Safe System Circle – A Novel Approach in HSE Culture Transformation for Deepwater Exploration Drilling Campaign

Abstract Fostering a strong Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) culture during a short-term offshore deepwater drilling campaign presents considerable challenges—particularly due to the condensed project timeline and the intensity of high-risk operations involved. Despite these constraints, the Drilling HSE team was entrusted with a critical mission: to support the company’s first deepwater drilling campaign while achieving Zero Lost Time Incidents (LTI), a key HSE performance indicator. To meet this strategic objective, the team launched an innovative initiative titled "Safe System Circle (SSC)", designed to accelerate cultural transformation. The SSC model integrates elements of the company’s Safe System of Work (SSOW), quality circle methodology, and a structured HSE coaching framework to align frontline safety behaviors with the organization’s overarching safety values. Studies indicate that 80-90% of losses in industrial operations stem from human error, both at the individual and organizational levels. Despite this, only 3.4% of organizations have established mature systems for proactively identifying, evaluating, and managing risks. A positive safety culture is increasingly recognized as a prerequisite for strong safety performance and often serves as a reliable predictor of such outcomes. However, cultivating a positive safety culture typically requires significant time and sustained effort, which may not be feasible for short-duration projects such as exploration drilling campaigns. In response, the Drilling HSE team in Indonesia adapted a fundamental coaching strategy into the SSC framework, emphasizing peer engagement and hazard awareness through structured safety discussions. The initiative was spearheaded by the onshore HSE support team, who developed a customized coaching curriculum specifically tailored for offshore deployment on a drillship. The program was rolled out in phases, beginning with the communication of essential safety principles aligned with SSOW to a core team onboard. This was followed by targeted safety leadership training for key personnel to build ownership and reinforce accountability. Finally, a tailored Behavior-Based Safety Observation (BBSO) component was implemented to drive continuous improvement in frontline practices. The case study presented in this paper highlights how a focused and inclusive approach—centered on workforce participation and behavioral change, can meaningfully enhance safety culture within a limited timeframe. The SSC model was successfully applied across three of the company’s offshore exploration drilling campaigns, contributing significantly to the achievement of the Zero LTI target and demonstrating its value as a replicable tool for future projects.