March 2011Number 3

Saudi Aramco’s Fleet Vehicle Performance over the YearsVehicle Collision Reporting and Investigation Process

andCar Safety Technologies

2LP Newsletter Number 3, March 2011

In this Issue ...

Focus on Basic Safety Rules(Refer to the Saudi Aramco Safety Handbook)

Rule #4

Operators of vehicles shall comply withall traffic requirements, particularlyspeed limits.

Driving continues to be one of the greatest challenges facing our employees. The nature of company operations requires many employees to be on the road for a significant part of their daily work. An ongoing commitment to advancing and improving company fleet vehicle safety has resulted in an improved motor vehicle accident (MVA) rate over time. The article on page 3 discusses some of the proactive measures taken by Saudi Aramco to achieve significant reductions in its MVA rates.

The company is committed to the safe operation of vehicles to protect its employees from injuries, fatalities and losses resulting from traffic incidents. Like most incidents, traffic incidents typically occur as a result of unsafe behaviors. The Saudi Aramco Safety Management System (SMS) Element 6, “Safe Operations,” discusses the basic components of an effective and proactive vehicle safety program. The article on page 4 discusses one process within an effective vehicle safety program, namely the recording and reporting of motor vehicle incidents.

Over the past decades, vehicle engineering has been expanding the emphasis on technology and evolving at a rapid pace. Earlier vehicle safety features were more focused on protecting people in collisions and reducing the severity of injuries primarily through passive safety technology. Today, with the multitude of advances in technology, vehicle engineers and manufacturers now concentrate their efforts on active safety features, which focus on collision intervention and avoidance. The article on pages 5 and 6 discusses some of the latest collision prevention and intervention technologies in newer models.

GCC Traffic Week 2011

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has designated March 13 to 18 as GCC Traffic Week 2011. This annual traffic safety campaign is aimed at increasing public awareness of the grave risks of unsafe driving behavior.

It is a time to reflect on the traffic situation in the region and to reinforce both the government’s and the company’s commitment to traffic safety. Saudi Aramco has not been spared from the tragic consequences of traffic incidents. In 2010, the company suffered the loss of 25 employees. Each one of these fatalities represents a family destroyed; children without a father; a wife without a husband; and parents without a child. This is too high a price to pay for preventable traffic incidents.

Remember you can prevent traffic incidents by driving safely and defensively. Your actions behind the wheel can influence others to drive safely. Let’s all work together to reduce the mayhem on the Kingdom’s roads. all traffic requirements, particularly

3LP Newsletter Number 3, March 2011

As a large, integrated oil company, Saudi Aramco operations span the Kingdom. The scale of company operations necessitates the use of the Kingdom’s highway system with over 9,000 company fleet vehicles travelling a yearly average of 226 million kilometers. All this time behind the wheel makes driving one of the greatest risks for employees. Over the last 20 years, the company’s fleet of motor vehicles has achieved an impressive reduction in motor vehicle incidents with a corresponding decline in motor vehicle accident (MVA) rates. In 2010, Saudi Aramco recorded an incident rate of 0.78 MVAs per million kilometers traveled as compared to about 10 times this rate in the 1970s.

How did the company achieve this significant reduction in MVA rates over the past 20 years? This noteworthy achievement is attributed to various proactive safety initiatives. Over the last decade, the company has increased its emphasis on proactive driver safety programs focusing on safe behaviors behind the wheel. These include driver training and driving education as well as increased enforcement of traffic rules and regulations. Some examples of proactive driving initiatives are:

Introducing the Driver Improvement Program (DIP) and Driver Improvement Refresher Seminars (DIRS), which help equip employees with the necessary skills and defensive driving behaviors.

defensively and exhibit safe driving behavior — no matter how others drive. The company’s efforts focus on developing its employees’ defensive driving skills, where they are taught to be alert to the dangers of the road and take appropriate actions to avoid incidents. The company‘s goal is that as driving behavior improves inside the company, drivers will positively influence the driving behavior of those outside the company. They can do this by taking these practices home with them and applying them off the job as well as on the job.

Although Saudi Aramco’s MVA record is exemplary, the company’s traffic safety program must continue to focus on the behavior and attitude of the driver, his safety consciousness, and his sense of responsibility for further and sustained improvement. Driver training and safety education must continually emphasize how good driving behavior and defensive driving skills prevent traffic incidents.

Educating employees whose work requires off-road driving on the fundamentals of desert driving and survival.

Revising the company’s standard on vehicle safety, General Instruction (GI) 6.030, Traffic and Vehicle Safety, to include stricter enforcement of traffic rules, such as adhering to speed limits, not using mobile phones while driving, and the use of seat belts by all vehicle occupants.

Publishing the Saudi Aramco Safety Handbook with clear minimum safety rules of vehicle operation.

Applying journey management techniques; increasing training and recertification requirements for drivers; including safe driving in departments’ annual safety programs; and emphasizing accountability for the driving behavior of employees, dependents, contractors and visitors.

Maintaining fleet vehicles in a safe mechanical condition. Introducing educational campaigns to supplement supervisory reinforcement of proper driver behaviors.

At the heart of any successful driver safety program is the employee’s personal commitment to abide by the established traffic rules, drive

Saudi Aramco’s Fleet Vehicle Performance over the YearsBy Ray P. Cruz, Planning and Technical Services Division, Loss Prevention Department

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skills prevent traffic incidents.

4LP Newsletter Number 3, March 2011

Vehicle Collision Reporting and Investigation Process

One of the basic components of a vehicle safety program is “review for improvement.” This can be accomplished by a number of means, perhaps the most important being proper reporting, investigation and analysis of all vehicle incidents. Leading and lagging indicators can be used to identify trends and pinpoint lessons learned from traffic incident investigations. With the proper analysis and implementation of appropriate corrective actions, this can lead to improvement in driver behavior, and in turn, safer driving and improved performance.

The open and timely reporting of all motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) is established within each department’s vehicle safety program. A typical process stresses accountability, identifies roles and responsibilities, establishes and communicates standards and steps, establishes required documentation and provides for training.

It is crucial for all incidents to be promptly reported, recorded and investigated. For this, personnel may require training in proper incident investigation techniques. The World-Class Safety Workshop, conducted by the Loss Prevention Department, provides an overview as well as useful hands on instruction in incident investigation. The workshops are offered in Abqaiq, Dhahran, Jiddah, Ras Tanura, Riyadh and ‘Udhailiyah. The final investigation report should include corrective actions and preventive measures to help avoid or

database that identifies trends and MVA causes to prevent recurrence.

Tragically, the company lost 25 employees to off-job vehicle incidents in 2010. All deaths represent an unacceptable loss to Saudi Aramco, to their families and to the communities in which our colleagues lived. The only good thing that came from such senseless losses is the opportunity to learn from what went wrong and apply these lessons so that others do not suffer the same fate. To do this, we need to ensure that all motor vehicle incidents are promptly reported and properly investigated. As we apply lessons learned from each incident (no matter how small), driver’s safe behaviors behind the wheel will improve. It will also help the company realize its goal of ensuring everyone completes their workday the same way they arrived — incident and injury free.

reduce future injuries, losses and recurrence of similar incidents.

The required documentation is primarily governed by General Instruction (GI) 6.029, Reporting and Recording of Motor Vehicle Accidents. The GI establishes the requirements for reporting and recording vehicle accidents through the SAP Health, Environment and Safety (HE&S) portal or Saudi Aramco form SA-1193, Motor Vehicle Accident Report. Organizations also need to comply with reporting requirements in other GIs, such as GI 6.030, Traffic and Vehicle Safety, and GI 7.026, Cranes and Heavy Equipment Accident Reporting Procedures.

GI 6.029 provides a method of recordkeeping that is consistent with established worldwide standards, and compares company performance with other petroleum companies and similar industries to establish a uniform

By Mohammed T. Al-Janaby, Ras Tanura Area Loss Prevention Division

When a motor vehicle incident occurs, the first step in the process is to report the incident to your supervisor and the Industrial Security Control Center in your area.

5Car Safety Technologies By Shahid A. Khan, Abqaiq Area Loss Prevention Division

In the past, vehicle safety features seemed to be more focused on protecting people in collisions using passive safety technology to reduce the number and severity of injuries. Passive safety technology includes seat belts, air bags, engineered front and rear crumple zones as well as construction and placement of stronger frames adjacent to the passenger compartment, side-impact door beams and sandwich platforms that allow vehicle engines to slide under the passenger compartment in a head-on collision.

Today, vehicle engineers and manufacturers are concentrating on active safety features, which focus on collision intervention and avoidance. These collision prevention systems warn drivers of a potential danger and better prepare the vehicle and its occupants for a collision.

The following are some of the latest safety advances that are appearing in newer vehicle models or that are under development and show promise. All these features may one day be as common as the air bag and seat belt.

Tire-pressure monitoring/run-flat tiresValve stem sensors at the wheels are able to send wireless radio frequency (RF) signals, coded for individual wheel identification, to an onboard computer and alert the driver to low air pressure by an audible warning, a light or message on the instrument panel, or a combination of these.

throttle as needed to help the driver maintain control of the vehicle.

Lane-departure warning/wake-you- up systemA set of cameras monitors the traffic lane divider lines. When the vehicle crosses a line without the turn signal being activated, the system informs the driver by sounding an alert. This helps keep sleepy or inattentive drivers from veering off their lane. Other more advanced systems attempt to steer the vehicle back into the lane or apply the brakes slightly to slow the vehicle.

An advanced lane-departure warning system, currently under development, is able to monitor body posture, head position and eye activity to determine if the driver is drowsy. Subsequently, this system will be capable of slowing the vehicle and engaging stability control.

Occupant-sensitive, dual-stage air bags The “smart” air bag has strategic sensors that compensate for the weight or poor positioning of occupants resulting in low-risk, multistage and occupant-sensitive deployment. When these bags are triggered, an optical sensing unit interprets passenger information deploying air bags under partial or full air pressure.

Emergency brake assist This technology uses brake pedal sensors to recognize a sudden stop and applies additional brake pressure. It may also work with the adaptive cruise control or stability control systems in some vehicles if it senses a collision.

Run-flat tires maintain their shape so they can be driven with no air in them to a nearby repair/service station or as far as approximately 80 kilometers (km).

Adaptive cruise control/pre-collision mitigationAdaptive cruise control uses sensors and radar to adjust the throttle and brakes to maintain a safe following distance. If the system senses a potential collision, it will automatically brake hard and tighten the seat belts. It maintains all other features of normal cruise control.

Pre-collision system sensors detect vehicles in front, sound alarms to warn the driver and take preventive steps, such as applying the brakes, charging the air bags, closing windows, adjusting seat positions for optimal air bag effectiveness and activating seat belt pretensioners.

Blind spot detection/side-alert systemThis sensor technology alerts drivers to vehicles or objects in their blind spot or adjacent lane while driving or parking. When the turn signal is activated and something in the way is detected, the system warns the driver by flashing a light in the mirror, vibrating the seat or steering wheel, or sounding an alarm.

Electronic stability control (ESC)/ rollover preventionMost rollover prevention systems use gyroscopic sensors to detect a potential rollover situation, such as oversteering, turning a corner too quickly or swerving sharply. When a rollover scenario is detected, the system tightens seat belts and uses electronic stability control (ESC) to apply the brakes and modulate the

Continued on the next page

LP Newsletter Number 3, March 2011

6LP Newsletter Number 3, March 2011

Car Safety Technologies ... continued

© Copyright 2011, Saudi Aramco. All rights reserved.

The editorial staff welcomes readers’ comments and ideas. Please email your suggestions to LPNewsletter@aramco.com or mail them to LP Newsletter, Saudi Aramco Loss Prevention Department, A-117, Building 3150, LIP, Dhahran 31311, Saudi Arabia or call 872-8868.

The LP Newsletter (ISSN 1319-1802) is produced by the Support Services Unit of Saudi Aramco’s Loss Prevention Department andfocuses on operational and on-job safety.

Adaptive headlights and/or night- vision assistAdaptive headlights follow the direction of the vehicle around corners and compensate for oncoming or ambient light. Night vision can also be improved with infrared head lamps or thermal- imaging cameras to help detect animals and pedestrians. The goal is to help the driver see farther down the road. Night-vision assist systems generate an image through an in-dash display, brightening the objects that are hard to see with the naked eye.

Rearview camera Rearview cameras are indispensable in protecting vehicles and particularly children from backing hazards. This technology uses a camera that works with the navigation system to provide a wide-angle image of what is happening behind. It can also help with vehicle parking and trailer hook-ups.

Vehicle security and safety monitoring systemA complement to vehicle safety is vehicle emergency response and recovery.

Emergency responseThere are a variety of ways vehicles now and in the future will handle an emergency situation. For example, the

Note: Companies such as Saudi Aramco with a great number of fleet vehicles can benefit from such a system to determine where each vehicle is at a given time. This type of information can provide fleet vehicle supervisors with periodic updates on whether a vehicle engine is on or off, vehicle engine vitals, brake status, vehicle speed and direction of travel. It can even help locate missing people and their assigned vehicles. A GPS-based system, such as that used by Southern Area Pipelines, allows for two-way communication with the driver in case of a traffic incident, being stranded in a remote location or other emergencies. We anticipate that these new advances in vehicle engineering, such as active collision prevention systems warning drivers of potential danger, will better prepare the driver, his vehicle and its occupants for a collision.

enhanced accident response system (EARS) is a wireless service that remotely turns on interior lighting, unlocks doors and shuts off fuel when air bags are deployed. A similar system turns on the hazard warning lights and disconnects the battery terminal from the alternator. Other systems can alert response centers and make crash details available to emergency response teams.

Automatic vehicle locator An automatic vehicle locator (AVL) is a tracking system that uses an onboard electronic device to enable a remote monitoring station to track the vehicle's location. Most modern tracking systems use multiple global positioning system (GPS) satellites to triangulate an accurate location.

Other systems use communication devices, such as cellular or satellite radio frequency (RF) transmitters, to send the vehicle’s location to the monitoring station. Vehicle information can be viewed on electronic maps via the Internet or with specialized software.

Automatic vehicle locator