One Company's Approach to Societal Responsibility: A Contribution to Operational Excellence and Acceptability

Abstract

In line with the values and principles framed by its Code of Conduct, Ethics and HSEQ Charters, Total places its societal commitment at the heart of its responsibility as an industrial operator. To achieve this, the company has defined a Societal Policy in order to promote integration of its activities into the context of host communities and countries, notably by contributing to human, economic and social development. Total's ambition is to act and be recognized as: – An industrial operator with a strategy centered on respect, listening, dialogue and stakeholder involvement. – An accountable operator exemplary in its management of impacts related to its activities. – A partner in the sustainable social and economic development of its host communities and countries. – A company that is setting a benchmark for the promotion of access to energy. Based on this policy, several internal procedures were developed in order to ensure a coherent societal approach throughout the company. In Exploration and Production the societal approach was included, together with Security, in the HSE Management System taking the company progressively from HSE to H3SE. For Total the creation of a new profession – "Societal engineering" – is the most efficient means of ensuring that the approach becomes part of the"genetic material" of Petroleum Engineers. To implement the requirements of the societal policy, the profession has to recruit specialists, train them, and develop their career path while in parallel raising awareness about the societal approach within Total. Methodologies, sharing of lessons learned and experiences and practical tools were developed to increase professionalism in the field. SRM+ (Stakeholder Relationship Management) and MOST (monitoring societal actions) are key tools used by Total. Implementing the societal approach need not be cumbersome; it must be tailored to the level of risks and opportunities faced by each asset and its societal context. The paper, based on concrete examples from different countries and from each E&P process will illustrate the development of a professional societal approach, an increasingly crucial element of the business and activities of oil and gas companies. It contributes to operational excellence, reputation and long term acceptability.

Evaluating Possible Site Locations From a Social Perspective: Reducing Risks and Impacts

“…In parallel, the Company's societal management systems and internal societal standards have been reinforced, formalized and integrated into the HSEQ management system (Fontaine et al 2014) while the need for human rights due diligence throughout the Exploration and Production process has been strengthened through the Company's adherence to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (2011) as set out in its revised Company Code of Conduct (2014). These different developments internal to the Company have combined to increase the recognition of the need for inputs from in-house social experts at strategic moments in early project design.…”