Recently, you may have read or heard something about the Life-Saving Rules - a set of 12 existing safety rules that are being treated in a special way, because a statistical analysis has shown that they are implicated in a substantial proportion of fatalities in our industry. The Company"s extended leadership has discussed them. Contract Holders have been requested to disseminate them to the contractor workforce. The MD has just issued a Management Circular to all staff about them and also sent a letter about them to the CEOs of all PDO contractors. The centerfold of the latest issue of the Al-Fahal newsletter features them. And a PDOTube video has just been uploaded in which the HSE Change Director Martin Stauble explains their purpose.

But that"s not enough. PDO staff are expected to learn what the Life-Saving Rules are all about in meetings led by their team leaders. So if you are a team leader, please download the Life-Saving Rules presentation pack through the following hyperlink http://sww1.pdo.shell.om/dept/cd/csm/blocks/hsefunction/docs/PDO_LSRs_notes.ppt) and organize a team meeting in which you will lead a discussion about the Life-Saving Rules. The presentation contains speaker notes that will help you to this end. (The speaker notes can be displayed by clicking on "Notes Page" under the "View" menu in PowerPoint.)

Of course, team leaders won"t necessarily have the answers to all questions. The unanswered questions can be feedback to the Safety Must-Wins Project Office through the following e-mail address: safety-must-win@pdo.co.om.

In June staff will be expected to confirm, with the aid of a web-based application, that they understand the Life-Saving Rules and the consequences of not adhering to them.

By adopting the right behaviours and attitudes towards safety, all those who directly or indirectly work for PDO can save lives.