Rules and regulations

The most significant HSE challenges at present are the lack of a comprehensive unified HSE framework and the ethnic diversity of the work force.

The lack of a framework means companies use a variety of practices, from all over the world, which differ in the level of cover provided and the way the services are delivered. When companies with differing systems work together this can lead to potential conflict and confusion. Occupational Health suffers most from this and is the least well covered out of Health, Safety and Environment.

The ethnic diversity of the work force brings with it a wide range of experience, practices, attitudes and languages. This means that even with a unified HSE system, communicating, implementing and enforcing the rules and regulations will be a significant challenge.

O&G: How do regional HSE regulations address these issues?

The regional HSE regulations were originally formulated in the 70s and 80s as framework regulations, similar to the UK Health and Safety at Work Act. These have been expanded and consolidated to differing extents within the Gulf countries. However, the main deficiencies are in terms of guidelines and enforcement. There are a number of initiatives in the region seeking to address these points.

O&G: How do companies operating in the region deal with the same issues?

The way companies deal with these issues, in part, relates to national legislation. But more generally it is driven by the experience and training of people within the companies, or the consultants they employ to develop their systems. If they have been trained in North America they tend to use US-style systems. If they trained in a European or Australasian system, they will tend to adopt them. This means that you often find different standards being applied, such as with occupational exposure limits or health evaluation for benzene exposure.

O&G: How does this translate in terms of personnel training?

A similar pattern is seen in approaches to training. The style and content of training usually relates to where the company experts or consultants trained. There is a lot of good training going on in safety, but less on environmental and health issues, although this is improving. The hardest part is at worker level, where the ethnic diversity and varying levels of language ability make delivering an effective message particularly difficult.

O&G: How does training fit in with, respond to, or drive the regulations forward?

At the managerial and supervisory level a lot of the training often goes beyond the regulatory requirement. Training tends to respond to the perceived needs of the industry rather than the actual regulations themselves. However, it does normally encompass national regulatory requirements and doesn’t seem to drive the formulation of regulations.

O&G: Do companies typically seek to meet or exceed the regulatory requirements?

The bigger players in market, particularly those with multinational involvement, usually exceed local regulatory requirements and strive to meet best international practice. Smaller companies vary considerably. I’ve seen some smaller companies that could be used as models of excellence, with others that could be considered as accidents trying to happen.

O&G: Are working safety standards imported from North America and Europe more stringent than local standards?

Standards imported from North America and Europe are usually more stringent, but not always. In the UAE, for example, health surveillance for radiation workers and workers exposed to benzene is required to be done every six months which is much more frequent than in North America or Europe.

O&G: How do local HSE practices and regulated standards compare to those in other parts of the world?

Within the oil and gas sector HSE standards and practices rate somewhere in the middle compared with the rest of the world. While not yet best practice, they certainly are not the worst.

O&G: Who sets the HSE ‘agenda’ in the region and do companies working locally have an input into the regulatory framework?

The HSE agenda for the region is driven by governments, with varied input from companies. Countries address it at a national level, with input to the appropriate GCC Councils.

Regionally direction in HSE comes from the relevant GCC Council of Ministers (eg: Labour for Safety, Health for Occupational Health, etc). These councils meet to discuss and determine regional strategy and formulate the guidelines.

The input of local companies varies between the individual countries in the Gulf. Some liaise directly with relevant bodies and some countries, such as recently happened in the UAE with an invitation for input on a ministerial website, invite wider input.