Employee & Contractor Safety

Denbury has a long-standing commitment to the highest standards for the health and safety of our employees, contractors and local communities. We recognize that providing and integrating a sound health and safety program into our business is key to our success. Denbury’s safety culture is built around our safety motto: “Commit to Safety: Think Safe, Work Safe, Live Safe.” This motto embodies the personal aspect of safety, whereby safety is integrated into each individual’s mindset in everything they do, from planning and execution of a project at work to conducting their life at home with family and friends.

<span class="G4-LA5">Corporate safety structure</span>
<span class="G4-LA6">Safety performance</span>
Safety leadership conference
Contractor safety

Corporate safety structure

GRI:
G4-LA5 Employee Health
& Safety

Denbury’s dedication to safety is built into our management structure, starting at the highest levels and extending to our field offices. Three members of Denbury’s Board of Directors are representatives on the Board’s Reserves and Health, Safety and Environmental (“HSE”) Committee. One of the Committee’s primary oversight responsibilities is to review and assess with senior management the Company’s health and safety polices, practices and procedures.

We understand that we are individually responsible for our own safety and the safety of those around us. We know that every task can be completed injury free.

Denbury has an established HSE Department that reports directly to our Chief Operating Officer. The HSE Department provides corporate guidance and standardization across the organization on HSE matters and is tasked with ensuring that Denbury meets or exceeds safety and environmental regulations. Our Director of HSE works closely with a dedicated safety team consisting of two corporate and 12 field safety employees integrated into our field operations.

Denbury has a Safety Committee comprised of the operations Vice Presidents and senior managers from each operations department. This team meets on a regular basis to review, discuss and address safety and compliance performance. The Safety Committee identifies those areas that need improvement and then develops, launches and champions new safety programs and initiatives.

It is Denbury’s policy to:

Comply with all pertinent safety laws, rules and regulations, not just because it is legally required but because we believe it is the responsible way to conduct our business;
Set HSE targets and goals annually to measure our performance, to achieve superior results and to continually improve;
Monitor, revise and reemploy safety systems on a regular basis;
Provide education and training to our employees in order for them to have the knowledge, skills and understanding to perform their responsibilities and duties as safely as possible;
Routinely review and verify performance with audits, evaluations and other quality assurance and quality control methods;
Empower and expect employees and contractors to promptly report noncompliance or unsafe conditions and to take immediate action to prevent injuries;
Provide relevant safety and health information to contractors and require them to provide proper training for the safe performance of their work; and
Communicate our commitment to this policy to our subsidiaries, affiliates and contractors and seek their support.

As a condition of employment, all employees are required to comply with all safety related rules and regulations. Each employee understands that they are individually responsible for their own safety and the safety of those around them and that any violation of this policy is cause for immediate disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.

Safety performance

GRI:
G4-LA6 Employee Health
& Safety

Each year, Denbury establishes corporate goals specifically related to employee and contractor safety performance and monitors them throughout the year. The performance statistics are continually reported to the Board of Directors, senior management and all employees to reinforce their importance. The compensation of every Denbury employee is tied, in part, to achievement of these goals, which further reinforces that safety is integral to everything we do.

Two performance indicators that Denbury closely monitors are Total Recordable Incident Rate (“TRIR”) and Days Away/Restricted or Transfer Rate (“DART”). TRIR is a rate that represents the number of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) recordable incidents for every 200,000 hours worked. DART is a rate that represents the number of days away from work, work restriction or job transfer resulting from OSHA recordable incidents and illnesses for every 200,000 hours worked. As shown in the charts below, Denbury has consistently outperformed our industry’s average TRIR and DART in recent years. The most recently published Bureau of Labor Statistics data (2013) for the oil & gas extraction sector indicated an average TRIR of 1.30 for the year 2013. An industry average TRIR has not been published for the year 2014. By comparison, Denbury’s TRIR was 0.82 in 2013 and 0.46 in 2014. Likewise, the oil & gas extraction sector indicated an average DART of 0.70 for 2013 and 0.80 for 2014 while Denbury’s DART was 0.41 and 0.17 for 2013 and 2014, respectively. We strive to have zero safety-related incidents each year.

Total Recordable Incident Rate

Days Away/Restricted or Transfer Rate

Safety leadership conference

Denbury’s focus on safety is highlighted by our annual Safety Leadership Conference. The conference attendees include all levels of operations management (approximately 200 employees) and focuses on our commitment to the development of a culture of safety. Our safety motto was conceived at this conference and is still a symbol of our core beliefs about safety. The two-day conference fosters the sharing of ideas, provides clarity on expectations, and sets in motion changes in Denbury’s safety performance. Each year the conference builds upon the safety themes discussed in previous years and features success stories from employees who make a difference in the safety culture in their respective workplaces.

2013 Safety Conference Keynote Speaker

Our first annual Safety Leadership Conference in 2013 was highlighted by our keynote speaker, Tony Crow. Mr. Crow worked for many years in a local power plant near his hometown in East Texas. One day, Mr. Crow and his son went on a hunting trip and a terrible accident left him permanently blind. At the time of the accident he was not wearing the safety glasses that he wore every day at work and was not wearing his orange hunting vest. His message is focused not just on the details of the accident and how it could have been prevented; rather, he points out the personal aspect of not practicing safety at home when you leave work. His message and motto is “I.N.J.A.M. = It’s Not Just About Me.” Mr. Crow’s very powerful message resonated with everyone, illustrating how one lapse in safety judgment can change a life forever.

Keynote speaker Tony Crow – 2013 Safety Leadership Conference

2014 Safety Conference Keynote Speaker

Our 2014 Safety Leadership Conference featured a powerful message from our keynote speaker, Brad Livingston. After being employed by a natural gas pipeline company for 10 years, Mr. Livingston was involved in a potentially life-ending incident on the job that was 100% preventable. In his presentation he discussed how and why the incident occurred. He discussed concepts like pride, shortcuts, improper perspectives, attitude and complacency, how each of these played a role in the actions that led to his injuries, and how those injuries have affected the rest of his life. His keynote message drove home the importance of maintaining the proper perspective of why we should work safe every day and the “Ripple Effect” of what results from an incident that could have been prevented.

Keynote speaker Brad Livingston – 2014 Safety Leadership Conference

Contractor safety

Contractors are an integral part of Denbury’s business, and the well-being and safety of our contractor partners is equally as important as the safety of Denbury’s employees. Our employees’ engagement with contractors about safety is a standard practice. Contractor orientations and pre-job safety reviews promote both a safe work environment and clear communications.

We invite our contractors to inspirational safety presentations with our employees because we believe their well-being and safety is equally as important as Denbury’s employees.

Message From Our CEO

Phil Rykhoek President and Chief Executive Officer

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