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Safety and Health Management

System in Oil and Gas Industry

Neha Chauhan
SAP EHS Consultant

Table of contents
03 1. Introduction
03 2. Industry Overview
04 3. Hazards related to Oil and Gas Industry
04 3.1 Safety and Injury Hazards
05 3.2 Health and Illnesses Hazards
06 4. Managing Occupational Safety and Health Risks
06 4.1 Risk Management Process
07 5. Occupational Safety and Health Management System (OSHMS)
07 5.1 Features of OSHMS
08 5.2 Components of an effective OSHMS
09 5.3 Benefits of OSHMS
09 6. Conclusion
09 References
10 About the Author
10 About Wipros Energy, Natural Resources, Utilities and Engineering &
Construction (ENU) Strategic Business Unit
10 About Wipro Ltd.

1. Introduction
Safety and health management is one of the vital constituents of Oil and Gas industry activities because most of the operational conditions, chemicals and
end products (hydrocarbons and other compounds) associated with Oil and Gas production are well-known to pose serious safety and health threats to
the workers.

2. Industry Overview:

Upstream
Exploration and
Production

Midstream
Transportation,
Storage and
Marketing

Downstream
Refining, Sales and
Distribution

Fig.1.Segments of Oil and Gas industry

On 25 August 2012, an explosion caused by the ignition of a leaking gas at

and injured 16 others2. The explosion caused the Deepwater Horizon to

the Amuay oil refinery, which is part of the Paraguana Refinery Complex,

burn and sink, resulting in a massive offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico,

killed 48 people; primarily National Guard troops stationed at the plant,

considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world, and the

and injured 151 others1.

largest environmental disaster in U.S. history2.

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion refers to the April 20,

According to the report developed by the NORA Oil and Gas Extraction

2010 explosion and subsequent fire on the Deepwater Horizon semi-

Council; In the US, during 2003-2008, 648 oil and gas extraction workers

submersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) killed 11 workers

were fatally injured on the job, resulting in an occupational fatality rate of

29.1 deaths per 100,000 workers eight times higher than the rate for all

well-being is essential. Health protocols and periodic medical checkup

U.S. workers. Nearly half of all fatal events in the Oil and Gas extraction

should be pre-defined and done for every worker depending on the job

industry resulted from highway crashes (29%) and workers struck by

and work area type to identify possible deviations from the normal health

objects and equipment (20%)3.

and to confirm that necessary counteractive actions are taken in advance.

The above alarming incident data clearly emphasizes the need for an

This paper outlines the key safety and health hazards associated with the

effective occupational safety and health management system that

upstream, midstream and downstream segments of Oil and Gas industry,

integrates safety and health concerns into a daily routine.

including the significance, features, components

People working in Oil and Gas industry are exposed to various risk
factors. Hence continuous monitoring of their working conditions and

and benefits of an

effective Occupational Safety and Health Management System (OSHMS)

for the industry.

3. Hazards Related to Oil and Gas Industry

Hazards in Oil and Gas industry can be divided into two broad categories:

Safety and Injury Hazards

Health and Illnesses Hazards

3.1 Safety and Injury Hazards

Workers in Oil and Gas industry are generally susceptible to the following
safety and injury hazards

Safety and Injury Hazards

Motor Vehicle Accident

Possible Causes
Often the roads leading to well sites lack firm shoulders and other
safety features4
Fatigue due to long driving distance and long working shifts

Contact Injuries

Fire and Explosions

Slips,Trips and Falls

Workers being struck by, entangled, or crushed by tools, machinery

or other objects

Presence of highly combustible hydrocarbons

Presence of oxygen/ignition source

Frequent need to work at elevations

Uneven Surface
Improper use or non-availability of fall protection systems
According to NIOSH, confined space refers to a space which by
design has5:

Confined Space

Limited opening for entry and exit

Unfavorable natural ventilation
Not designed for continuous employee occupancy
Examples of confined places in Oil and Gas industry are storage tanks,
pipelines, silos, etc.

3. 2 Health and Illnesses Hazards

Workers in Oil and Gas industry are generally susceptible to following

ergonomic hazards (manual handling activities, repetitive motions, awkward

agents which lead to various health and Illnesses hazards: chemical

postures); and psychosocial hazards (overwork, odd working hours, isolated

hazards

sites, violence).

(toxic, corrosive, carcinogens, asphyxiates, irritant

and

sensitizing substances); physical hazards (noise, vibration, radiations,

extreme temperature); biological hazards (virus, parasites, bacteria);

Segments

Upstream

The following table identifies the potential health effects from key
processes in Oil and Gas industry:

Key Processes

Seismic Survey and

evaluation
Exploration and drilling
Development and
production
Decommissioning

Agents

Pathogenic microorganisms
Infection transmitting vectors
Drilling mud
Petroleum products
(Hydrocarbons)
Radioactive sources
Chemicals and additives
Metals (Pb, Cd, Mn, etc.)
Extreme temperatures
Silica/Asbestos
Noise/Vibration
Mechanical
Ergonomic
Psychosocial

Midstream

Pipelines
Transport and storage
Marketing

Petroleum products
(Hydrocarbons)
Dust from filing and scaling (from
cleaning of pipes and tanks)

Possible Health Effects

Infectious and parasitic diseases

(e.g., Hepatitis A, Cholera,
Typhoid fever)
Cumulative trauma disorders
Chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease
Gastrointestinal disorders
Dermal and eye issues
Spinal disorders
Neoplasms/Cancer
Heat Stroke
Stress
Sleep deficits
Noise induced hearing loss
Drug and alcohol abuse

Dermal and eye issues

Pulmonary disorders
Gastrointestinal disorders
Neoplasms/Cancer

Downstream

Product Refining
Petro chemicals
Sales and Distribution

Petroleum products
(Hydrocarbons)
Treatment chemicals
Metals (Pb, Cd, Mn, etc.)

Dermal and eye issues

Gastrointestinal disorders
Neoplasms/Cancer
Noise induced hearing loss

Silica/Asbestos
Solvents
Noise/Vibration

4. Managing Occupational Safety and Health Risks

The aim of occupational safety and health risk management is to identify

Business processes in Oil and Gas industry are very complex. Hence it

and assess safety and health hazards existing at the workplace and to

is essential that a systematized approach should be used for managing

define appropriate control and retrieval steps.

occupational safety and health hazards. Its solution model can be based
on the PDCA Cycle:

Plan
Strategic HSSE
Roadmap
Work Flows
Objectives and Targets
Key Priorities

Do
Risk & Injury
Management
Health & Illness
Management
Training & Assessment
Regulatory
Compliance

Act
Management
Review
Actions for
Continuous
Improvements

Monitoring
Modeling
Trends
Performance Indicators
Audits

Check

4.1. Risk Management Process

As stated earlier, risk management is crucial for preventing work related

Job safety analysis: It is a process of systematically evaluating certain

injury and illness. It includes:

jobs, tasks, processes or procedures and eliminating or reducing the

Identifying the risks

risks or hazards to As Low As Reasonably Practical (ALARP) in order

Evaluating and prioritizing the risks

to protect workers from injury or illness6

Implementing preventive/protective measures to control the risk

There are a number of circumstances in the Oil and Gas industry where
a proper risk management process is essential. For example:

Workplace inspections and audits

Change management - identification of new hazards, introduction of
new equipment/process, or regulatory needs

Generally Risk Management Process in the Oil and Gas Industry Involves the Following Key Steps:

Define and Implement

preventive measures
to eliminate or
minimize the risk of an
incident/accident

Evaluate the risk arising from

each identified hazard
Identify existing
precautionary measures
and what went wrong
Determine what kind of
injury or ill health might
occur

Identify persons
taking part in the risk
management process

RISK
CONTROL

Rank the risks on the basis

of severity

Gather health and safety

information pertinent to
Oil and Gas Industry

RISK
ASSESSMENT

Define strategy and

workflows as per
the business/legal
requirements

PLANNING
RISK
IDENTIFICATION

RISK
RECORDING

Record the findings

of risk assessment for
defining control measures,
audit, internal review,
regulatory purposes

Regular review and

updating of risk
assessment
MONITOR
AND REVIEW

FOLLOW ON
ASSESSMENT

Ensure that
implemented control
measures are being
used and are effective
Reassess the efficiency
of preventive/control
measures

Identify possible safety and health

hazards within workplace through
work area inspections, previous
accident/ ill-health records, etc.

5. Occupational Safety and Health Management System (OSHMS)

The insinuation of implementing an occupational Safety and Health

Also, Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health Management

Management System at all workplaces came into limelight, when Global

Systems (ILO-OSH 2001) provide national/organizational framework

Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health: Conclusions were adopted

for occupational Safety and Health Management Systems8. As per these

by the International Labour Conference at its 91st session, 2003.

guidelines, the OSH management system should contain the main

The Strategy advocates the application of a systems approach to the

elements of policy, organizing, planning and implementation, evaluation

management of national OSH systems7.

and action for improvement8.

5.1 Key Features that Should be Fulfilled by an Efficient Safety and Health
Management System are as Follows
It should ensure safety of different operational sites by correctly
mapping the business processes, risks, and controls involved in all the
three segments (upstream, midstream and downstream) of Oil and
Gas industry

It should help in managing site inspections, permits, violations, lessons

learned and best practices execution for Oil and Gas sector
It must be well documented (strategies and action plans) and should
be easily understood and readily available to all the workers

It should enable workers to follow consistent health and safety practices

7

5.2 Components of an Effective Occupational Safety and

Health Management System
Occupational Safety and Health Management System is one of the

Following key components should be encompassed in an active

critical factors whose successful execution confirms operational safety in

occupational Safety and Health Management System:

upstream, midstream and downstream segments of Oil and Gas industry.

Sl.
No

OSHMS
Components
Health and
Safety Plan

Health protocols

Requirements
Oil and Gas Companys vision and
approach towards Health and Safety

Occupational
Health
Management

Organizational hierarchy
2

Administration

Key details of persons responsible for

managing health and safety plans

Worksite inspections
Implementation of best practices
and lessons learned from the past
experiences at workplace
Set of systems and processes for
managing Health & Safety risks

H&S Risk
Management

10

Management
of Change

11

Emergency
Response Plan

Inventory
Management

12

Calendar management
Task and
Workflow
Management

Role assignments - Involving and

informing workers, safety officers
and others about their roles and
responsibilities, allocated tasks, etc.

13

Performance and monitoring of H&S

activities and corrective action as
needed

Incident
Management

Recording, processing, investigation,

reporting and root cause analysis of
any reported incident/accident/near
miss/safety observations

Disaster management/Emergency
response plan for all the potential
predicaments based on predictive
risk analysis

Compliance
Management

Comply with the obligations under

pertinent local/national/global H&S
regulations

Competency
Management

Trainings for employees, contractors

and visitors
Assessments

14

Content
Management

Management of SOP, SDS, Health and

safety documents

15

Contractor
Management

Managing and coordinating activities

of contractors

16

Rehabilitation
Management

Tracks number of compensation days,

rehabilitation information of workers

17

Statistics,
Reporting and
Dashboard

18

Audit and
Review

Automated notifications
H&S
Maintenance
Systems

Process change

Track capabilities/skills of workforce

Hazard ranking/risk matrix

Maintenance of hazardous substance

database

Introduction of new equipment

Alarm system

Risk control levels analysis

5

Drug, alcohol and other medical

testing

New regulatory requirements

Job Hazard analysis

Corrective action plans

Injury/Illness management

Identification of new hazards

Proper demarcation and management

of workplace according to processes,
activities, design, etc.
Work Area
Management

Medical appointments

Relevant report generation from

health and safety data
Interactive dashboards for higher
management view and decision
making
Audit and review programs to check
and improve the effectiveness of
implemented Safety and Health
Management System

5.3 Benefits of Occupational Safety

and Health Management System

References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraguan%C3%A1_Refinery_Complex

It enables Oil and Gas industry in performing hazard identification,

risk assessment and implementing various control methods

It ensures well-being of all the employees and thus contributes to a

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_explosion
3. Draft National Oil and Gas Extraction Agenda - August 2010: For
Occupational Safety and Health Research and Practice in the U.S. Oil

more inspired, and performance driven workforce

and Gas Extraction Industry - Developed by the NORA Oil and Gas

Regular risk assessment process helps in frequent tracking and

monitoring of health and safety indicators (both leading and lagging).

Reduced costs associated with accidents and incidents

Improved regulatory compliance

Implementation of OSH management system gives competitive

Extraction Council

(http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora/comment/agendas/oilgas/)

4. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/oilgas/projects.html
5. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/confinedspace/
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_safety_analysis

edge and improves relationships between stakeholders, such as

clients, contractors, subcontractors, consultants, suppliers, employees

7. GLOBAL STRATEGY ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND

HEALTH: Conclusions adopted by the International Labour

and unions

Conference at its 91st Session, 2003

6. Conclusion

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_protect/@protrav/@
safework/documents/policy/wcms_107535.pdf

Given the perilous nature of the Oil and Gas industry, the need

8. Guidelines on occupational safety and health management systems

for implementation of an efficient occupational Safety and Health

(ILO-OSH 2001)

Management System is important for improving safety and health

performance. Many countries have extensively participated in it by
making strict and obligatory OSH standards and legislations. For example,
on 10th June 2013, the EU adopted a Directive on safety of offshore oil

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/afpro/cairo/downloads/
wcms_107727.pdf

9. http://ec.europa.eu/energy/oil/offshore/standards_en.htm

and gas operations9. The new directive sets clear rules that cover the
whole lifecycle of all exploration and production activities from design to
the final removal of an oil or gas installation9.
Because of the regulatory compliance pressure, the principal responsibility
of ensuring operational safety and sustainability is placed on the Oil and
Gas industry.
OSHMS not only provides a systematic and synchronized proactive
approach to managing occupational health and safety risks, but also helps
in defining strategies for implementing control actions, performance
substantiation, resource mapping and competency management.
Moreover it also helps in enhancing organizations brand image in todays
competitive scenario.

About the Author

Neha Chauhan is a SAP EHS Consultant in the HSSE Practice of Energy and Utilities Vertical at Wipro Technologies. She has around five years of industrial
and research experience, with a specialization in Environment Health and Safety Management, Regulatory Compliance and Toxicological Risk Assessments.
She has given Solution Consulting to various Chemical and Oil and Gas companies for their Health & Safety and Compliance Requirements.

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