The INPEX Group strives to make continual improvements to its HSE performance under an HSE Management System that coordinates our health (H), safety (S), and environmental (E) practices. These improvements reflect ISO 9000, ISO 14001, and the occupational health and safety management system (OHSAS 18001 and OHSMS guidelines) and International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP) guidelines. Our HSE Management System encompasses a document architecture that includes the HSE Policy, the HSE Management System Manual, as well as corporate HSE procedures and guidelines; an organizational structure comprising HSE committees established at headquarters and in Operational Organizations; and HSE objectives and action plans for HSE programs devised each fiscal year. Our HSE Policy declares our basic objectives in carrying out HSE activities. To achieve our objectives, we are structuring the inter-relationships between important components of the HSE Management System, such as contractor management and HSE skills training, and between the respective components and applicable HSE documents within the HSE Management System Manual, and also defining requirements within the corporate HSE procedures.

In addition to these HSE documents and the supporting groups, an A-PDCA cycle that starts with risk assessment is also an essential process for implementing the HSE Management System. We are therefore performing tasks required for each phase, for example HSE audits and HSE reviews in the design stage, to ensure better implementation of the System.

The HSE Unit at headquarters is in charge of promoting the INPEX Group’s HSE Management System. When necessary, HSE Groups are organized for our Operational Organizations.* To promote systematic Group-wide HSE initiatives, we established the Corporate HSE Committee, which together with the HSE committees in each Operational Organization deliberates on corporate HSE procedures, deliberates and follows up on HSE activity plans, including HSE objectives and HSE programs, and explores measures to promote the development of an HSE corporate culture.

At headquarters, the first Corporate HSE Committee meeting was held in October 2007. We held eight meetings in fiscal 2010 to discuss the content of HSE objectives and programs and HSE-related documents, and the results of HSE activities and HSE audits.

The HSE Unit and HSE Groups are also making efforts to hire HSE specialists and provide employees with on-the-job training in an aim to further promote HSE.

HSE activities in the INPEX Group are clearly set forth in a series of HSE documents ranging from our HSE Policy, Corporate HSE Management System Manual, Procedures, and Guidelines. This system is given the hierarchical structure shown in the figure below. On the corporate level, documents are established to comprehensively manage all HSE activities. Operational Organizations establish the documents they need to manage their own activities, e.g., exploration, development, and production operations. So far, we have created 23 Corporate Procedures and 26 subordinate documents consisting of Guidelines and various plans. We inform employees of content related to procedures and guidelines by posting information over the intranet and through other means. We also periodically review documents to ensure that they stay relevant to our operations.

The Access-Plan-Do-Check-Act (A-PDCA) cycle is an important process within the INPEX Group’s HSE Management System. Steps in the cycle include Access, in which we define risk management, legal, and other requirements; Plan, where we formulate HSE and emergency response plans; Do and Check, which involve collection and analysis of HSE-related data and HSE audits; and Act, consisting of management reviews. This process is also critical for continually improving our HSE activities.

HSE audit of Gas Guarico in Venezuela

We conduct HSE audits of corporate and Operational Organizations to continually improve our HSE performance. HSE audits cover
each organization’s HSE management system, its operations, and all related HSE activities. In fiscal 2010, we audited three Operational Organizations: Gas Guarico, S.A. in Venezuela, Teiseki Drilling Co., Ltd. in Japan, and West Bakr Petroleum Co. in Egypt. HSE audits assess five key parameters—HSE management system development, implementation of the A-PDCA cycle, effectiveness of HSE objectives, improvements from the previous audit, and contractor management—and provide feedback on non-conformities, observations, and achievements to bring about continual improvement to HSE activities.

At the award ceremony

Every year the INPEX Group confers HSE awards with the purpose of improving the HSE performance of companies within the Group and raising awareness of HSE. Award recipients in fiscal 2010 were as follows:

• HSE Award for Excellence: Teiseki Pipeline Co., Ltd.
• HSE Achievement Award: Ichthys Onshore Geological Survey Team
• HSE Achievement Award: Keijiro Kono, Nagaoka Field Office

HSE managers engage in discussion
at a HSE Managers Meeting

In fiscal 2010, the INPEX Group implemented a program to improve HSE communication based on the results of the HSE Awareness Survey conducted in November 2009.

As a part of this program, in October 2010 we held an HSE Managers Meeting, gathering all managers in charge of HSE at Japanese and overseas Operational Organizations. At the meeting, managers presented their HSE activities and discussed a range of issues that included contractor HSE management and environmental management.

To strengthen communication between the HSE Unit and various Project Divisions at headquarters, we periodically held HSE Liaison Meetings, where attendees exchanged information on HSE management systems, HSE activity updates, and more. Five such meetings were held in fiscal 2010, and we will continue to hold these meetings in fiscal 2011 with more and better content.

We are also increasing our use of videoconferencing to improve the quality of communication with foreign project sites. Holding a videoconference with all overseas sites simultaneously is not easy given their location in different time zones, so only some sites participate. One site, the Perth Office at the Ichthys Project in Australia, participates regularly in videoconferencing with us. We have found that a direct exchange of thoughts has helped our HSE managers to not only share information but also build greater trust in each other, strengthening the sense of cohesion within the Group.

We will continue to place an importance on face-to-face communication and will explore various other ways to strengthen communication.

Continuing from previous years, in fiscal 2010 we planned and implemented HSE training in accordance with the annual HSE Programs. At the corporate level, a total of 1,015 people attended 29 sessions of HSE training in the form of seminars, group training, and e-learning formats. Training curriculum covered a range of topics including basic HSE knowledge, the latest environmental management practices, emergency response, security capabilities, and specialized HSE skills. Operational Organizations in both Japan and overseas also conduct training on operational safety, environmental management, emergency response, and other topics according to local needs. Operational Organizations in Japan are expanding their safety training programs by adding external seminars to on-the-job base training. Going forward, our aim is to further raise awareness of safety by providing training that focuses on risk assessment, human error prevention and other important issues.

While the INPEX Group has directed its efforts so far to developing HSE management systems and carrying out other activities such as training, with document creation and systems development making progress and the HSE activities framework becoming firmly established, we have come to the next stage in which we will focus on cultivating an HSE corporate culture to further solidify HSE activities. Three components make up a sound HSE culture: An HSE system, organizational attitudes and actions towards HSE, and the sharing of those attitudes and actions within the organization. To foster a HSE culture, we need to confirm what our current situation is like and then paint a picture of the type of company we want to be a number of years from now. To that end, in August 2010 we began preparations to determine the current status of our HSE culture, including discussion of what kinds of parameters to use in our assessment, and started a HSE Cultural Maturity Survey in April 2011. Based on the results of this survey, from fiscal 2011 onward we will implement activities that will contribute to the cultivation of an HSE culture in the INPEX Group.