Traditional approaches to safety culture improvements generally focus on factors such as behavioral safety programs, human error and leadership skills. Programs tend to focus exclusively on the employees and managers. All too often the important role of HSE staff in the development of a safety culture is neglected. Yet, the organization turns to the HSE function for expertise, advice, and support. Thus, it is essential that the HSE organization is competent in technical matters and behavioral knowledge. Neglecting the role of the HSE staff reduces the effectiveness of safety culture improvements. However, when HSE staff is competent and consistently motivating the organization towards a strong safety culture, operational managers, and then supervisors, and ultimately employees will consistently follow. An HSE technical program for HSE staff was developed, providing core technical and behavioral skills for them to fulfil their roles efficiently and effectively as business partners in the organization. The aim of the project was to increase technical and core non-technical competencies of HSE, thereby accelerating the development of a strong safety culture. This paper discusses the HSE Technical Academy Program, the benefits to the business, preliminary findings, and critical aspects for success. It is proposed that increasing technical and core non-technical competencies of HSE staff offers value to our industry as a means to support the continuing journey towards creating a safe industry.

High-impact incidents across the oil and gas industry have demonstrated the fundamental need to ensure competency of personnel working with safety critical equipment or performing safety critical operations. The initial requirement for competencies focused on operational employees. Due to the fundamental role that the HSE function plays in supporting sustainable HSE strategies, the industry now expects HSE function employees to be included in competency programs to ensure consistent availability of expertise on HSE technical matters.Career development programs are often focused on disciplines directly involved with "front line operations" such as engineers, geologists, and operators. In many cases, standardized competencies and skills have not been defined for HSE function employees. Consequently, it can be challenging to evaluate HSE technical and behavioral competencies as part of development plan discussions for HSE professionals. Furthermore, career development discussions are frequently based purely on geographic needs, thereby creating inconsistencies in skill levels for the different HSE positions across the organization.This paper discusses a process to determine the required technical and non-technical skills and knowledge that are based on company and industry needs, and determine how those skills are analyzed against the level of proficiency expected by the function. This process establishes critical factors for success to enable the organization's HSE function to improve as a whole through enhanced knowledge, skills, and abilities for the HSE staff. A standardized program for the HSE function fosters better overall performance through the availability of consistently competent and knowledgeable HSE resources to support operational efforts. Need for ChangeTraditional approaches to HSE culture and performance improvements typically focus on safe behaviors, human error, and leadership skills, with the general employee population and managers as the target audience. Organizations generally turn to their HSE functions for expertise, advice, and support in these change efforts. Frequently, the development of HSE staff is neglected. Because it is generally accepted that the HSE staff should be competent in technical matters and behavioral knowledge, it can be argued that neglecting the development of the HSE staff could reduce the overall effectiveness of HSE