Building an award-winning global community of risk champions – with Alexander Larsen, Peter Smith and Vladislav Kulakovsky

This article follows on from another Risk Champions article – Building an Effective Risk Champions Network

As published by Risk Leadership Network – Publication date: Thursday, 13 May 2021 – with Alexander Larsen, Peter Smith and Vladislav Kulakovsky

Creating a consistent framework for risk management across a diverse, multi-national organisation can be difficult, but a network of like-minded people can spread the culture needed for its success.

Performing cohesive risk management across different sites is never an easy task, but when the operations of those sites include a multitude of different specialists and technicians, this amplifies problems.

The risk managers interviewed here, along with colleagues, came up with a simple yet effective idea that took risk management outside the traditional risk function to interested individuals so that risk became a part of everyday life.

They then created a centralised tool so this community could share best practice and improve knowledge and understanding globally. The result was an award for best risk communication initiative at the MEA Risk and Insurance Excellence Awards 2016.

Exec summary

• At its heart, risk management relies on having the right people in the right place to gather and analyse the information needed to make better business decisions
• Alexander Larsen and Peter Smith, who were interviewed for this case study, along with colleagues including Vladislav Kulakovsky, created a network of risk champions to help them improve risk management across a multi-national oil company
• Not only did they bring people outside of risk management into the risk function and improve understanding and day-to-day practices and procedures, but they also created a global community underpinned by a culture of sharing to distil best practice across their company globally

Context

The company had a lot of international assets (oil fields) across the world and the company was keen to manage its overseas operations out of one single office in Dubai, which is where Vladislav, who kickstarted risk management within the project, and we, were based. Although based in Dubai, Alexander eventually moved to Iraq for a few years to work on the Iraqi asset that was being managed from Dubai.

We decided early on that the Iraqi asset, a megaproject, would be a good starting point for an initiative that looked to improve risk management on the ground in Iraq, both during the project and when it was handed over to operations for ongoing management of the facility.

The oil field in Iraq was the largest undeveloped asset in the world at the time, and the company was investing billions of pounds into its development over several years, so it was a really mammoth undertaking, with several megaprojects running simultaneously, often inter- linked.

Having appropriate and effective risk management controls would be a big factor in its success both in terms of meeting project timelines and budget, but also for its successful operation once the facility was complete.

We, and indeed the rest of the risk management team, were neither drilling experts nor geologists so we decided to set up a risk champion structure using staff from the various technical departments on the ground in Iraq to help feed into the risk management process. This would be critical to the success of not only risk management or this project, but of other projects too.

Although it took time to gain traction and there were numerous challenges (language, culture, risk understanding and differing project or departmental objectives, to name a few), once it was implemented successfully, the risk team realised the opportunity for sharing the lessons learned.

Taking the successful risk champion structure and then distributing it to assets across different continents would allow other facilities to learn from their successes and develop their own risk champion structure (or improve already established ones). It would also allow sharing of ideas and knowledge that may even bring benefits to the Iraqi asset, where it originated.

Over time, the network expanded further, inviting non-risk staff to join, and providing access to a knowledge database of tools, procedures and best practice.

Before the network was in place, there was a lot of communication with, and travel to, overseas suppliers and contractors. So, we thought that by having individuals in each of these different areas of the business, we would reduce the amount of time spent on collecting the information, while also increasing the quality of the information. Then, we could focus on running quantitative risk analysis, reporting across the project and supporting decision- making within the projects – which, after all, was the main part of our job.

Key Steps

Sourcing network champions

The way we decided to approach expanding and improving the risk management programme and bring in expertise from various areas of our business was to set up a network of risk champions.

These were people who had the right roles in the right departments and who could provide us with the right level of information on their aspect of the project. They also had a certain level of technical expertise combined with an ability to learn and communicate ideas.

It started out as an informal process; we needed help speaking to various experts in the business and understanding the technical information being fed to us by people like geologists or engineers.

In order to find the right individuals, we would look for people across the business who were showing an interest in, and enthusiasm for, risk and developing their understanding of risk management.

Getting champions on board

Once we’d determined who was keen to get involved, we would speak to their manager, explain what we were trying to achieve, and get their permission to start involving that worker in the risk management processes.

Sometimes there was some pushback from managers on this, so we would need to involve influential people who were onboard with our project to try and convince any dubious manager of the benefits of letting their employee get involved.

Conversing with champions

We would meet at least once a month, both in formal and informal sessions, to share information around what risks we were facing and how the controls were working. This would be in offices on site in Iraq, but could include more relaxed meetings like going for a walk around the site in the evening, for example.

It was important to build a relationship of trust and friendship with them while also making the risk management discussions more relaxed and fun.

All the information and risks we gathered, as well as the analysis results, we then fed to the Dubai office, where Peter and Vlad would bring all this together into a central source for the Iraq asset that detailed all of our policies, procedures and risk analysis work.

Outputs

Creating consistent reporting

One of the first tangible outputs to come out of the risk champion network project – and the Iraq project more widely – was a set of more complete and more effective dashboard reports that gave an overview of all the different operations in Iraq so they could be reported on in one overarching report.

When this reached the corporate team operating in the Head Offices, they too wanted to expand the value beyond the international business. It also paved the way for these reports and the practices we had put in place to be rolled out across the company.

We were able to take these reports to our partners in joint venture projects, as well as our suppliers, so they could see how we did risk management, but also so that we could incorporate our risk management processes into their operations to better manage the risks we faced from the work they were doing either with us or on behalf of us.

Building a global community

At this point, the overseas office in Dubai was really starting to see and understand the value of what we were doing in Iraq and wanted to roll it out across all of the company’s other assets around the world.

Up until then, these different sites had, of course, been practicing some form of risk management, but there was no overarching structure to it, and the levels of risk management being undertaken at each site varied greatly.

To bring some level of harmony to all these different sites, we decided to establish what we called a community of practice. Peter set it up initially, using the information, policies, procedures and risk champions structure that Alexander and Vlad had developed on the ground in Iraq and in the Dubai office. We then added to what we had in order to provide a more overarching approach that might be suitable for all assets.

The community of practice was a virtual group for everyone within the company who had a responsibility of risk, regardless of which site they were working on or in which region they were based. We then shared best practice solutions and success stories from our experience in Iraq so that they could be incorporated into all the different risk management practices across the company as a whole. Over time other assets shared their success stories and challenges too.

Building a central repository

Once we had firmly established ourselves in Iraq and been given the go-ahead from the overseas office to push these ideas out to the other international operations across the world, we knew that alongside having the community of risk champions, we would also need a

central hub for sharing all the different documents, reports and pieces of information that these individuals were creating.

And that central repository of information we created eventually became one of the successes underpinning the community of practice that had been rolled out across the company.

The repository was initially based on the information we had collected as part of the Iraq project, but we later expanded this to include a database of resources and a chat function so people across the various different sites could comment on the resources, asking each other questions or providing feedback.

The different sites were able to download the various resources in the hub and then tweak and tailor them to the specific needs of their part of the organisation.

This really helped to create a unified approach to risk management across the company, while still allowing processes and procedures to be flexible enough to meet the specific requirements of each region and site.

Expanding the community of practice

As part of this roll-out to the wider company, we knew we also wanted to expand and formalise the community of practice so that other individuals outside of the risk function could be brought in to help the different sites, just as we had done in Iraq. We started working on improving the community of practice along with input from Vlad and other risk managers in the business to build something formalised and engaging.

To do this, we created a training programme that was delivered across the different assets, and at the end of each training session there was a sort of advert for the network, encouraging people who were interested in finding out more to get in touch.

In addition to this, we formalised an agenda that ensured each asset shared their own best practices and training presentations. Each asset was also given the opportunity to share their own documents and reports to the central repository.

While working on improving the community of practice we also revised our original risk champions network in Iraq to improve it further. For those that ultimately got involved as a risk champion, we began incorporating risk management objectives into their performance review. This really helped to give a formal structure to the network, as well as helping to build a culture that was putting risk management at the heart of everything we do.

These objectives would then get progressively more demanding and complex as people improved their understanding of risk management, until they became a fundamental part of the risk management process, and quite a few of those early champions are now carrying out roles that are solely focused on risk within the organisation and also in other organisations.

One last initiative we decided to launch was to open up parts of the central repository to contractors and partners in order to encourage knowledge-sharing among them and improve performance on our own projects. This also involved inviting contractors and certain partners to attend our meetings.

Results

One of the most successful projects we were able to use the risk champion network for was the building of a quantitative risk model based on several scenarios that included oil price, credit worthiness of partners and investors, production output, reservoir pressure and other factors.

Due to the information we had gathered and analysed with the help of all the risk champions, we could run in-depth analysis quickly and effectively. In a number of weeks we were able to build and run over 60 scenarios, something that would have been impossible without the risk champions. A couple of scenarios would have been challenging enough!

With these scenarios, we were able to demonstrate to the overseas office, as well as the HQ, the power of risk analysis. The fact that they were already used to seeing the dashboards we had created for the ongoing risk management reports meant that they were already familiar with how we operated, they trusted our data and our reports, and it was therefore much easier for us to secure their support for taking a more risk-focused approach to decision-making. This was a fantastic way to demonstrate the value of what we were doing with the risk champions network and this different approach to risk management in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the success of the community of practice was demonstrated by the fact that all the assets were providing better and more consistent risk management analysis and data despite different cultures, projects and contractors. We won a risk communications award for the work we did on the wider risk champion and community of practice project, and we even took our internal risk management training to a conference where they asked us to run a one- day masterclass in which we, along with Vlad, led various mini exercises and presentations.

The award was a great opportunity for us, and it also demonstrated once again to head office the value of what we had created, as well as representing the business in a good light in front of our peers at a big industry event.

Lessons Learned

• Understanding people and their personal and business objectives lets a risk manager understand who will be a blocker and who will be an enabler to a project. This allowed us to quickly navigate through the teams to ensure we targeted those who would engage with the process, drive adoption from within their own team and get results
• People want to share knowledge. Simply creating the platform allowed a passionate group of risk managers, risk enthusiasts and interested parties to share, communicate and learn, and that central repository of information created a hive of activity and discussion that only served to benefit the business
• Finally, the knowledge and experience sharing within the community of practice was so effective in strengthening risk management immensely across all assets globally

Risks in Iraq – Road infrastructure related risks

Road related risks come in many forms, whether its traffic, lack of roads, lack of bridges, bridges that cant carry heavy loads, roads that are not fit for purpose and roads that are not wide enough for delivery of critical equipment. Before embarking on any major project it is vital to fully understand the status of road infrastructure in the area of work. This is not often easy as access to sites in Iraq during tender stages of projects can be restricted due to land ownership issues, land mines not having been cleared etc.

Road infrastructure on Large Equipment Delivery

1. Road not wide enough for trucks

One of the critical factors in delivering equipment to site is the width of roads allowing trucks to access them. Often, roads are not wide enough in places to allow access for trucks carrying large equipment. This can lead to delays or additional cost to the company in order to build sufficient roads to allow access to these trucks.

2. Road closures leading to delays to delivery

Due to the poor quality of roads in Iraq, there is often works needed to be undertaken in order to fix roads. During this period, roads are closed meaning that equipment ready to be transferred from port to site may not be able to leave the port leading to delays to the project or even exposing operations to major disruption if it is replacement equipment. There are other reasons why roads may be closed including security issues which makes it vital that the company is aware of alternative routes (or the lack thereof)

3. Bridges unable to take weight of trucks

Basra is essentially based around marshland with rivers flowing and bridges needed to cross key access points. There is a risk that some bridges are unable to take the weight of some trucks or trucks with heavy equipment which the company may need to resolve by building alternative crossings or seeking out other routes which could come with their own issues such as security etc.

4. Trucks getting stuck on roads

Due to some roads being in severe states of disrepair or being essentially dirt roads, there is a risk that a truck can get stuck on the roads or mud (during periods of rain). The company should consider this in their delivery strategy ensuring that heavy or critical equipment is delivered outside the rainy months and ensure that all vehicles are fit for purpose, maintained and tires changed regularly in order to withstand major potholes.

In order to overcome some of the above risks, alternative strategies should be sought in order to ensure delivery such as considering a modularised strategy in order to allow smaller pieces of equipment or piping etc. to be brought to site before being assembled.
Road infrastructure on Large Equipment damage

1. Damage to equipment due to bumpy roads
I mentioned before that the condition of the roads can be poor and lead to a very bumpy ride. Assuming the vehicle doesn’t get stuck there is still a risk that the equipment, if not secured effectively (this can be difficult to monitor when using subcontractors in Iraq), can either be damaged during transportation or worse fall off the vehicle causing more severe damage.

Road infrastructure on access to sites

1. Delay of project startup and mobilization due to limited access to site
Assuming there is no infrastructure on the site of work (green field site for example), there will obviously be a delay to the project startup with teams needing to arrive on site in order to build basic infrastructure. Something that can delay this further is the fact that the site may be on marshland causing great difficulty in sustaining the basic infrastructure when rainy season comes. Assuming the initial roads are washed away with rain, significant delays can be expected. Additionally, some roads may be flooded if there isn’t a full understanding and plan of where the marshlands flood.

2. Delays to work on marshland sites during rainy weather due to lack of roads
As mentioned in the previous risk, where there is marshland there may be no access to road infrastructure during rainy season. Whilst I suggested it would be vital to consider the flood plains and build around this area, there will no doubt be areas that are unavoidable such as pipelines running through the marshland. This means that any roads that are built will need to be built higher than the floods and be able to withstand excessive water before the rainy season.

 

Risks in Iraq – Holiday related risks

One of the interesting aspects of Iraq is the vast number of holidays that they have throughout the year. This often makes it very difficult to plan schedules, especially if the contractors don’t have experience of working in Iraq or indeed, the middle east. Even if they do have experience /of the region it can still be difficult. What is even more tricky is trying to adjust for productivity drops during these periods. Very few companies have accurate data or history of productivity in Iraq and the unique nature of the country as well as holidays and the fact that it is still a war zone in many places make predicting productivity very difficult..

Ramadan holidays

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Every day during this month, Muslims around the world spend the daylight hours in a complete fast. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims all over the world abstain from all food, drink, and other physical needs during the daylight hours (such as smoking or sex). Ramadan is much more than just not eating and drinking; it is a time to purify the soul, refocus attention on God, and practice self-discipline and sacrifice.
Due to the fasting, work hours are often reduced and productivity is less.

1. Lack of sufficient consideration of productivity in schedule for ramadan

Often, foreign contractors can underestimate the impact on productivity that Ramadan has on a schedule. The shorter working hours, prayers during the night and fasting during sunshine hours takes a toll on workers (and especially during the last few years when Ramadan has been overlapping with long hot summer months). If productivity isn’t considered carefully, and either extra manpower, or more time accounted for, then a schedule can fall seriously behind during Ramadan.

2. Increase in accidents and errors

Due to the lack of concentration brought about by tiredness and fasting, there is an increased risk of accidents and errors occurring. This can be in the form of HSE related injuries to employees themselves or damage to equipment or quality failures that may require rework later in the project or even at the time leading to further delays.
For operations the impact can be even greater with damage to equipment causing considerable production downtime. the damage to equipment doesn’t have to be direct either, it can be a result of mistakes during maintenance which in turn lowers reliability or even a mistake causing a power cut and power surge which can damage equipment.

Short and unplanned holidays

1. Lack of sufficient consideration for inclusion of holidays in schedule

Similar to Ramadan, there is often key holidays that are left out of schedules. This is especially true when entering into new territories where the project teams or company has little experience of working in. As an example, in Iraq, there are 10+ days of holidays at the end of the year that many companies were unaware of and that were unaccounted for in the schedules. There are also a number of 1 or 2 day holidays throughout the year for various prophets birthdays and these can differ from region to region. It is therefore vital to understand fully, the number of holidays during the year prior to starting the project.

2. underestimating the number of days that holidays will impact schedule

Interestingly, even when a project team feel that they have accounted for all the holidays, there may be an understimate of number of days that the holiday will impact. If you take Eid for example, the official number of days holiday for Eid will be about 5-7 days. Often however, there can be an additional 2 or 3 days on either side of the holiday where workers do not turn up for their work. There is a number of reasons for this including lack of public transportation in their home towns, length of time to reach and come back from their home towns (especially in a country with red zones), extended breaks of bus drivers around the country and sometimes the worker simply feels like taking a couple of days extra off.

3. increased incidents of Protests

Something that often occurs in Iraq is that when a short holiday is announced it allows tribes to gather, unhappy workers to gather and organised events to occur. It allows these disgruntled workers or tribes to organise themselves and protest which will often have an impact on deliveries to site, safety of staff traveling around sites and security of some sites. There have been instances of offices and sites being stormed or targeted leading to asset damage, injury to staff and theft.
In some instances this has stopped operations and significantly delayed construction due to materials being missing or key equipment being damaged.

Risks in Iraq – Animals, reptiles and Insects – Part 3 (spiders,scorpions,insects)

I have already gone into detail in my last post about poisonous snakes, however there are also dangerous spiders to be aware of which are often more difficult to notice due to their size and tendency to find hidden corners in rooms or behind furniture. There are other arachnids to be concerned with in Iraq however and I will be covering them in this post.

1. Poisonous spiders

2. Camel Spiders

One of the scarier spiders, which doesn’t actually fall under the arachnid family, but rather is a cousin of the Scorpion, is the very scary and ugly camel spider. These can grow to a ridiculous size and for arachnophobia sufferers, can only be described as a nightmare. Luckily these are not seen too often and when they are spotted, they tend to be dead already.

3. Scorpions
Scorpions are rife in Iraq. All over camp during certain months, you will see at least 2-3 large ones during a shift, and at least 4-5 baby scorpions per night walking around camp. This isn’t so much a problem since the PPE footwear and even normal shoes will protect you, however when they start wandering into the rooms you have problems.

Companies should keep anti venom, have processes and procedures in place in order to deal with bites and have a procedure with a local hospital in place. Additionally, regular emails should be sent to staff reminding staff of the dangers.

Insects & Other

when it comes to insects and other creatures, it’s comforting to know that most of them aren’t going to potentially kill you, nonetheless, many of the insects in question can be quite annoying to staff either whilst working out on site or taking a walk in the evening or finding them in the rooms.

1. Locust
Locust can be found flying all over camp and landing on you whilst you are out walking or working but what is more surprising is the amount of them that manage to find their way into your room in the middle of the night. You can hear them jumping and walking around the room.

2. Flies

Flies can be an absolute nightmare during certain months. They get in the canteen and crawl all over the food, land on your face whilst you try to eat and generally make it miserable to try and eat. They also manage to get into transport vehicles making any journey very frustrating as you fight to keep the flies out of your ears or eyes.

3. Mosquitos

whilst mosquitos aren’t dangerous the bites they give people leave very large bite marks which are itchy and annoying when you are trying to focus on work. They tend not to be in the rooms too often which is positive but if you try to go for a walk during the summer in the evenings there is a good chance you will end up bitten.

4. Ants

Ants always manage to find a way into rooms. No matter how much you spray the room or keep the room tidy and free of crumbs, they still manage to find their way into the toilet or room. Often this isn’t a big issue however if they get into the room at night and you need to spray them, you end up being unable to sleep due to the fumes of the spray.

5. Cockroaches

Whilst I haven’t noticed too many cockroaches in my room, they are definitely present around the camp and although the majority are quite small, I have seen some absolute beasts that I really wouldn’t be pleased with if I found them in my room.

6. Frogs

Due to the area we are working in being marshland there are a vast amount of frogs around site and camp. This is a major positive for insect control.

7. Lizards and ghekos

Again, like frogs, the more lizards and ghekko seen around camp the better the insect control.

8. Hedgehogs

The presence of hedgehogs in Iraq was a surprise to many of us in the camps. It’s not uncommon to see at least one hedgehog a day. One of the unfortunate things about hedgehogs getting into camp is that they can often get caught in traps set out for dangerous insects or rats. This is something many employees work on avoiding.

9. Ticks

Ticks are rampant during certain times of year and employees need to be very careful with these insects. They are small and can go unnoticed however if they manage to bite into you, there are a number of diseases they can transmit which needs to be checked out by a doctor.

10. Others

Aside from the insects mentioned above, there area an abundance of interesting insects such as stick insects and beetles. Very often however you will come across insects that are not easy to identify such as the insect in the below picture (no doubt people in certain countries will be familiar with them, but certainly in most parts of northern and Central Europe they are not present.

Risks in Iraq – Animals, reptiles and Insects – Part 2 (snakes)

Unfortunately for people working in Iraq, there are a number of snakes that are often seen around the sites and inside camps. Worse still is the fact that many of the species found in Iraq are poisonous

Saw-Scaled Viper ( Echis carinatus )
The smallest of Iraq’s vipers, the saw-scaled viper rarely exceeds 2 feet and averages only about 18 to 20 inches. It is highly variable in color and pattern. Typically it has a brown or tan ground color, although it may also be gray or reddish. The snake’s dorsum has one to three rows of dark blotches with light centers. The snake may be striped or display a wave pattern on the sides. Perhaps the most reliable way to quickly distinguish the saw-scale from other vipers in Iraq is the presence of the characteristic arrow-shaped marking on the top of the head.

The fiery little saw-scale is blamed for more deaths annually than any other species in the world. The bite of this snake has been known to cause massive internal hemorrhaging and bleeding from all bodily orifices (not a snake to mess around with).

Desert Horned Viper (Cerastes cerastes)
The desert horned viper is a thick-bodied snake that averages approximately 20 inches and rarely exceeds 2 feet in length. Typically a smooth, bony horn extends above each eye, although one or both may be absent. Ground color is variable from light gray and brown to yellowish. Dark blotches extend the length of the back.

This snake is fond of loose sand, and it can disappear into the sand in a matter of seconds. When buried, only the eyes, nostrils and horns remain above the surface. Sidewinding is its preferred method of movement. Foraging occurs chiefly at night, and prey consists of lizards and small rodents.

Bites from the desert horned viper show hemotoxic effects and have great tissue-damaging qualities.

Lebetine Viper (Macrovipera lebetina)
Also known as the Levantine or blunt-nosed viper, Macrovipera lebetina is a large and attractive species that can reach lengths in excess of 6 feet.

Field’s Sand Viper (Pseudocerastes persicus fieldi) and Persian Horned Viper (P. p. persicus)
Two subspecies occur in Iraq. The Field’s sand viper occurs in western Iraq, and the Persian sand viper is found in the eastern and central portions of the country. Both subspecies prefer semi-arid conditions with combinations of sandy and rocky terrain.

Pseudocerastes persicus is a heavy and slow-moving species. Typically nocturnal or crepuscular, it may sometimes be found resting in shrubs during daylight hours. Bites seem to be relatively infrequent. When they do occur, symptoms display a nasty blend of hemotoxic and neurotoxic effects.

Kurdistan Viper (Vipera raddei kurdistanica)
In Iraq, this species is known to occur only in a small region of the northeast. The Kurdistan viper is a montane species that prefers rocky slopes in higher elevations (4,000 feet plus).

Desert Cobra (Walterinnesia aegyptia) 
Like most cobras, it is easily adaptable to various habitats. But locations occupied by humans are a particular favourite where shelter and rodents are on offer. Whilst this glossy snake does not actively seek confrontation, it can move with lethal speed when provoked. . The effect of the venom on humans is not known, but presumed to be dangerous. This is the commonest and most widespread cobra in the Middle East.

The desert cobra, or “desert blacksnake,” is the only species of the family Elapidae occurring naturally in Iraq. That being said, non-native cobra species from throughout the Middle East are sometimes imported for showman activities and could potentially be encountered in Iraq

A typical Warning email from HSE regarding snakes :

Solutions

For companies operating or constructing in Iraq, access and agreements with local hospitals that hold anti venom and that meet minimum company standards  should be in place. Alternatively and probably preferably, anti venom should be stocked on company site and staff trained to administer.

Additional controls should be in place to protect employees such as ensuring PPE is provided, HSE induction training is provided that deals with working and regular checks are in place to ensure no snakes are in the vicinity of the work area.

Risks in Iraq – Animals, reptiles and Insects – Part 1 (dogs,cats,mice,fox)

This is more of an entertaining blog post as I plan to discuss some of the rather unpleasant creatures that you can find around the site and whilst I will be outlining the various types of creatures that employees on site need to be aware of (and that companies need to manage appropriately), I will also be covering how some of these can actually cause a loss of power or damage to equipment. 

Part 1 covers dogs, cats, mice and desert foxes whilst part 2 covers snakes and part 3 covers spiders, scorpions and insects.

Stray dogs

There are a surprising number of stray dogs around the site. Often this is welcome for employees on site and many will have a little play with them or give them some water or food during the hotter months. However there are some risks to having stray dogs around site, especially in a country with many diseases still present that we are not used to in the west.

Perhaps the biggest risk is that of rabies. With so many stray dogs and rabies known to be present in Iraq, there is a risk of a dog bite leading to rabies in employees. There have been some incidents of this nature already in Iraq so special precautions should be taken.

Apart from rabies, any dog bite can lead to infection and many of the stray dogs have been ill treated in the past and may turn on a human at any time if it feels frightened. 

Other less worrying risks are worms, fleas and ticks from the dogs.
A solution to the problems of stray dogs could be for the organisation in question to arrange a “trap and vaccinate” programme which will not only be beneficial to safety of staff but could provide a much needed after hours activity for volunteer staff whilst also building an ethical reputation for the organisation in a industry that is hounded by negative climate and environmental press. Additionally, with the organisation safe in the knowledge that the dogs are healthy, the camps on site could provide a safe haven for the dogs and providing employees with some much needed company on site.  

Cats

Each site and camp have a handful of cats that usually hang around the canteen area waiting for food. Again, like dogs, most people welcome this and enjoy spending time with the cats and taking care of them. Whilst there is no major risk from the cats, in fact it is an opportunity as they can keep the mice population down, there is the usual issue with fleas, ticks, worms etc. 

Companies can introduce policies for cats (as previously mentioned with dogs) including providing medicine for animals on site or camp.

Mice

something that was unexpected for me was the amount of mice found in Iraq. During certain months there are a large number of mice around the camp and in the offices. Whilst this doesn’t sound like much of a risk, there have been some major risks that have occurred from this already and that companies should be aware of. 

Mice are attracted to optical cables for some reason and this can lead to them eating through cables leading to outage of networks and even power, getting stuck in power outlets to the extent that they end up causing a short circuit or even a fire in a building. THere are ways to ensure that mice are not attracted to the cables by having stringent cable handling procedures such as wearing gloves in order to ensure no bodily oils are left on cables. Additionally food restrictions can be implemented in areas with cables. 

Another risk is mice in the kitchen and getting into food or contaminating food which might lead to wide spread disease or illness and major downtime of staff.

A solution to this problem tends to be mice traps, although other less humane traps are often used in many places. Another option is to use the cats that are on site as a natural deterrent.
Desert foxes

Since arriving in Iraq I have seen at least 2 or 3 Desert foxes. Whilst they don’t pose a threat to operations or projects, it is a really nice sight to see these foxes in their natural habitat. Perhaps this is the major risk. The risk that these foxes are losing their habitat and being forced off their land as we have done with so many other animals around the world. 

Unfortunately, unlike in many countries, where there are more stringent environmental regulations and requirements for building on land (or sea), there are often less developed requirements in regions such as Iraq. This shouldn’t stop organisations from working in line with other country standards and create a set of organisation policies geared towards positive environmental preservation and build a genuine ethical reputation.

Risks in Iraq – Legislation and customs clearance – PART 2

Legislation changes

1. Risk of changes to legislation causing rejection of visa

Throughout the life of the project there will be a need to renew employee visas. Visa renewal is required annually. This includes blood tests every 6 months. Often there are changes to requirements both in terms of blood tests and visa procedures or documentation requirements. Often there is little consultation and communication is either not efficiently dispersed or it is announced in Arabic with vague interpretations when translated into English. Unless the company is on top of this there is a real risk that visas will be rejected leading to arrests of employees or employees not being allowed back into the country leading to extensive delays in schedule.

2. Risk of changes to legislation causing rejection of equipment

As with the previous risk, changes can be announced at any time with little time for implementation. You could have a piece of equipment arriving in the next week from China with all the paperwork in order only to find that the requirements have changed and you now face a long delay at customs as you work with vendors to replace the paperwork. It’s not unheard of for equipment to be stuck at port for up to 9 months or more.

3. Risk of specific Nationalities visa’s not being renewed

The reliance on a specific nationality of worker is another risk that companies operating in Iraq face. Often contractors will work with their home workforce, which makes sense, however with Iraq still finding its feet politically and with relationships with neighbours being delicate, there is a risk that Iraq implements a ban on certain passport holders (and this has already happened on a couple of occasions) working in the country. This can lead to having to change contract strategy as a contractor you have awarded work to may now be unable to work in Iraq.

It is not just on the Iraqi side however. Certain nations impose bans on their citizens working in specific countries and this too could cause a problem of getting staff.

 

4. Risk of change to resource procedure requirements

Another risk related to legislation change is that of supply of critical resources such as Diesel. With Diesel being essential to projects during the construction phase when there is limited power supply, any changes to the procedure of obtaining Diesel needs to be communicated clearly. Unfortunately this is often not the case. Even if the company receive clear instruction and follow this new instruction, there is the risk that suppliers or other contractors don’t get the update and a breakdown occurs whereby Diesel no longer gets delivered to site.

 

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5. Risk of specific countries being blacklisted from providing equipment to Iraqi projects

Yet another risk faced as a result of a change of legislation at government level is that of certain countries being blacklisted from being able to provide equipment on behalf of a project. This can be for numerous reasons from relationship breakdown with a country or a preconception of quality coming out of the country. This again can delay the awarding of a vendor or indeed a vendor may need to be changed mid project.

6. Chemicals or parts requiring more stringent paperwork

As has been the theme in the last few risks, as a company, you need to be ready for change. What may have been accepted at the start of a project may suddenly be blacklisted a year later. Critical Equipment parts or critical chemicals may require army authorization (laser related equipment for example) which can add weeks to months to the process of securing equipment. Paperwork or procedures may change for chemicals that you rely on for operations too, and considering chemicals are topped up on a monthly basis its critical that you hold enough spare chemicals to account for any delivery delay as a result of a change of procedure. Of course many chemicals have a shelf life which means this is not always possible.

Even when a company is prepared and fully understand all the requirements of a change of legislation, delays can still happen if the new legislation itself is a complicated process that causes confusion within local ministries and departments who are new to the process and still need time to go through it a few times. There may even be an unwillingness of some departments or ministries to sign off on the process due to confusion. This is often the case where the authorised signatory is on holiday and due to it being a new process, there is no deputy comfortable to sign off on it.

 

Paperwork and approvals

1. Delay to decision making process due to incorrect paperwork

So far I have covered a lot of risks that impact schedule or operations but its important to remember that changes like this also impact management. When setting strategy there are certain things that need to be in place or agreed with partners (in this case the Iraqi government or ministry of oil). It could be the need for approval for additional costs to be covered, new projects to be started or to increase number of employees. It could also be decisions on budget, handover dates, etc. Whatever the reason, the company needs these approvals or decisions in order to make its own decisions regarding contracting strategy, long term strategy, budgeting requirements etc.

There will be both internal and external procedures that need to be followed in order to obtain these approvals or decisions. Even if there have been no changes to the procedures and the company has followed the procedure perfectly, the internal processes within the company and the government and their agencies/ministries can be complex, bureaucratic and time consuming. Often decisions may take much longer than planned which can hinder the company in making any of their own decisions. This can end up costing money and impact schedules and strategy not just to the particular project but to the company as a whole having wider impacts on the project portfolio as a whole.

Risks in Iraq – Legislation and Customs Clearance – PART 1

Entering into any new country requires a solid understanding of Legislation and customs processes. Unfortunately in a country which is still evolving, legislation can change often and through different communication channels which might not be picked up by the company. Additionally, suppliers and contractors working with the company will certainly not be aware of any paperwork requirements. These are just some of the issues.

Suppliers and contractors Lack of experience with Legislation & customs

1.Risk that customs clearance not considered properly in project schedule

When building a schedule for a project in Iraq, contractors and schedulers will often put a set amount of days in the schedule for delivery to site of equipment. Often customs clearance is not even a consideration and they only take a figure based on regional experience. Even if they include customs clearance as a specific activity, very often they will only assign a week or in some cases a maximum of 2 weeks for customs clearance. Experience has shown that customs clearance actually rarely takes 2 weeks, and that is a best case scenario. A month was a more realistic number and should be accounted for in schedules.

2. Risk that mobilization not considered properly in project schedule

As in the previous risk, this is schedule related. Too often unrealistic targets are set in terms of mobilization. 3 months is a common figure in schedules. This might be possible in other countries but in Iraq it certainly isn’t. From issues with visa’s to issues with getting equipment to site in order to start building for mobilization, it all leads to a more realistic mobilization time of about 5-6 months. If you get this wrong from the outset then you are already facing a large delay in your project which may be difficult to recover from.

3. Risks of incorrect documentation or incorrect translations for equipment

A risk that occurred frequently in Iraq was that contractors would often have incorrect documentation for customs clearance. There are a variety of requirements that contractors or vendors who have never worked in the country will not know about. Even if they do know about them, they may not be completely aware of the specific detail behind the requirements. There are additional issues such as translation that could be incorrect or from non-authorized entities which again can delay the process.

4. Risks of incorrect documentation or incorrect translations for visas

Like the previous risk, this is related to contractors or vendors not having the correct documentation or translation for visa’s. There have ongoing issues with visa issuances due to incorrect documentation provided by contractors. This is usually only during mobilization and once they overcome the initial hurdles they understand the requirements much better.

IRAQ – Camps & Facilities – Part 2

Working area and Facilities

The working area really depends on what kind of work the company is involved with and whether they are running the facility or building it (Operating vs Project).

Operating

Generally, where a company is operating, there will be a facility of some sort (Power plant, Oil treatment facility, Water treatment facility, Gas Treatment Plant, well pads etc.) with workshops and office space in close proximity. Often there will be a canteen on site too so that staff don’t need to travel back to camp for lunch.

Other facilities that may be on site are firestations, chemical labs, storage areas and parking areas. Additionally all sites have muster points for emergency purposes.

The office spaces tend to have all the equipment found in regular offices such as docking stations, integrated telephone and network systems, server rooms, kitchens, toilets, meeting rooms, video conference rooms and training rooms.

From a security point of view, all facilities have security walls and usually sit within a security perimeter within the wider area (the site) that will secure all the company’s facilities. Permits are needed to enter the site that need to be approved by government ministries.

Project

Projects work much the same as the operating side of things apart from the fact that they don’t have any completed facilities. They start with accommodation for the employees along with necessary security requirements to secure the site. Thereafter they start the construction work.

Construction has to be undertaken in close partnership with local authorities in order to ensure a secure construction area. This is usually only in the very early stages of the project however and if they already have completed facilities they will most likely be working within the secured perimeter.

The bigger difficulties occur with pipeline projects which will extend outside security perimeter’s and will often occur in remote locations or near local villages. The way in which companies often overcome these security issues is to hire local workers until the site has been secured or work with local police authorities during pipeline projects.

Transportation to facilities

Transportation to facilities from camp occurs in a variety of ways.

Individual armoured vehicles

This option is usually used for less secure areas or less accessible areas. They are also used for work areas that require employees to do a lot of travelling to various other faclities. An example might be a project team working on Well Pads. The Well Pads tend to be spread out around the site meaning that the vehicles will take the staff from camp to offices and then be on standby in the event that they need to travel to some of the well pads.

Shuttle bus

Once a site has been established and is well secured there will often be a shuttle bus service that operates within the site, much like a regular bus service would. The shuttle bus will have a regular route travelling between camps and facilities and picking up and dropping off anyone who needs to be transported. The main difference between a regular bus service that you might be used to is that the bus on site is an armoured bus.

Large heavy armoured vehicle

Often, if there are a large number of people needing transported to a facility, they will arrange a much larger heavy armoured vehicle to transport the group from camp to site.

IRAQ – Camps & Facilities – Part 1

Having covered the arrival to site and how the shift works I wanted to describe what being here is actually like. I wanted to try to paint a picture of what day to day life at site looks like. In order to achieve this I intend to describe the accommodation as well as the camp itself, with all the facilites, the working location and transportation to it.

Accomodation

Firstly, I want to point out that all accommodation, office space and camps tend to be built as some form of permanent portacabins.

Accomodation on site really depends on the camp you are assigned to, which also depends on the company you are working for. Companies will either build their own accommodation, rent pre-existing accommodation or rent a shared accommodation with other companies. Either way the only real difference is the size of accommodation, size of the camp, facilities and quality of food.

Everyone has their own room (again different sizes depending on different camps) which comprises of :

En-suite bathroom with shower – Often in the camps when you arrive on shift you will be provided with a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shower gel and shampoo.

Fridge – Camps will provide some or all of the following on a daily basis: still and sparkling water, milk, crisps, chocolate, tea biscuits, tea bags, coffee and soft drinks

TV & Satellite

Desk – with docking station and internet access and usually with WIFI connectibility.

bed

Cupboards space

kettle

The rooms are cleaned on a daily basis in order to ensure all insects and snakes (many of which are dangerous) are not attracted and bedsheets changed on a regular basis. Laundry service is also available and costs nothing.

Camp

Companies try hard to make living conditions as pleasant as possible. The camps I have visited have had walkpaths, greenery and in some cases even Landscaped gardens. As much as they try however, the tall walls and security
towers are difficult to ignore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Considering there is nothing to do after work and you are confined to the camp, its important that there are facilities available to pass the time. Facilities at camps vary greatly, although, generally they all have :

• A canteen
  • Food is served as a buffet style with a variety of meat and vegetable dishes as well as desserts. Often canteens will have theme nights such as Italian, Mexican etc.
  • Breakfast, also a buffet, can include fresh orange juices, cereals, eggs, beans, bacon, sausages and pastries.
• Gathering/meeting area
• Pool table or table tennis table
• Gym

Some camps go as far as having :

• Swimming pool
• Football pitch
• Supermarket
• Coffee shop
• Volleyball pitch
• Basketball court
• Tennis court

 

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