For obvious reasons, industries like transport and oil and gas have to prioritise health and safety.  In these industries, health and safety breaches can lead to serious injury and death.  Disasters like the one that took place at BP Texas City Oil Refinery in 2005 in which an explosion killed 15 workers and injured a further 170, highlight how important it is to focus on behavioural safety - how workers actually operate health and safety procedures. 

The investigation into that particular disaster  told a familiar story of a) workers ignoring basic procedures in the hope or expectation that things will turn out alright and b) the decisions and actions of senior managers and leaders seriously compromising safety standards.  Our play Safe as Houses tells this story.

Safe as Houses (written by Tess Allen & Graham Sharrock) centres on two main characters – Complacency and Hindsight.  It is a satire: the attitudes and behaviour demonstrated by the characters are comic, but at the same time, everyone knows that they come straight from the investigation report and that the end result devastates a whole community.  By confronting workers with the absurd and yet lethal nature of routine breaches of health and safety, the context is set for behaviour change.   The play also addresses corporate responsibility, identify the culpability of senior managers in perpetuating a culture in which unsafe practices can thrive.

Here is an extract from the opening of the play.  H stands for Hindsight and C stands for Complacency.

Scene One

[There is a chair and one small table in the room with a kettle on it.  Complacency is sitting with a copy of the Houston Chronicle.  He is reading it stretched out.  Hindsight enters and looks around.  Complacency notices him.]

C: Howdee and welcome to Texas City BP plant

H: Hello

C: [Gets up and offers his hand.  They shake.] The name’s Complacent, Ben Complacent and you are?

H: Hindsight

C: Say who?

H: Hindsight

C: Hind…sight? Not heard that before! What you here for?

H: Oh, just taking a look around

C: Got a hard hat? You’ll need it round here.  We had 3 fatalities last year…

H: Yes I know that…What’s that?

C: That my friend [he walks around gesturing at its height] is a 170 foot raffinate splitter tower with three safety relief valves, and 8 ince chained bypass valve, a three pount purge and vent system with a reflex drum, a 1.5 inch reflux bypass valve and an F20 Blowdown drum and stack…safe as houses.

This play – Safe as Houses - was first used at the North American Safety Conference of First Group.  You can find out about the impact of this work here.  Information about our work with First Group on injury prevention can be found by following these links: Jim’s Story and Drama to Avoid Crises. 

A case study of our work with First Group is featured on our DVD showreel.  Contact us for a copy.