Keynote 4: Steve Rae (details approved by speaker)
Company: Fortitude
Job Title: Director
Session Title: Action beyond compliance: Surviving the Piper Alpha disaster
Date & Time: 27 March 2025 @ 14:00
Bio: He brings a unique approach to sharing and learning which allows him to draw on his personal and professional experience providing an in-depth perspective on safety culture, effective team leadership and workforce engagement from “boardroom to worksite.”
Having entered the offshore industry as a technician in 1982, Steve found himself onboard Piper Alpha on July 6th, 1988. Having surviving the horrific events of that night, he chose to continue to work in the industry where he went on to have a long and successful career.
Throughout his career he has accrued a wealth of experience in a range of UK and international senior operational, management and presidential roles across engineering, drilling, project management, health and safety, and more recently as a management consultant.
Since Piper Steve has remained relentless in his pursuit of an incident free workplace providing personal mentorship, industry and trade association leadership, he played a vital role in raising the profile of the IADC’s North Sea Chapter where he was chairman from 2008-2010, in 2010 he was the first recipient of the Val Hood Award for his significant contribution to safety leadership, he also received recognition for his continued efforts in this regard at the Offshore Achievement Awards (OAA) 2024 where he was conferred the Significant Contribution award by the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Steve is a Fellow of the Energy Institute and Chairman of the Pound for Piper Memorial Trust which raises funds to support the upkeep of the Piper Alpha memorial gardens in Aberdeen.
Presentation Summary:
During his talk Steve recounts his experience from that night on Piper Alpha and shares lessons that everyone involved in Major Hazard Environments can learn from. He brings home, in an extremely impactful manor, how we can influence our worksite Safety Culture, Steve’s presentation will leave you questioning your own personal contribution to safety.
The following quote received by an attendee at one of his talks sums up how his involvement has inspired and motivated others to question their own commitment to safety:
“Steve’s talk should be mandatory for all those working in our industry and is the most impactful training experience I have had in my 20-year career”.
Click here to hear from the man himself!