At Fennex, we believe it’s time for a smarter, more proactive approach to safety. Despite decades of focus, many operators in the energy sector are still facing challenges that reduce operational efficiency and expose teams to unnecessary risk.
That’s why we developed BBSS™ - our Behaviour Based Safety Solution. As a cloud-based tool designed to empower every individual on your team, it transforms your safety culture and turns real-time data into actionable insights.
Here, the Fennex team shares five of the biggest safety challenges faced by people working in the energy sector and how BBSS™ is helping operators make their worksites safer for everyone.
Challenge 1: Lack of engagement and continuous safety improvement
Adrian Brown, Managing Director
“One of the biggest challenges is the normalisation of small deviations away from best practices. Initially, these shortcuts or unsafe behaviours may not lead to immediate consequences, but that only creates a false sense of security.
“Having worked in the industry for 20 years, I’ve seen the impact of good and bad systems first-hand. When there’s a sense of complacency in a hazardous workplace, it leads to risks being overlooked, which ultimately results in safety incidents. Lagging indicators dominate the conversation, while near-misses and unsafe behaviours are underreported, unanalysed or lost in inefficient systems.
“BBSS™ helps organisations see pockets of weak participation or areas where employees may need some encouragement to stay vigilant to the persistent risks that are always in our industry. It allows teams to prevent incidents by transforming observation data into real-time intelligence for early risk detection and proactive decision-making.
“For our customer, Noble Corporation, safety observations increased by 30% in the first 18 months of BBSS™ implementation and incident rates fell by 43%. This clearly shows that BBSS™ not only digitised a system, but also unlocked a culture of continuous improvement.”
Challenge 2: Inaccessible or inefficient safety communication tools
Sean Bisset, Mobile App Lead
“Finding a system that can be accessed by everyone who needs it is a big challenge in the energy sector. Offshore projects rely on core staff, contractors and temporary workers, who could all be based across different employers, languages and digital skill levels. This already makes it difficult to track data and ensure consistency of safety reporting, but traditional safety systems also tend to only cater to core teams on a project.
“BBSS™ has been designed to be inclusive and easy to use, empowering every worker regardless of role, language or digital readiness with the means to access and contribute to safety observations. It has the ability to dynamically change what is seen between users; meaning that every user can have a solution that feels tailored to their specific use, without compromising on the consistency of data submitted.
“To ensure every user could submit safety data, we’ve incorporated print and digital options. The paper card option is ideal for those without access to a mobile device or for users who prefer a more familiar, hands-on way to submit observations. Whereas, for those with a mobile device, it's very quick and easy to submit an observation through the app which includes a QR-code system for each site, offline accessibility and a voice to text option available in more than 30 languages.
“The accessibility of the solution helps operators foster a culture of shared responsibility and removes any reporting blind spots - and we’re continuously improving the app for better efficiency and an even more streamlined user experience.”
Challenge 3: Difficulty in analysing data
Mitch Smart, Lead Data Analyst Engineer
“Despite collecting safety data, many offshore operators struggle to use it effectively because it’s so fragmented, often spread across Excel spreadsheets, legacy databases or paper records. By the time someone reviews it, the opportunity to act has passed and teams end up working reactively.
“What’s great about BBSS™ being cloud-based is that it brings all the safety observations together in one place. Since it's so easy for people to use, we get loads of input and the level of detail required really helps HSE teams spot live trends and focus in on specific hazards or locations.
“With immediate access to key insights and safety indicators in just a few clicks, leaders are no longer waiting for the data they need to make decisions and identify areas of weaknesses effectively. It’s all there, ready to support fast, confident decision-making that reduces risk and improves performance across the board.
“And because BBSS™ automates the analysis - flagging patterns, highlighting emerging risks, and surfacing the ‘why’ behind the numbers - it gives teams the power to act before incidents happen, not after.”
Challenge 4: Manual admin and a resistance to change
Jude Adi, Senior Software Developer and Team Lead
“One of the biggest challenges I see in the industry is ensuring people fully understand the purpose and value of actively using safety observation systems. There’s often a resistance to change, especially when people feel like it’s just more paperwork or another task added to an already busy day. There’s often a mindset that ‘we’ve done it this way for years’ or ‘nothing bad has happened so far’, but the reality is that every observation counts.
“I think this challenge exists for a few reasons. First, there’s a cultural element; in such a high-risk, fast-paced industry, people often prioritise getting the job done over stopping to document what might feel like a minor observation. Second, there’s a perception issue. Some workers see safety observation systems as more of a compliance tool than something that actually improves safety on the ground.
“BBSS™ helps overcome this challenge by allowing users to submit safety observations in seconds, on-the-go. Instead of creating extra work for their HSE teams to gather these observations, each observation is automatically logged and analysed. It shifts the process from feeling like a time-consuming task to something that actively drives improvement, without adding extra burden.
“As a result, our customers have reported a drop in incidents since rolling out the system. One standout example is a customer who introduced BBSS™ on a new startup rig, which later won their company’s ‘Rig of the Year’ award. When you capture positive observations, it reinforces what’s working well and allows you to shift focus to the areas where unsafe conditions or behaviours might exist. It’s about building a culture where safety isn’t just a policy, it’s something we live and act on every day.”
Challenge 5: Using tools that are not fit for purpose
Nassima Brown, Strategy Director
“The energy sector - especially the offshore industry - is seriously lacking the tailored solutions it needs to effectively manage complex processes that are unique to each operator or project. Many companies are using tools that are not well-suited to the high-risk and individual processes of offshore energy operations. It’s something we know exists because both me and my co-founder, Adrian, experienced it everyday while working in the offshore drilling industry.
“The feedback we’ve received from HSE Directors and VPs is that this gap is largely due to the high complexity of hazardous industries, where multiple stakeholders and systems are involved. It creates a siloed, cumbersome and complex process for teams to effectively access the right insights - all because they aren’t using the right tool. This can lead to critical gaps in risk management, as teams are unable to react quickly to mitigate risks and prevent incidents from occurring.
“That’s exactly why we built BBSS™- to cut through that complexity and meet the specific needs of offshore operations. The platform is designed to be accessible to everyone involved, supporting environments where hundreds of personnel from multiple companies contribute to a single project. BBSS™ uses industry recognised terminology to guide accurate, relevant safety observations. It also functions reliably in remote offshore locations, with full offline capability for areas with limited or no WiFi.
“By making safety reporting intuitive, inclusive, and consistent in offshore environments, BBSS™ helps teams close the gaps in risk management and take faster, more effective action to keep people safe.”
Ready to transform your safety processes from reactive to proactive? Learn more about our BBSS™ tool and get in touch with our team.
