Oil and gas projects are always challenging and complex to control. There are some risks associated with employees and technological parts. The issues are quite common in oil and gas mines, so In that case, better precaution for the employees is needed from the management or the government. All the phases are different and all the integrated process are highlighted in order to success the planning. The issue of different cases like Alexander Kielland, Piper Alfa, and Mobil Oil all these things are dangerous and signify the challenges the employee in the oil and gas industry has faced (Shuen, Feiler and Teece 2014). This is the key reason that ensures better protective nature and alignment of good procurement for the advancement of dealing in the UK. To increase the productivity of the organisation some effective changes are needed and some risk management procedures are also needed to align with that (Shuen, Feiler and Teece 2014). The oil price fluctuation makes some uncertainties in that process and religious affections are important in that case to highlight the section for the development of oil and gas sectors.
In this paper, the major problem for employees is to face the difficulties in oil and gas sectors and to evaluate the best possile way to mitigate those. The business set up is higher in oil and gas sectors and they have earned a higher section of revenue also. The paper also highlights safety laws, those have been implemented for employees associated with that, and also the process of evacuation, safety rules and permit that can deliver better process of dealing with the work process.
From the 1st October 2013, the rule has been changed. The work-related accidents are the major concern in that case. There are certain injuries that diagnose in that case and dangerous occurrences like death or severe physical injuries are the concern matter in that case (Hse.gov.uk 2018). The classification of major injuries are turned into the specific injuries and that change has come up in 2013 (Hse.gov.uk 2018). The accumulation of fatal accidents is also covered up in this process and the accidents of non-workers also important in that case. The record numbers of accidents are under the situation and 47 types of disease replaced with the eight categories of work in work-related places are all under the situation. The process of Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) record kept for 3 years after the last date of the incident (Hse.gov.uk 2018). There is some basic information that kept as confidential in that case and these will maintain a proper time framework also.
In case of the Health and Safety at Work Act (WASAWA) in 1974 protects health and welfare aspects of employees. There are some duties and casual works have to do as employees have some responsibilities for the development of business, however, to curtail the risk factor from this ad to guide that for the better workplace safety is employees are under the belt of this rule (Worksmart.org.uk 2018). The reduction of risk is there and employees can claim their right as well.
If the laws are not maintained in the proper way, then it is very important to deal with the insecure life of employees. They do not even under the quota when workplace accidents happen and their life will be under threat. There are some dangerous occurrences take place in that case and workplace safety is being violated (Worksmart.org.uk 2018). In that situation, some basic obligations have come and that will create obstacles in case of advancement. The same situation persists in the Health and Safety at Work Act as this is the main protection shield that covered up the entire process of protecting employees. If the shield breaks then it will be disastrous for the employees (Worksmart.org.uk 2018). The compliance is not fruitful for the employees as this is the major concern of their health persist in that case as well.
Compaq became one of the largest suppliers of PCs in 1990 and the system was improved day after day. However, at the time of 2002, the company is under the small debt and they are in the risk situation as well. The case in Compaq is critical in that case as the development and the growth in business is the major aspect that reflected through their dealing. The situation is also challenging for the company as well as the good position is trembling and major striking dealing and economic reimbursement was not happen. But the process of infrastructure is so strong in that case that they recover the situation well in manner. In case of global ranking, they are in a good position but as the situation comes, the growth of the company is important in that matter and that reflected in case of better maturity and personal dealing (Lindøe, Baram and Renn 2013). The company is not in the good position after that financial risk has happened and they are in the situation when the entire improved scenario is not possible for the business.
Project Risk Organisation comprises risk preparation, identification, investigation, response development, and regulatory threat on a project. The objects of the project risk organization are to upsurge the probability and impact of optimistic actions, and diminution the probability and influence of harmful events in the scheme. The reason behind the risk is also initiated by the rules that bound to be there and that issues that proceeded in case of positive implementation of unknown risks. The risk management skills PMI-RMP all these are important in that case and that somehow impacted the business dealing along with the information that is needed in that scenario (Yusuf et al. 2013). The standards are envisioned to allow administrations to identify specific hazards, survey one of the sympathetic weaknesses to decide their hazard, discriminate slants to diminish these dangers and later actualize chance decrease activities as indicated by the comprehensive system. The treatment chances are different in that case and outside modification are also important in that case to justify the process in the unique sense and that reviewing the process in the higher process.
The employees need training regarding risks as the employees will have the confidence during the time of safety risks and the employees will be able to carry out the risk assessment during the time of need. The employees will have the idea of risk mitigation without assistance during the time of risk in the workplace (Cassir et al. 2015). The employees will attend the risk assessment course which will protect the employees. The employees will also get to know about the laws of HSE. The employees will also follow the health and safety laws of the oil and gas sector at the workplace. The employees will also know about the key practical risk assessment techniques if the employees would be given the risk assessment training.
Oil and gas sector is very hazardous and this industry has the safety programmes for the employees. In the oil and gas sector, the employees have to tackle the powerful equipment, processes and inflammable chemicals which can inflict hazards to the employees. PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is necessary which will protect the employees against health and safety risks. PPE includes the safety helmets, eye protection, gloves and high-visibility clothing for the employees and safety footwear as well as safety harness for the employees (Shinbaum et al. 2016). These types of equipment help the employees to make them safe from risky incidents.
According to Jafari et al. (2015), the safety system at work is the set of the procedure through which the work needs to be carried out. The employees can follow the safe system of work where the hazards of the work process can be eliminated, however, the risks of the work still exist. A safe system of work can decrease or eliminate the risk exposure at the workplace; however, the employees should strictly follow the safe system. Many of the incidents occur due to the lack of following the safe system and safe system is then performed, organised and planned as well as maintained procedure to reduce the safe, practical and work without the risk associated with this.
Permit-to-work is a formal written system which is to control the types of work which are potentially hazardous. Permit to work is the document that specifies the procedure of work to be done and the safety measurement to be taken to complete the work. Permit-to work is the essential part of the safe system for the maintenance of activities in the workplace in oil and gas sector (Rosselein et al. 2017).
The employees need to know about the workplace safety issues and these are important to tread carefully. The organisations must follow the safety and health regulation and rules; if the organisations do not follow the rules; the employees can choose to complain about the rules and regulations. The employees can only respond to areas where the staffs have a responsibility under the legislation. For instance, Buncefield Fire was caused due to the series of the explosion in 2005 at the Oil Storage Terminal at Hertfordshire (Mason et al. 2015). This place was the fifth largest oil storage in the UK and there was no such safety taken by the authority.
In the UK offshore accidents and risks incidents were fatal as approximate 1.3 million working people suffered work-related issues. In the oil and gas sector in the UK, almost 2,600 mesothelioma deaths occurred due to the past asbestos exposure in the year 2016 (Hse.gov.uk 2018). In the report published by the Government of the UK that 144 workers were killed at work due to the poor management of health and safety at oil and gas sector in 2017-18. 609,900 injuries occurred at the workplace as published by the Labour Force Survey in the UK. RIDDOR published the data where it was mentioned that 70,117 injuries of employees were taken place in the UK due to the health and safety issues. 31.2 million Working days were lost for the work-related issues, illness and workplace injury. In addition, in the UK, £14.9 billion cost of injuries and ill health of current working condition happened in the year 2016-17 (Paterson 2017). HSE report of oil and gas sector contained that 57 injuries were reported compared to 47 in 2013-14. The major injury rate per 1 million workers increased from last year’s figure of 123 to 147 (Holt and Allen 2017). In the oil and gas sector, 361 dangerous incidents were reported and the estimated offshore workforce in 2016 was 32,000. The construction work process environment gives the highest number of all injuries in the year.
Figure 1: Major injuries work process environment
(Source: Hse.gov.uk 2018)
The above chart reported the injuries in the main work process in the oil and gas sector. Maximum numbers of issues occurred in the ‘deck operation’ in the last three years.
Figure 2: Summary of injuries and dangerous occurrences
(Source: Hse.gov.uk 2018)
In the oil and gas sector, injuries from handling or lifting produced the most injuries. In addition, ‘struck by moving objects’ and ‘falls from height’ are some of the causes. Almost 81% of the injuries occurred to the limbs.
SPE model of risk assessment is based on the specific hazards as this is involved in risk associated with the oil and gas sector. This model helps to determine the risk associated with the function of severity, exposure and probability and exposure. The risk is equal to severity, probability and exposure. Severity is the occurrence’s potential consequences which can be measured in terms of degree of injury and damage. In the oil and gas sector; when something goes wrong, it can result in the injury or death, mission degradation, reduced morale and adverse policy. In addition, the severity of the incident can be varied from 1 to 5. Probability is the likelihood of the consequences which has the chance to occur. In addition, the oil and gas sector, the probability of risk is high and it can be measured from a 1 to 5 rating scale. According to Suter (2016), exposure is the time, number of people and amount of equipment involved in the risk assessment. Exposure is also associated with the proximity, volume and repetition of the incident. Exposure can vary from 1 to 4. These three elements help to compute the risk associated with this. In the oil and gas sector, the management can evaluate the potential impact of the effectiveness of the model. After calculating the risk values using the formula:
Risk= S*P*E
In the oil and gas sector, after computing the risk, each level of the hazards must be identified and highest and lowest level of hazard would be focused for the most concern with some limited resources.
Piper Alpha was famous for oil production process platform in the North Sea and the place was far from North East Scotland. Occidental Petroleum Limited operated the platform and it began in the year 1976. Initially, it was the oil platform and later it added to gas production as well. Oil and gas destroyed Piper Alpha in 1988 and it killed more than 167 people. The incident took the lives of two crewmen in the vessel. 61 employees rescued from the place and they survived. This incident caused the loss of $3.4 billion and it was one of the costliest man-made destruction (Bamberger and Oswald 2014). The vital safety valve was erased by one of the crews in the morning shift and the pump should not be started.
The Alexander Kielland was one of the semi-submersible platforms in Scotland. This rig was owned by Stavanger Drilling and it was a Norwegian company. Huge waves and high winds battered the structure failed of the five-legged bracing. The whole structure of the rig for 30 degrees and it was stabilised by the single remaining cable. Among the 212 employees, 123 employees lost their lives (Bergh et al. 2014). The pressure of the cable was so tough which snapped the cable.
Ocean Ranger was the semi-submersible offshore drilling rig and it had been taken as rent by Mobil Oil. During the storm, the chain locker of the upper deck flooded and it led to the loss of lives. The whole rig capsized due to the storm and all 84 employees died in the freeze of the sea.
Conclusion
In the oil and gas sector; the safety and health are one of the most important constituents as the most of the chemicals, operational and end products cause harm to the employees. Hydrocarbon is associated with the oil and gas sector as it is well-known to create health and safety issues to the work. In the UK, there are various workplace acts which are implemented to reduce the occurrence and to provide safety to the employees. In the oil and gas sector, drilling and servicing activities can involve many different types of materials and equipment. The employees have to recognise and control the hazards so that they can prevent the deaths and injuries. The organisations have to highlight the hazards to maintain the enforcement and standards. Maximum hazards and risks come from the vehicles collision, explosions, confined spaces and falls and machine hazards.
References
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Worksmart.org.uk 2018 WHAT IS THE HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK ACT?
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