Antero Resources has been an HSE customer of SMS for only two years and yet, the partnership has rapidly grown in that short amount of time. Our service lines have expanded and we can safely say they are one of our top customers.
Safety Specialist Jake Jordan has been with Antero since the project started and explains how working with them has evolved over the past few years. “It’s developed into what I would consider a great working relationship. Everyone I have met with Antero has been great to work with in operations along with HSE.”
He admits starting with the group didn’t come without challenges. “The main challenge that I had to overcome when I first started was to get that great working relationship with the team. With the relationship that has been built, for all of us at SMS working for Antero, it really helps us do our jobs better.”
SMS Safety Tech Ryan Henry holding a sign that reads, “100 Days of
Safe Work” with his FRAC team on Antero Resources site.
Antero initially brought on the SMS team to help them shift their safety culture. Changing cultures can be difficult, but it’s something we specialize in. Safety Specialist Billy Perkins was another member of the startup team. “When we first started with Antero, their incident rates were very high. SMS built a strong startup team and began changing the safety culture quickly after that.”
Jake explains how it has shifted since then. “Now the company representatives and the contractors put safety first. If anyone has any safety concerns or issues, they don’t hesitate to bring it to light so the issues can be resolved. If I have a safety issue or concern, I bring it up to the company representative (AOR) or the contractor supervisors and often the employees themselves.”
Now, Antero Resources has significantly improved their incident rates, while welcoming the SMS team and working together to keep the safety culture top of mind. According to Billy, Antero had the best TRIR rating in company history, within the first year. The success has allowed SMS to continue to build that safety culture. “The safety culture I see here every day is constantly evolving and growing as a result of the hard work and devotion from everyone,” says Jake. “It really helps in the daily duties for the ESSC and also for the contractors themselves. They are able to approach an ESSC for any concern that they might have.” Jake lives by the motto, “Safety is not just a process, it is a culture built from hard work. If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right.” This successful partnership with Antero has led to SMS working in other areas such as water ops, drilling, completions, midstream and production.
To learn more about our HSE services, please contact Brett Fontenot at bfontenot2@acadian.com.
