Safety Management Systems

Effective Safety Management Systems (SMS) are people-oriented, integrated with work processes, and assessed periodically to ensure continued improvement and progress towards system maturity. Join us to discuss real-world examples on knowledge management, use of SMS to drive a safety culture, how SMS can be integrated into work processes to accelerate adoption and the need to conduct ongoing assessments to ensure your SMS is effective and continually improved.

This track is sponsored by:

Meet the Safety Management Systems Program Development Team. Learn more about the Operations Conference.

All session times are listed in Pacific time.

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

9:15 AM – 10:30 AM
You Have Collected SMS Data, Now What?
Speakers: Nancy Maynard, Manager of Damage Prevention Program Management, NiSource
Steve Allen, Executive Director of Pipeline Safety, ENERGY worldnet, Inc.
Learn how companies evaluate and implement changes to their SMS. This session will explore the various ways that today’s technologies support the elements of a Safety Management System.  Technologies from Mobile Applications covering things such as training, communications, notifications, documentation, audit checklists, etc. to sophisticated Risk Modeling software applications enable organizations to manage and operate their companies in ways that were only dreamed of ten years ago.

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

1:15 PM – 2:30 PM
Measuring SMS Effectiveness and Success
Speakers: Elizabeth Peters, Manager – Safety Management System, San Diego Gas & Electric Company
Sara McCoy, Director, Risk Management, Salt River Project
Martin Gamez, Principal, Gas Safety Excellence, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Program Benchmarking, Stakeholder Engagement, Key Metrics, and Challenges An effective Safety Management System (SMS) requires ongoing review, assessment, and benchmarking to measure program effectiveness and identify opportunities for continuous safety improvement. There are several ways to measure the effectiveness and success of a SMS. This session dives into ways companies can evaluate their SMS program with the following three presentation topics: 1. Program benchmarking, third-party support, stakeholder engagement and surveys 2. Metrics, key performance indicators (leading and lagging), tracking trends and observations Safety culture and engagement challenges faced due to Covid and solutions to keep stakeholders engaged in a virtual setting.

3:00 PM – 4:15 PM
How Are You Engaging Your Contractors in Your SMS?
Speakers: Shane Thacker, Manager/Construction Operations Support, Southwest Gas Corporation
Steve Allen, Executive Director of Pipeline Safety, ENERGY worldnet, Inc.
Learn How Companies Are Linking Their Contractors to Their SMS.  API 1173 requires pipeline operators to engage contractors in their SMS by communicating the requirements of their SMS as well as how to incorporate lessons learned by both the operator and the contractor. Hear best practices from a consultant who has worked with numerous utilities and learn from an operator who coordinates directly with their contractors and incorporates safety/quality in their contracts.

Thursday, April 21, 2022

1:45 PM – 3:00 PM
Tool or No Tool – How Does an Operator Implement Management of Change
Speakers: Jo Ellen Scott, Technical Lead, EN Engineering, LLC
Gary Bailey, Safety Management Systems Program Manager, Southern California Gas Company
At this time, MOC is federally mandated for Transmission Integrity Management Program (TIMP), Operator Qualification (OQ) and Control Room Management (CRM).  As regulations and the industry promote Pipeline Safety Management, a detailed MOC process becomes critical to ensure potential risks are identified with associated with changes. This session will provide strategies for developing and implementing MOC process related to technology, equipment, procedures and organization.