How Can Fighter Pilots, Navy Seals, and an Astronaut Make a Difference in Offshore Operations?
That is the $81 million dollar question. Not surprisingly, those Fighter Pilots, Navy Seals, and Astronaut contributed to over $81 million in combined annual savings for a single client. They call themselves “Check Six, Inc.” The term “Check Six” is Fighter Pilot language for watching out for your six o’clock, behind you; your most vulnerable area. It is a contract between pilots to look out for each other during every phase of mission planning, briefing, execution, and debriefing. It is a culture; a paradigm shift that Check Six is bringing to the Oil and Gas Industry.
With a diverse cadre of active duty, reservists, and retired military professionals, Check Six consultants are experts in communication, team building, risk management, and leadership development. They are the best because they have demonstrated and taught their skills over decades of real world application under the most demanding and extreme environments imaginable. They are not presenting concepts alone; they develop team cultures that evolve rig operations to the level of high reliability; predictable outcomes, every time for every activity.
Check Six, Inc. began 4 years ago with a single phone call to Brian “Bru” Brurud from a BHP Billiton Deepwater Drilling Superintendent with a specific need. He knew the most efficient and safest way to drill was “do it right the 1st time”. When you take into account this high-risk environment PLUS the cost of deepwater drilling, which can exceed $1,000,000/day, efficiency and safety are paramount. The question to Bru was, “Can you develop a Rig Training Program based on your military expertise and experience?” After a brief pause, Bru’s answer was, “Absolutely!”
Bru, a former Navy TOP GUN adversary Fighter Pilot, not to mention the most highly decorated Navy combat pilot since Vietnam, is also a geologist and recognized the similarity between drilling rigs and aircraft carrier operations. In his words, “These are both high-risk environments that demand a predictable outcome every time. Carrier based naval aviation has evolved tremendously over the decades to manage risk, develop leadership, demand accountability, and operate in high-tempo, high-risk, resource-limited environments. By using lessons learned from NASA, Special Warfare, Airline, and Fighter Pilot operations, we are applying those same “Best Practices” to your world with our Performance Excellence™ Rig, Leadership and Safety Training Program.”
Performance Excellence™ ”is a unique training and mentoring program based on the TOP GUN syllabus and an ”Objective Based Planning”/ “Planned Based Execution” model for continuous improvement. Check Six is now recognized as the industry leader in team development for dangerous operations desiring high reliability with a predictable outcome. Results are measured by operations efficiency and improved safety. We are the best at what we do for three reasons:
- 1. Credibility of our consultants
- 2. Proven Best Practice in the most dangerous operations in the world
- 3. Simplicity of our product at all organizational levels
So Does It Work?
According to Yarko “JJ” Sos, a former commander of the TOP GUN School and Check Six, Inc. Chief Operating Officer, results are realized virtually immediately by a measurable performance and safety improvement. In our 1st 2 years of business, the following was achieved:
· 59% Reduction in Environmental Incidents
· 52% Reduction in Near Miss Incidents
· 50% Reduction in Total Reportable Incidents
· 44% Reduction in First Aid Cases
· Operations efficiency resulting an $81M annual AFE savings for 1 client
Seeing an immediate culture change on the rig and the development of a “Check 6” mentality that instills teamwork, leadership and safety is extremely rewarding for us.
Sean “Rax” Rackley, F-18 pilot and Chief Executive Officer for Check Six. says, “Instead of targeting safety, safety becomes a bi-product of a precision operation. “Zero Incidents” is an achievable goal and we intend to take our clients there.”
The future and more:
Leave it to a Fighter Pilot to come up with a better simulator. “Today, a pilot would never leave the ground without hundreds of simulator hours; there is no reason that a Driller, Crane Operator, BCO, or DPO, shouldn’t have the same. Human error in those critical positions can lead to catastrophic consequences,” says Troy “Korn” Kehoe, President of Check Six Training Systems, Inc. As a former AV-8B Harrier pilot, Korn also developed the Training Syllabus and Instructor Operating System for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter simulator. With our Rig Training and Management System (RTMS™ ), we’ll be able to combine scenarios between all of these critical positions. For instance, we can allow the crane operator to interact with the driller as they run casing. Or we can run an Emergency Disconnect with a Driller, A-Driller, DPO, and Ballast Control. We can test communication and decision-making skills and automatically assess, remediate, and document the training in an electronic training record.
Maybe it is just in a pilot’s nature, but the KISS principle is a common element in the Check Six culture. On a recent rig visit, Check Six recognized that the operators JSA system was very cumbersome and had no efficient or effective change management in place, which was evident in the crews approach to the JSA process. This spawned the C6-JSA Management System™ (JSAMS™ ) which will literally save thousands of man-hours per year per rig and make the JSA program a more effective tool to improve safety, while increasing operational efficiency across the board!
Authors: Melissa Bascle, Vice President, Sales and Business Development, Check Six, Inc.
Troy “Korn” Kehoe, President, Check Six Training Systems, Inc.