The first annual Contractor Safety Awards luncheon attracted 235 guests, including 165 contractors.

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Shelf and Deepwater business units recently teamed up for the first annual Contractor Safety Awards luncheon in New Orleans, Louisiana, to recognize contractors for their outstanding Health, Environment and Safety (HES) performances.

Doug Lanier, vice president of the GOM Shelf business unit, and Kathy Arthur, vice president of the GOM Deepwater business unit, served as co-hosts of the special event which also featured a keynote address by Rhonda Zycocki, vice president of Corporate HES.

By rewarding contractors for their efforts to achieve incident-free operations, ChevronTexaco hopes to improve safety among contractors and renew commitment from everyone to work safely.

According to Lanier, the very idea of coming together, celebrating and toasting outstanding safety achievements originated with the contractors themselves. "We received feedback at our 2002 Annual Contractor Engagement Meetings stating we needed to do a better job of recognizing contractors for safe work," he explained. "We then reviewed the suggestion and molded it into shape."

A functional management team steered the entire process and established the minimum criteria for a contractor's nomination -- that included zero fatalities in 2002. Appropriate award categories were created along with a special category, the "ChevronTexaco Contractor Safety Leadership Award," to recognize ChevronTexaco employees for their unique contributions to HES. The winners of this first award were drilling representative Chris Pender of the Eastern Shelf Profit Center and drilling superintendent Dale Benoit of the Near Shore Profit Center.

Only ChevronTexaco employees could submit nominations to recognize contractors, and only contractors could submit nominees for the "Contractor Safety Leadership Award." The management team reviewed a total of 26 nominations and selected 13 winners for recognition at the awards luncheon.

Zygocki hailed the 35 percent improvement in contractor safety performance since 2000 as one of the company's greatest success stories and noted the Upstream GOM units have led the step change.

Contractors make up 60 percent of ChevronTexaco's work force in the GOM, and their performance, well-being and daily operations are critical factors to the company's success in achieving operational excellence, Zygocki noted. In the GOM, ChevronTexaco ranks as the No. 1 oil and gas producer on the Shelf and is one of the top producers and leaseholders in the deep water.

In thanking and congratulating the contractors, Zycocki urged them to continue to embrace ChevronTexaco's HES culture and performance. "We are raising the bar on safety everywhere we work," she said. "This train has left the station, and it's not turning back. We invite you to join us as we aim for zero and beyond."

Organizing the premiere of this awards program were contractor safety specialists Cari Pope and Dave Vroom and management assistants Beth Reneman and Helen Leblanc. The second annual Contractor Awards luncheon will be held in 2004.

"We've already had contractors ask us about next year's event and how they can prepare themselves to be considered for an award," said Pope. "The contractors who attended this year's luncheon but were not awarded are really interested in earning this level of recognition."

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