Though often uncelebrated, health and safety at the workplace is a critical component of all great companies as it protects workers⏤ the most important resource every organisation has. By adapting and living a rigorous safety culture, and proactively managing workplace safety-related incidents, organisations not only protect the lives and wellbeing of their people but are also able to reduce risks and losses associated with lost man-hours due to avoidable accidents.
For having led his team of more than 8,000 employees and contractors on the strategically important Tilenga Project, to clock a monumental 20 million man-hours without Lost Time Incidents (LTI), CEO East Africa Magazine would like to recognise Philippe Groueix, the General Manager TotalEnergies EP Uganda as our CEO of the Week!
A lost time incident (LTI) is an injury sustained on the job by an employee that results in the loss of productive work time for more than 24 hours, permanent disability or even death. The measurement of LTI is a lagging indicator that is aimed at measuring a company’s incidents in the form of past accident statistics.
This significant industry milestone was achieved on August 10, 2023, exactly 226 days after the TotalEnergies EP Uganda, again under the leadership of Philippe Groueix, aced the 10 million man-hour mark on the Tilenga Project, in January 2023.
The Tilenga Project is implemented by TotalEnergies EP Uganda on behalf of the Government of Uganda in the Albertine Region. The Project will produce 230,000 barrels of oil at the plateau from the 6 fields of Ngiri, Jobi Rii, Gunya, Mputa-Nzizi-Waraga, Kasemene-Wahrindi, Kigogole-Ngara, Nsoga and Ngege fields. Over 400 oil wells will be constructed on 31 well pads to produce oil and gas resources. The first oil production is projected to start in 2025.
Philippe, who assumed the leadership of TotalEnergies EP Uganda in September 2021, is an oil and gas veteran with over three decades of upstream oil and gas experience. He joined the French Energy giant in 1990 and held various positions in field operations management at the company headquarters and in affiliates such as Nigeria and Gabon and rose to become a Technical Director in Gabon in 2010. He then went on to become the Executive Vice President, TotalEnergies EP Indonesia from 2013 to 2017 and Managing Director of TotalEnergies EP Bolivia. After that, he became the Managing Director for TotalEnergies EP Denmark, from whence he came to Uganda, to lead TotalEnergies’ development and production of Uganda’s much-awaited oil and gas.
Uganda’s confirmed petroleum resource base is currently estimated at 6.5 billion barrels, out of which 1.4 billion is recoverable. There is also an estimated 600 billion standard cubic feet of gas.
One of the best performing TotalEnergies affiliates in safety
Commenting about the milestone, Philippe, said, “at TotalEnergies, safety is the cornerstone of the Company’s values because, at the end of the day, a company that is not safe is not sustainable. We are therefore uncompromising when it comes to Safety”.
Pearl Bank Celebrates Customers in Festive Campaign Dubbed Pearl Santa“The achievement of this milestone reflects our collective commitment towards delivering this complex and large-scale project without accidents and puts us well on our way towards becoming one of the best performing TotalEnergies affiliates in safety. This record is underpinned by our organisational culture, permanent attention to potential risks, systematic implementation of our Safety Golden Rules, leadership commitment, training and involvement of all employees and contractors,” he added.
Writing on his LinkedIn page, Groueix further said, the 20 million man-hours without Lost Time Incidents (LTI) milestone, was “evidence that with vigilance, collective effort & permanent application of the golden rules, an accident-free workplace is possible”.
“Congratulations to all. It means a lot to me on what we can achieve together. Let’s guard against complacency and remain focused to celebrate 30 million man-hours early next year,” he further said.
Cyril CHAMPIGNY, TotalEnergies EP Uganda Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Director commended the role of contractors in the achievement of the safety milestone.
“Our HSE strategy is heavily reliant on the strict compliance of not only our staff but all contractors whilst also safeguarding community wellbeing. Therefore, it is important to note that 94% of the man-hours have been executed by our contractors and it is a tremendous reflection of our combined commitment towards minimising risks and enhancing our safety performance on the Tilenga project”
“Key to our culture is our safety performance. We strive to be world-class in everything we do all around the world, and Tilenga is a very important part of that legacy that we hope to instil here in Uganda” said, Kenneth FINDLAY, HSE Manager, McDermott – one of the Tilenga project’s biggest contractor for Engineering, Procurement, Supply, Construction and Commissioning.
TotalEnergies EP Uganda is an upstream affiliate which is leading the development activities towards production in the Tilenga project area – Contract Area 1 (CA-1) and Licence Area 2 North (LA-2N) within the Albertine Region. However, TotalEnergies has been present in Uganda since 1955 through its marketing operations and operates more than fuel 200 stations countrywide.
