Playing it safe

Improving HSE practices in the oil and gas industry can deliver tangible commercial benefits. Oil & Gas Middle East surveys the industry for best practice.

It does not require a vivid imagination to realise that working in the oil and gas industry can be somewhat perilous at times.

The extreme environments that many of the workers face can create all sorts of issues relating to their health and safety.

It is with this in mind that many of the majors and smaller firms have stepped up their risk management and health and safety programmes, employing occupational health experts to advise on these programmes and provide services to guarantee good employee health.

Two of the major occupational health experts for the oil and gas sector in the region are the Prime Health Group (PHG) and General Medical Centre (GMC), both of whom provide a comprehensive service which includes, ensuring a safe workplace, prevention of occupational diseases, treatment of diseases, promoting the health of employees, pre-employment and annual check-ups, and training of onsite paramedics.

"I have definitely seen an increase in companies reaching us for such services. It's due to more awareness and to international regulations making occupational health measures mandatory for oil and gas companies," says Dr Carole Chidiac, GMC.

The growth in the Middle East energy industry has led to increased demand for occupational health companies, something that has led to PHG using Dubai as a "launch pad for the region", according to managing director Greg Hutchinson.

The challenges in providing health care are obviously comprehensive - for instance the nature of offshore work, which possesses specific dilemmas.

"The main challenge in remote locations is the evacuation in case of accident or health problem. That's why a pre-employment medical is necessary to rule out conditions that might threaten an employee on site and for which a treatment won't be available. In best conditions, it might take many hours or even days before reaching an adequate medical facility. In some conditions, this time factor can be life threatening," says Chidiac.

"Other challenges for offshore include working at dangerous heights, weather conditions, social isolation and endemic diseases. But the main health problem in this part of the world is related to heat. Despite all safety measures taken to prevent heat strokes and dehydration, cases do happen especially during the summer. They're rarely dangerous though since paramedics on site are normally equipped to deal with such problems," added Chidiac.

Dr. Sarah Peters, clinical director and occupational health physician, PHG, seems to agree with Chidiac.

"The remote location is probably the critical factor here. The rigours and demands of the job mean that people have to be very healthy to work in that environment. An example would be someone who may be plagued with something fairly innocuous like a toothache, if they were working offshore then chartering a helicopter to fly them back for emergency treatment represents a very expensive solution," she says.

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