Learn how Petrobras engaged end users in the development process to create a worker-safety app with high functionality where it matters most—in the field
Worker safety is a priority in every industry, but in the high-stakes, high-risk world of oil and gas, in refineries, and on deep-water platforms worldwide, prioritizing worker safety is a life-or-death matter. A broken railing, slippery floor, or a hairline crack in a pipeline could be catastrophic without proper and prompt intervention.
As one of the world's largest oil and gas producers, Petrobras wanted to address safety head-on by creating an industry-leading mobile solution allowing field workers to report safety concerns and incidents in real-time so potential hazards could be addressed as soon as possible.
Connecting with a human-centered approach
Petrobras implemented SAP Environment, Health, and Safety Management at the end of 2021. However, still, they were looking to take things a step further by empowering workers in the field with a tailor-made tool that would allow them to easily and rapidly report safety incidents and possible hazards. So, Petrobras went to work with the
SAP AppHaus team, whose human-centered approach to innovation was the perfect fit for a laser-focused project focused on end-user functionality.
The result is IDEIA (Identificação de Desvios e Incidents e Anomalies, or Identification of Deviations and Incidents and Anomalies)—a collaboratively designed mobile app enabled by the SAP Business Technology Platform. With IDEIA, field workers can record information even in the remotest, off-network locations. Their data automatically syncs with the database when their device is network-connected, ensuring seamless communication and maximum efficiency in worker health and safety.
Petrobras's implementation of the IDEIA app has produced value-driven results:
- Supporting the recording and handling of safety observations to prevent potential safety incidents
- Encouraging greater speed and promptness in action follow-up
- Offering a disruptive tool in the management of anomalies in the HSE (Occupational Health, Sustainability, and Environment) area
- Creating a culture of safety observation, increasing safety practices among employees
Tune In
In this episode of Better Together: Customer Conversations, we sit down with
Marcio Magalhaes, IT structuring projects general manager at Petrobras, to explore how the company created a new solution to improve worker and environmental safety.
- Thought leadership podcast: Tamara McCleary, CEO of Thulium, talks with Marcio Magalhaes about why a human-centered approach was necessary to develop the IDEIA app and how the technology will continue to further the company's health and safety goals.
- Practitioners' video: I sat down with Marcio Magalhaes to talk about how Petrobras's new app came to be, what's next for IDEIA, and his advice for other organizations looking to create solutions.
Some key insights from our conversations include an imperative to build democratically. Marcio recommends involving users—in Petrobras's case, including field operators and safety technicians—from the beginning of the development process. These crucial stakeholders "may have some comments and some aspects to be addressed, especially during the rolling out phase," and a feedback loop between developers and users ensures a maximally functional solution and seamless adoption.
Marcio also pointed out how the new app also aligns with Petrobas’ environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) vision for sustainability, safety, respect for people and the environment. Employing a technology-based resource to lower and prevent accidents in the field provides relevant and meaningful value for all of the company’s stakeholders.
Once a new solution is up and running, Marcio advised it's essential to keep innovating
. He explains that Petrobras plans to scale the IDEIA app for use throughout company operations and to extend functionality, especially for field operators, continuing to add value and improve safety across the board.
Interested in more stories about creating innovative mobile apps? Check out:
- Netze BW: A Digital Companion for Service Technicians
- PUIG SL: Digitally Transforming Brand Ambassadors with SAP BTP & SAP Cloud Analytics
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