs is “extremely/very important.” On cutting the federal deficit the figure was 86 percent. Jobs and revenue to the government – we can help.

With the right policies in place – increasing access to American natural resources, the right approach to energy regulation, encouraging energy investments and more – our industry could create 1.4 million jobs by 2030. Here’s how the Wood Mackenzie energy consulting firm charts the pot... more »

Energy-driven economic growth is more than theory in places like Mount Vernon, Ohio, and Chandlersville, about 60 miles to the southeast. Shale energy is building growth in both places – in different ways.

In Mount Vernon, Ariel Corporation is experiencing demand for the reciprocating gas compressors it manufactures, which are used to extract, process, transport, store and distribute natural gas from shale. In Chandlersville, Steve Addis and his wife own and operate Annie’s Restaurant, which is seeing an influx of workers who’re drilling new shale gas wells in the area. Both show how the oil and natural gas industry supports jobs beyond direct industry jobs.

More in this video:

Visit American Energy Works.org for more videos and information about the people who’re at work for Am... more »

ConocoPhillips’ Bob Morton is chief materials scientist at the company’s technology center in Bartlesville, Okla. The chemical that allowed development of low-sulfur gasoline and diesel – without sacrificing octane and without increasing the cost of the fuel – was developed there, he says.

Coming up with environmentally friendly consumer products is Morton’s mission:

“What I really love about my job is sometimes I’m given the opportunity to see something that nobody has seen before. And when those moments happen truly, those are the things that I think are the most wonderful parts of doing the job.”

Check out Bob’s story:

Visit American Energy Works.org for more videos and information about the people who’re at work for America’s energy future.

... more »

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