Health, Safety, and Environment in the Petroleum Industry - Research Paper Example

?Health, Safety and Environment in the Petroleum Industry The discussion presented in the paper is based on health, safety and environmentalaspects associated with petroleum organisations from an international perspective. It highlights the factors which can lead to occupational risks and also recommends practices which can reduce them effectively. It can be noted in this regard that the rapid development of petroleum industry has evidently increased the concern of health, safety and environment in the business practices being related with several risks. Furthermore, with repeated occurrences of job-oriented accidents and injuries at workplace, the consideration for sound working practices in petroleum organisations have increased considerably. Contextually, petroleum organisations are currently learnt as well aware about its importance for economic developments as well as the requirements for reduction of environmental and safety risks in the workplace through numerous measures. Acknowledging, understanding and implying appropriate measures of those risks in timely manner are also crucial for petroleum organisations in order to ensure safety of the employees and the community members. By promoting training facilities as well, petroleum organisations can enhance the knowledge of staffs about better and efficient utilisation of the equipments and tools. The experience of staffs about various good practices in the workplace can also be quite beneficial for ensuring safety and avoiding accidents to a larger extent. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 4 Overview of Petroleum Industry 5 Health, Safety and Environment in Petroleum Industry 6 Health Issues in Petroleum Industry 7 Safety Issues in Petroleum Industry 8 Environmental Issues of Petroleum Industry 9 Major Contributions of Oil and Gas Industry toward Heath, Safety and Environment 9 Recommendations 11 Conclusion 12 References 13 Introduction In petroleum industry maintaining a healthy and safe environment is regarded to be quite essential, not only because of intrinsic protection risks but also due to absolute quarantine of hazardous materials associated in every oil and gas organization. Since petroleum industry is experiencing a rapid development within the context of current phenomenon, it is quite likely to face possible health and safety problems along with environmental risks in upcoming days owing to its expansion, both in terms of production and organisational size (Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand, 2011). Considering these aspects, the discussion will concentrate on health, safety and environmental issues associated with the petroleum industry. Thereby, the objective of the discussion will be to appraise different articles and literatures from a generalized perspective illustrating the requirement of safety performances in the oil and gas sector. The discussion will also consider different factors causing such risks to recommend on the safe operations of equipment and tools utilized in the petroleum industry internationally. Overview of Petroleum Industry Petroleum industry is often considered to be one of major sources for income generation that in turn attempts to render greater support for enhancing the economic condition of a nation. In the international context, petroleum industry represents a significant percentage of the aggregate power consumption. For instance, in the year 1995, the petroleum industry accounted for the consumption of almost 63% of global power supply in comparison to coal mining, nuclear energy and hydroelectric energy which represented only 27%, 7% and 3% respectively of worldwide energy generation (International Association of Oil & Gas Products, 1997). Consequently, after the increase in global economic prosperity, the world’s demand for oil consumption has been augmenting with rapidity. For instance, in the year 2002, the international usage of oil and gas amounted to almost 220 cubic feet a day which is further expected to increase rapidly in the near future. Thus, in order to meet the challenges and demands of petroleum products with greater efficiency, there is need for dealing with the risks associated with the smooth execution of the overall business operations (International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association, 2002). As a matter of fact, the operations of petroleum industry have been related with certain risks in terms of health, safety and environment. Oil leaks, spoiled lands, fire related hazards and events of air and water pollution are being verified at numerous times in various sites which are learnt to have a strong impact on the health and safety of the environment. It can be said in this regard that the petroleum industry has been performing its operations since long to overcome these challenges and thus, reward a safe and secure workplace with less probability of accidents (International Association of Oil & Gas Products, 1997). Health, Safety and Environment in Petroleum Industry Risk is considered as an inevitable characteristic in the petroleum industry. It is considered as one of most vulnerable industries due to the nature of works performed as well as the working conditions. Owing to this particular fact, the risks must be managed prudently in the petroleum industry for certifying long term sustainability of different plans along with the entire segment on the whole. It is in this regard that accidents which cause health and safety risks in the petroleum industry can be traced for recognising the major causing factors. Contextually, in several occasions, the identified causing factors indicated towards the scarcities in operational processes imposing limitations to execute adequate safety measures. Besides, harmful incidents in petroleum organisations can also take place owing to inadequate knowledge of staffs regarding the utilisation of different equipments and tools, lack of guidance from superiors and disobedience towards the specified rules and instructions within the workplace. Several human related faults causing from inattentiveness and irresponsibility deciphered by the staffs along with the absence of proper observations and poor controlling of the employees’ behaviour in the workplace can also lead to severe disruptions in terms of safety and health related hazards. The health and safety environment further necessitates regular maintenance of engineering tools such as operative alarm systems and preservation of strict regulations along with standard working procedures within the workplace (Khdair et. al., 2011). Health Issues in Petroleum Industry Health is the central component for sustainable development in petroleum industry. Petroleum organisations need to depend on the staffs that are mentally and physically fit and efficient. Without effective working practices, petroleum organisations are quite likely to become unable to ensure the prosperity of health and well-being of the staffs. Hence, through training and development, petroleum organisations can successfully create an infrastructure and working culture where employees can efficiently and carefully utilise the equipment and tools (Rutherford, n.d.). With respect to health, petroleum industry poses several risks in terms of infections, pains, faintness, haemorrhages, burning eyes, and dampness which not only affects its human resources but also tends to cause a grave impression on the community well-being at large. It can naturally occur from subsurface toxics of oil and gas which drift and pollute the soil, shallow water areas and aquifers through unintentional or unpredicted ways (Rutherford, n.d.). Today, petroleum organisations, throughout the industry are getting involved in wide-ranging efforts to defend and encourage employee security. These efforts include frequent risk assessments, prudent working procedures, and training programmes for employees and frequent workplace examinations, with the sole intention to assist in regulating the impact of hazardous substances. It is worth mentioning in this regard that where health systems are insufficient or in certain cases absent, petroleum organisations develop their health divisions, with the prime objective of ensuring secure practices in the workplace (International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association, 2002). Safety Issues in Petroleum Industry Complete safety is essential in petroleum industry on both humanitarian and commercial grounds. In recent times, petroleum industry has made substantial growth in accomplishing the safety objectives undertaking several major initiatives across the various areas of the business. However, there are safety gaps still persisting within the industrial operations which can result in injuries of staffs, contractors and the public at large (International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association, 2002). Furthermore, in the petroleum industry, unsafe equipments and tools along with inexperienced use of machineries can also enhance the risks for safety hazards not only for staffs but also for the community by a certain extent. From a generalised point of view, the accidents resulting from inexperienced usage of equipments and tools can occur due to the generation of gases under high compression, utilisation of extensive force while making use of tools such as pump jacks and other instruments, and storage of inflammable ingredients in unsafe reservoirs (International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association, 2002). The pipelines at the location of ‘well’ to mine for oils and gases, also impose extensive safety risks. For instance the connecting valves and other tools in pipeline can become hazardous if interfered with excess degree of force. Due to this particular reason, there is a requirement for recognising the fundamental causes of such hazardous occurrences prior to the development of health, safety and environmental administration system to locate the risk issues effectively. Therefore, with reference to the above facts, it can be affirmed that in the petroleum industry, ensuring safety requires securing all tools from improper access of people (International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association, 2002). Environmental Issues of Petroleum Industry The petroleum industry is associated with several environmental problems in terms of climate change and carbon emission among other aspects. In most of the occasions, the gas derived from wells in petroleum industry, is examined as highly poisonous in nature which can not only cause injury to humans, but also to the environment. These hazards are further stated to have long lasting impressions which again increases the severity of the risks associated with the industry operations. With respect to environment, the gas, if released, can worsen the air quality in surrounding areas of the petrochemical plant comprising of toxic substances such as ‘Hydrocarbons’, ‘Carbon Monoxide’, ‘Benzene’, ‘Nitrogen Dioxide’ and ‘Sulphur Oxides’ among other harmful elements. Besides, oil and gas collected by the petroleum sector also attempt to raise the dirt level in the atmosphere of the surrounding areas which again tends to increase the pollution. Thus, it becomes quite apparent that these aspects can have a long-lasting negative impact on the environment as well as health and safety of people (Rutherford, n.d.). Major Contributions of Oil and Gas Industry toward Heath, Safety and Environment Significant progresses have been made by oil and gas organisations in order to enhance the working procedures to preserve a healthy as well as safe environment within the organisation and in the surrounding areas. In petroleum organisations, healthy environmental concerns play a prominent role to ensure organisational as well as community sustainability in future. With this concern, several nations have reinforced health and safety practices of petroleum organisations with the implementation of relevant regulations. These regulations are expected to effectively govern the activities of petroleum organisations to take safety measures in the workplace. Fundamentally, health and safety risks which are common in the petroleum industry are often related with the identified offshore risks. It is in this context that petroleum organisations need to majorly deal with five kinds of health and safety related risks which are chemical risks, physical risks, genetic risks, ergonomic risks and psychosomatic risks. Rational and systemic methods of recognising, examining, measuring, mitigating, observing and minimising these risks can further allow petroleum organisations to ensure health and safety (Kupatira, 2010). In the current operations, oil and gas organisations have also been providing greater emphasis on training the employees in order to enhance their knowledge and experiences concerning the appropriate utilisation of different equipments and tools. The training programs are also expected to help encouraging employees for the regular conduct of health and safety performances to ensure sound operating procedures. Petroleum organisations have also been examined to set high standards for offshore and onshore activities for the purpose of controlling carbon footprints, wastes, water usages and number of accidents. They also contribute towards health and safety of people through rigorous monitoring of their performances on a continuous basis. These activities further assist in avoiding the injuries and hazards in the workplace, thus maintaining a healthier and safer environment (Spence, 2011). With due regard to the advancements of the petroleum industry, it can be learnt about the health and safety challenges which in turn assists the industry leaders in performing towards the overall enhancement of the safety standards. Several international organisations are also emphasising on innovative ways for improving the health and safety conditions by extensively reducing the negative environmental impacts caused by the organisational activities. For instance, several petroleum organisations are performing towards inculcating the notion of safety and security as a central value in the business. Hence, the organisations can be learnt to be focusing largely on changes in working culture to motivate the employees to consider safety and security as the primary objectives in daily operations. Although changing the working culture is difficult to accomplish, petroleum organisations can achieve them by executing safety management exercises. In terms of environmental risks, the measures of petroleum organisations are further expected to increase at an extensive rate. However, concerning the trend in the international level, the governmental bodies of host nations also need to have in-depth understanding on the production operations of petroleum organisations that can influence the health, safety and environment related factors of the community by a certain extent. Hence, the experience from both sides i.e. organisations as well as governments can guarantee successful and globally sound approach towards a secure performance in the international petroleum industry (Niven & McLeod, 2009). Recommendations Since petroleum organisations continue to develop, they should attempt to observe the broader scope of business requirements while concentrating on the serious activities which are quite likely to strongly influence health and safety needs along with production and organisational success factors. In order to maintain health and safety environment, petroleum organisations need to apply prevention training programs to the staffs for the reduction of accident rate. Petroleum organisations can also arrange more rigorous workshops for staffs to educate them with respect to the safe applications of equipments and tools (Shepell-fgi, 2009). Additionally, in order to prevent accidents to occur in the first place, precautionary approaches should also be taken by petroleum organisations for securing the hazardous impacts of equipments and tools. Other activities which must be considered to preserve a minimum level of health, safety and environmental impacts are prevention of pollution and hazardous chemicals often spelled through maximum reutilisation of waste materials. Last but not the least; petroleum organisations must innovate and struggle for incessant developments on health and safety performances. Conclusion Petroleum organisations often face significant conflicts due to poor safety and health concerns and confront with pressures from communities for improving the environmental performance records, especially concerning the minimisation of pollution levels. In this context, it can be stated that greater managerial concern has emerged as quite vital in petroleum organisations so as to prevent any kind of disaster hindering the prosperity of the organisation and the community at large. Owing to the facts, increasing expectations can be currently identified amid people and communities towards health and safety performances by petroleum industry. With increased concentration on employee training and standards in the workplace, petroleum organisations can significantly avoid accidents, hence ensuring a safer working environment. References International Association of Oil & Gas Products, 1997. Environmental Management in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production. Words and Publications. [Online] Available at: http://www.ogp.org.uk/pubs/254.pdf [Accessed August 04, 2012]. International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association, 2002. Industry as a Partner for Sustainable Development. International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association. [Online] Available at: http://www.unep.fr/scp/csd/wssd/docs/sectors/final/oil-gas.pdf [Accessed August 04, 2012]. Kupatira, K., 2010. A Systematic Approach to Health Risk Management in Oil and Gas Industry. Offshore World, pp. 33-36. Khdair, W. A. & et. al., 2011. Improving Safety Performance by Understanding Relationship between Management Practices and Leadership Behaviour in the Oil and Gas Industry in Iraq: A Proposed Model. International Conference on Management and Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 6, pp. 85-93. Niven, K. & McLeod, R., 2009. Offshore Industry: Management of Health Hazards in the Upstream Petroleum Industry. Occupational Medicine, Vol. 59, No. 5, pp. 304-309. Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand, 2011. The Current Status of Health and Safety in Oil and Gas. Safety in Oil and Gas: Health, Safety and Risk Management. [Online] Available at: http://www.pepanz.org.nz/pepanzDocuments/Programme.pdf [Accessed August 04, 2012]. Rutherford, S., No Date. Oil and Gas Health and Safety Issues Backgrounder. West Coast Environmental Law. [Online] Available at: http://wcel.org/sites/default/files/publications/Oil%20and%20Gas%20Health%20and%20Saftey%20Issues%20Backgrounder.pdf [Accessed August 04, 2012]. Spence, D. B., 2011. Corporate Social Responsibility in The Oil And Gas Industry: The Importance of Reputational Risk. Chicago-Kent Law Review, Vol. 86, No. 1, pp. 59-85. Shepell-fgi, 2009. Health and Wellness Trends in the Oil and Gas Sector. Shepell-fgi Research Group. [Online] Available at: http://www.shepellfgi.com/EN-CA/AboutUs/News/Research%20Report/pdf/Oil%20and%20Gas%20Report_2009.pdf [Accessed August 04, 2012]. Read More