Health, Safety and Incident Risk Management

Health, Safety And Incident Risk Management

Our goal is to establish a culture that prioritizes safety and to implement health, safety, and environment (HSE) requirements, including risk management expectations, that support an incident-free work environment. It takes everyone at the jobsite working together as an interdependent team and adhering to these safe work practices to achieve our goal of being incident-free.

Consistent with our core value around safety and environment and in support of our overall HSE policies, we launched LiveSafe™ across all of our businesses. LiveSafe™ focuses our attention and actions on making safety personal in everything that we do, whether on or off the job. We are committed to LiveSafe™ because we value the safety of our people, our families, and our coworkers. 

As stated in our HSE Policy Statement which applies across our Company and at all facilities and locations, our managers and supervisors are accountable for the safety of our people and are committed to ensuring that they have functional equipment, required personal protection equipment (PPE) and training for their tasks.

Our HSE professionals, under the oversight of the leaders of our businesses, and in turn, our executive management, including our chief executive officer, have developed Health, Safety and Environment management systems to establish the policies, standards, and procedural requirements by which we conduct our business in order to achieve these objectives. We prioritize health, safety, and environmental control and carefully monitor our performance and adherence to established management system requirements. Our executive management and Board of Directors regularly review and discuss, on at least a quarterly basis, our safety results and trends at the beginning of each regular Board meeting. We regularly audit and review our HSE performance in all of our businesses.

The timing and frequency of these audits is set by an established audit calendar, which is developed considering the type of audit and required frequency. Corrective actions are identified and implemented for any non-conformities observed during the audit. Best practices discovered during these audits and other assurance activities are aggregated and disseminated to our operations teams, HSE professionals, and technical services group so they can be reviewed and implemented across our organization.

Safety Performance

Due to our operations being primarily onshore and focused in the United States, we measure our safety performance against that of our industry peers who have similar geographical operational footprints. One of the many metrics that we track is our Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR). Our contract drilling TRIR in 2022 was better than the average TRIR for U.S. onshore contract drillers, as reported to the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC). We had zero employee or contractor fatalities in 2020, 2021, and 2022. In 2022, our employees worked a total of 16,155,464 man hours.

Total Recordable Incident Rate

Ongoing Safety Training

At Patterson-UTI, we prioritize investment in training our employees to be knowledgeable about and responsible for the safe execution of their actions in order to protect themselves, their team members and others. Learning is a core focus and continuous development is a key tenet of our training. Our training programs, both classroom and on-the-job, give our people a clear path for success right from the start. We coach and we mentor. Continuous learning is our way of life.

We require all field-based employees to take Employee Safety Orientation (ESO). Courses include content on Behavior- Based Safety, Hazard Awareness, Safe Systems of Work, Permission to Work, Time Out for Safety, Energy Isolation, Hazard Communication (HAZCOM), Material Handling, etc. Additionally, in 2022 the drilling business continued to expand the focus of our learning and development offerings to include expanded focus on process safety. In support of this focus, we developed and rolled out our new Pressure Safety eLearning training, which explains what pressure is and why it is on the Hazard Circle. Also, the eLearning provides training on the following:

• Identifying sources of low pressure and high pressure on location.
• Describing the processes to be followed when working on or with pressure systems according to our Safe Systems of Work processes.
• Explaining the actions to take when working with pressure systems.
  
  

SPOTLIGHT ON EMPLOYEE SAFETY TRAINING COURSES
Course Name	2022 Attendance
Employee Safety Orientation (ESO) for New Employees	>4,000
Rig Fundamentals	>3,200
Well Operations Training	>800
Cold Weather Operations Training	>5,900
Hot Weather Operations Training	>6,000

 

Where appropriate, we require contractors to undergo orientation sessions, including safety orientation, prior to working on our jobsites.

New Personnel Onboarding And Induction Support

In order to increase communication between new employees and existing personnel and make new employees feel welcome at the jobsite, the drilling business launched First Hitch in 2022. Through this process, new employees digitally submit feedback and document completion of key items during their first hitch, which is their first rotation at the jobsite. This program also allows new employees to spend time with rig-based leadership and the crew to review core components of their job duties and performance requirements to support their orientation, mentoring, and development through their first hitch.

Risk Management | Stop Work Authority

The safety of our employees and others is our highest priority. Our employees, contractors, and anyone else on our work locations are empowered to call a Time Out For Safety (TOFS). A TOFS is focused on stopping the job before something is able to escalate and can no longer be controlled, potentially resulting in a significant incident or injury.

When a TOFS is called, a conversation is held with involved personnel to talk about why it was called, what has changed, and what needs to be modified so work can safely resume.

To further support personnel in calling a TOFS, ensure visibility and insight into potential lessons learned, and identify opportunities for enhancing our requirements, the drilling business digitized the TOFS process in 2022. The digital submission allows for real time data aggregation.

Our pressure pumping business empowers employees with a similar stop work authority. We believe there is no job worth performing if it cannot be performed safely. Safety meetings and “Hazard Circle” briefings are tools we use to identify risks and communicate those risks through safety alerts

Permission to Work

Our Permission to Work program is a formal system of control for all contract drilling and pressure pumping jobsite operations. Our system focuses on controlling critical and potentially hazardous operations and outlines the requirements for the Jobsite Manager’s permission to control the job rather than a permit. Each job task is task is categorized based on a risk assessment associated with the expected scope of work, hazard associated with the job and the appropriate amount of supervision required.

For example, we pre-categorized critical jobs (for example, “hot work” jobs involving welding or cutting) utilizing a color code system that illustrates the severity of the activities, while defining the appropriate level of supervision. Our Jobsite Manager then verifies the work is ready to begin and gives permission for the job to start by signing the certificate. After completion of the work, the Jobsite Manager must conduct a post job examination of the worksite, close the operation by signing the certificate and conduct a post job review.

The goal of this system is to help us to control the outcome of each job in a safe, efficient manner. Additionally, our system dictates that an appropriate level of risk assessment be completed prior to performing any operation, and dynamic risk assessment be conducted throughout the operation.

Stop and Think

In 2022, the drilling business implemented a Stop and Think Program, which provides guidance and supporting resources to assist our personnel in more consistently and effectively managing risk. At the core of the Program is the requirement to Stop and Think before starting any work activity to ensure it is safe to start the job.

Driving Safety

Our pressure pumping business, which maintains approximately 1,000 vehicles in its fleet, launched a driver safety program to promote safe driving practices in 2022.

Maintaining Our Standards

In our contract drilling and pressure pumping businesses, we routinely evaluate contractors to ensure they meet both Patterson-UTI and our customers’ HSE requirements. In our evaluation process, we review and evaluate contractors prior to hire based on HSE performance statistics, selected HSE policies and procedures, questionnaires, and third-party evaluation systems. This evaluation process assists us in screening contractors and maintaining our standards. We monitor existing contractors’ safety performance in assessing whether to continue contractor relationships.

Industrial Hygiene Management Policy

We understand the importance of occupational health, as our employees work in many different environments and conditions. We assess these conditions with industrial hygiene management policies that include: respiratory protection, hearing protection, hazard communication (HAZCOM), climate and environmental condition risk mitigation and industrial hygiene monitoring.

We perform industrial hygiene monitoring to identify, evaluate, and document potential exposure to biological, chemical, and physical hazards at Patterson-UTI jobsites and facilities, which includes:

• Workplace hazard assessments conducted at each yard, shop and rig location
• Crew houses monitored and inspected on a periodic basis
• Periodic occupational exposure monitoring
• Temperature monitoring on location

Incident Review and Comprehensive Incident Management System (IMS)

In our contract drilling and pressure pumping businesses, our policies require that any incident, including any near hit, is reported to the manager on location and recorded and tracked in our Incident Management System (IMS). The incident is then reviewed and classified based on its actual and potential severity. The purpose of the IMS program is to establish the requirements for how work-related incidents and near hits are reported, investigated, corrected, recorded, and communicated. The IMS program also helps enable assignment of corrective actions and preventative actions, as well as identifying opportunities for communication of lessons learned.

HSE Communication Initiatives

The drilling business has implemented a Quick Share process, which is designed as a method to quickly, succinctly, and responsibly share information and raise awareness of important safety and operational events. Communications include high-level event information and key take-aways, and are focused on raising awareness around events such as those that may pose potentially significant harm to people and other significant operational concerns.

Cloud-Based Management and Feedback System

We expect our employees to actively participate in crafting our processes and procedures, and we encourage everyone to approach their supervisor with suggestions for improvement and, in our contract drilling business, to use our readily available computer-based feedback system. Our cloud-based Management System houses the policies, procedures, and standards that define the Company’s expectations and requirements related to safety and operational processes.

The Management System also includes technical standards, forms, inspections, audits and other supporting documentation for daily operations. Our employees have the opportunity to take ownership of Company management systems documents by providing direct feedback and suggestions using our Policy Improvement Request (PIR) process. If there is a need for clarification, revision, or the expansion of existing processes, employees can submit their requests through this online system.

Cornerstones for Life

The “Cornerstone for Life” rules provide our employees with extra focus on potentially high-risk activities where we believe failure to follow rules could lead to a much higher probability of serious injury or fatality.

Cornerstones for Life are tailored for our contract drilling and pressure pumping businesses to highlight critical safety expectations at all jobsites. Patterson-UTI employees, contractors and visitors are required to adhere to these rules. Some examples of Cornerstones for Life in our businesses include:Some examples of Cornerstones for Life in our businesses include:

• Utilize our permission to work process without fail.
• Follow our fall protection policy.
• Properly isolate energy to equipment / lockout tagout when appropriate.
• Follow appropriate management of change protocols.
• Take appropriate precautions when working around overhead power lines.
• Ensure that appropriately sized tubular handling equipment is utilized.
• Follow our safe driving and fit for duty policies.

Emergency Planning and Response

We have policies and procedures in place to address emergency planning and emergency response. For example, our locations regularly have onsite safety drills, including severe weather and well control drills. Our cloudbased Management System contains policies covering safety and emergency response topics, including detailing requirements for conducting drills, including frequency and type of emergency response drills.

Management of Change

Our Management of Change policy provides a managed systematic approach designed to ensure, to the extent possible, that health, safety, and environmental risks are identified, understood, communicated, controlled, and approved prior to implementing certain changes to our operating procedures and policies. The policy requires that certain operating procedural changes be reviewed and approved before implementation to reduce the potential for risks resulting from such changes.