August 2016, Vol. 243, No. 8

Company & Association News

IPLOCA Awards

What are the IPLOCA Awards?  What is the rationale behind them, when were they first introduced and how are they adjudicated?

Mission and Objectives

Reflecting IPLOCA’s mission of providing value to members and promoting the highest standards in the pipeline industry, the association progressively put in place a number of awards, supported by sponsorship from major clients and operators, to help meet the following IPLOCA objectives:

• Promoting, fostering and developing the science and practice of pipeline construction.
• Promoting safety.
• Promoting protection of the environment.
• Contributing to social, cultural and environmental development programs.
• Encouraging efficiency.

The first award to be introduced in 1999 was the annual Safety Award. It was renamed the Health and Safety Award in 2008 and sponsorship was granted to Chevron.

The Health and Safety Award is presented each year in recognition of members’ initiatives, all of which are aimed at improving the health and safety of the pipeline industry such as:

• A unique innovation or initiative to avoid incidents.
• A new and well-defined system, procedure or practice enhancing safety.
• Implementation of lessons learned.

IPLOCA’s commitment to the promotion of health and safety is also fulfilled by the publication of annual aggregated health and safety and environmental statistics, submitted by its members.

The New Technologies Award, sponsored by BP, is presented every second year to a Regular Member or an Associate Member, giving recognition to a significant contribution to innovation in the engineering of, the provision of equipment for, and the construction of pipelines by virtue of:

• A technological or engineering breakthrough.
• A new piece of equipment, tool or construction supply.
• A new type of permanent material.
• Other relevant innovations.

The biennial Environmental Award, sponsored by Shell, was introduced in 2004 and is in recognition of members’ initiatives, all of which are aimed at reducing the impact of pipeline construction on the environment, such as:

• Reduction of greenhouse gases
• Impact assessment and public consultation
• Energy use and efficiency
• Waste management and reduction
• Spill response preparedness
• Water usage and preservation
• Soil and ground restoration
• Archaeology
• Flora and fauna

The Corporate Social Responsibility Award, sponsored by Total, was introduced in 2012. It is presented every second year, alternating with the Environmental Award, and is in recognition of members’ initiatives, all of which are aimed at improving living conditions of the people impacted by the pipeline industry such as:

• An initiative to address a specific need identified in the local community.
• A program or practice demonstrating corporate social responsibility of the company.
• A creative initiative in which a large impact is made with a small investment.
• A long-term project, intended to be continuously supported by the company or another company, once pipeline activity is complete.

Introduced on occasion of IPLOCA’s 50^th anniversary, the Excellence in Project Execution Award will be presented for the first time at the convention in Paris in recognition of an outstanding project execution in onshore or offshore pipeline, or facilities construction by virtue of:

• Excellent client relationship/partnership beyond the expectations and/or contractual obligations.
• Specific technology or engineering developed to either significantly reduce the cost of construction, or minimize the impact of the project on the environment, or to the local community, or for improvement in safety.
• Outstanding response to unexpected difficulties faced during execution of the project.
• A remarkable or revised construction practice.

The project should constitute a step change in both owner-company’s satisfaction and a trademark for the contractor’s execution capacity.

Value to IPLOCA Members

All of these awards are also intended to provide value to our members by:

• Rewarding those who are “leading by example” and are in line with IPLOCA’s objectives.
• Sharing information amongst all IPLOCA members; the winning entries are available online and all other submissions for awards are made available to our members upon request.
• Bringing new ideas to our members about “what else could be done” to keep up to date.
• Keeping members informed of the latest technologies developed by the industry to improve efficiency.
• Profiling the industry trends in HSE and corporate social responsibility to our members. What are the “leaders” doing? Creating a type of benchmarking.

Adjudication

Evaluation of all entries is done by using balanced scorecards that are completed by each member of the Adjudication Committee and discussed at the Committee meeting. Shortlisted entries are discussed in a second round and only then does the Committee identify winners and runners-up.

Results and reasons for selection are kept rigorously undisclosed and only announced when the awards are presented during the Open General Meetings at the convention and detailed in the December edition of the IPLOCA newsletter and on our website.

Recent winners and runners-up of the IPLOCA Awards

Awards/Year	2015	2014	2013
H&S Winner Runners-up	Max Streicher –Michels Corporation -SPIECAPAG	Saipem – J. Murphy & Sons – Nacap Australia – SPIECAPAG	Nacap Australia -Max Streicher -JV McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) & CCC Australia -SPIECAPAG
Environmental Winner Runners-up		Heerema Marine Contractors -ALSA Engineering & Construction -Max Streicher -Techint
New Technologies Winner ………….Runners-up	Denys and Selmers –Herrenknecht AG -PipeSak		Herrenknecht -Applus RTD -Laurini Officine Meccaniche
CSR Winner Runners-up	Technip –Saipem S.p.A. -SPIECAPAG		Heerema Port Amboin -SPIECAPAG -Welspun Corp.

 

For more information on these awards, including guidelines, entry forms and details on previous winning entries, refer to the awards page on www.iploca.com.

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