Oil and gas geographic expedition and production activities have increased enormously as crude oil has become the anchor of the universes economic system. The industry has expanded significantly throughout the universe.
As the oil and gas industry enlarges throughout the universe, its impacts on lives and environment have been shocking. Numerous spills, fires, toxic emanations, runawaies and forces hurts have been recorded in recent times in the oil industry. The most recent one is the Macondo catastrophe with its tragic loss of life, lay waste toing impact on the Gulf Coast and fiscal loss to the companies involved.
Blameworthy companies have lost one million millions of dollars due to cases, compensations and oil spill clean-ups. This has led to some oil companies fall ining and others enduring credibleness loss in the industry.
Concerns about how HSE defects are killing people, damaging belongingss, fouling the environment and killing concerns have been raised by stakeholders, workers and the general populace.
New reforms have been made with regulators doing HSE a concern instance for companies more particularly small-to medium- sized companies. Directors of these little to medium companies must hold a company policy of accomplishing environmental and concern ends through HSE. Legislation should be made with full conformity by both employers and employees.
There should be public presentation monitoring and continual betterment in these policies. ” However, the success of whichever procedure or system in topographic point still hinges on the attitudes and behaviors of people in the company ” [ Health safety Executive, 2011 ] .
This study elaborates on the demand to integrate HSE into concern and depict how good HSE direction system could be implemented by small- to medium- sized oil concerns.
1.0 Introduction
The major purpose of using HSE in concern is to take advanced safeguards against workplace accidents, environmental impacts every bit good as fiscal losingss due to accidents and environmental pollutions.
A company ‘s attitude towards HSE affects the work force, environing environment and concern productiveness.
The determination to incorporate HSE into concern is a high degree policy way of a company. Many concerns adopted this tool and have made enormous additions. It is on this premises that this study seeks to foreground the demand for small- to medium- size oil companies to inccorparate HSE into concern irrespective of the cost. The study besides describes how HSE direction systems could be implemented.
Small-to moderate-sized companies should non see passing money on HSE as expensive attention deficit disorder on to company ‘s budget but a profitable investing.
These companies should calculate the benefits that could be reaped in future. This analysis will give an chance to compare the fiscal costs involved in the execution of HSE direction systems and benefits reaped after execution.
The method of HSE execution should be apprehensible and practical to all the people that are affected by these systems. An of import necessity is that, the direction systems at all degrees must be clearly defined in a written papers that is available to all.
2.0 Discussion
Small to medium size Oil Companies should incorporate HSE into concern as bottom-line of concern success. Directors must foremost see the economic influence that accidents and environmental pollutions have on the concern before taking this determination.
2.1 Costss versus Profit
Directors have to analyze how much it will be the concern to present HSE direction system and the cost of accident or environmental pollution if it occurred.
The cost of implementing HSE direction systems could be high. Indeed running a good HSE systems come with higher costs. These costs should be seen as investing but non liabilities because the concern turns to derive greatly if the aims of running such systems are achieved.
Cost and benefit analysis on the execution of HSE direction systems will ever turn out that “ safety is good concern ” [ Offshore Contractors Association, 2003 ]
2.2 Aims of HSE in Business
HSE is incorporated into concern with the purpose of:
A safer working environment
Improved morale and motive amongst workers
A healthier working environment
Increased public presentation degrees
Avoiding civil claims, tribunal mulcts and judicial proceedings
Reducing insurance cost
Reducing illness and accidents
Reducing impacts to the environment.
Bettering public image
Increasing growing
Conforming to criterions and ordinances in the industry.
[ OCA, 2003 ]2.3 Health, Safety and Environment Management System
HSE Management systems guarantee that HSE issues are consistently identified, controlled and monitored within the concern.
2.4 Policy
Proper HSE direction require an HSE policy statement, saying the company ‘s committedness to the wellness and safety of workers as good the environment. Management must show high committedness to this model, puting HSE in position with concern aims.
The policy statement should function as the foundation for the execution of the HSE direction system. It should be the footing of any HSE determinations and actions.
Employers and employees must understand this model and what is require of them in order to gain the concern marks. To do the HSE policy effectual, direction and employees must be committed to it. The policy statement should sketch the duties and accountability of direction and supervisors every bit good as employees. The policy must be subjected to continual reappraisal.
HSE plan has to be developed to run into the aims and committednesss of the HSE policy.
Diagram 1
Plan
Policy
Hazards designation and Risk Assessment
Make
Performance Auditing
Risk Management and Implementation
Act
Measuring Performance
Check
Fig:1 Shows the Elementss of HSE Management System.
2.5 Hazards Identification and Risk Assessment
To guarantee that HSE becomes a concern civilization, direction must develop constructions and systems which are intended to command hazard based on hazard designation and hazard appraisal.
Anything or patterns that have the possible to harm life, wellness, environment and belongingss should be identified. Some jeopardies are easy identifiable because they are common to the industry where as others are non.
Directors must affect the employees in the jeopardies designation because they are the people which are affected straight by these jeopardies. They should ask from them which of the machines, equipment, processs and patterns endanger their lives. They should besides confer with environmental specializers to cognize which of their actions and operations pose dangers to the environment.
Directors should look into through workplace accident records to happen out which of the company ‘s operations have been doing hurts and human deaths over the old ages.
Identified jeopardies must be assessed to cognize the earnestness of each one of them and steps to command these jeopardies should be decided. Controling the hazards associated with these identified jeopardies, cut down sick wellness and accidents at the work topographic point.
Directors and employees should continually look for jeopardies at the workplace because some jeopardies are merely discovered with clip such as illnesss caused by long- term exposure to certain radiations and chemicals. The jeopardies discovered must be ranked as being High, Medium or Low to cognize the best action to take in each instance.
Diagram 2
Green means low hazard and undertaking may be acceptable. However, reexamine if hazard can be reduced farther.
Low Hazard
Medium
Hazard
Yellow means medium hazard and undertaking should continue merely when approved by direction.
High Hazard
Red means that high hazard and undertaking must non continue until control steps have been put in topographic point.
Fig:2 Shows the Severity evaluation of jeopardies.
Risk Management and Implementation
Measures have to be adopted to acquire rid of jeopardies or minimise them. For illustration if hazard involves risky chemicals, it should be replaced with an alternate chemical less harmful. In other instances, the usage of alternate work methods, design betterments, alteration of procedure can extinguish the hazard.
Management should affect employees in the full procedure of hazard direction. They should inquire workers of any possible solution before it is implemented. They should look into that, the steps taking do non do any new unanticipated jeopardies.
2.7 Measuring public presentation
The grade of success of the HSE direction systems should be established. Management should measure the systems to cognize if the aims of execution is being realised. Performance mensurating would assist direction to roll up and analyze information about defect in the HSE direction systems.
Injuries and accidents should be investigated exhaustively to cognize their cause. Measures should be made to forestall such accidents and hurts from happening once more.
Management should do certain there is regular cheque on safety equipment to do certain all these are working good. If a defect is detected in any of the safety equipment, it should be repaired or replaced with a new one.
Reviewing public presentation and scrutinizing
Auditing gives direction the chance to roll up information on the efficiency, effectivity and dependability of the HSE direction system. Auditing enable direction to guarantee that company ‘s policy is being carried out and the coveted impact is being made.
There should be regular scrutinizing to measure the systems to cognize the degree of success chalk with the execution of the system. Any hapless practise uncovered should be dealt with.
3.0 Justification/ Benefits of HSE
It truly makes a good concern sense to put in HSE enterprises because the returns are tremendous. HSE initiatives protect concern from fiscal losingss linked to safety and environmental jobs. Lawsuits or mulcts emanating from accidents are avoided. Such cost can enforce an tremendous load on the concern.
For illustration, HSE misdirection led to the decease of 15 workers and 108 people in the March 2005, Texas City refinery blast. The CBS’s,2007 probe study highlighted safety civilization, regulative inadvertence, procedure safety prosodies and human factor as the chief cause of the catastrophe. The study besides states that ” Cost film editing and failure to put in the 1990s by Amoco and so BP left the Texas City refinery vulnerable to a calamity ” [ National Wildlife Federation ‘s study, 2010 ]
Many concerns which suffer major accidents struggle to stay in concern and normally stop up fall ining or merchandising their assets off. The Texas Refinery after the blast struggled to come back to operation due to immense fiscal load on the company. Finally, the refinery was sold to Marathon Petroleum Corporation in October 2012.
Safety and wellness of workers yield quality end product which translates to higher productiveness and net income because lost work clip due to ill foliages, absenteeism is significantly reduced.
HSE in concern additions morale of workers because if workers do non meet frequent accidents at workplace, it motivates them to give their best end product. Contrary, they will follow a tepid attitude towards work if hurts are common in their working environment. Most workers would travel to other companies because they feel insecure. Company may lose competent workers and will impact negatively on productiveness.
There is besides a repute addition associated with good HSE records taking to concern growing. A good repute invites and retains clients. It makes a company enjoy repetition concern from bing clients and besides win new contracts in front of their rivals.
4.0 Decision
Small to medium sized oil companies in their effort to turn concern to a larger one should do Health, Safety and Environment enterprises, the premier point on their list of enterprises to accomplish concern ends.
They should be concerned with the wellness and safety of work force every bit good as the impacts the concern makes on the environment, because the happening of a major accident would be damaging.
The fiscal effects of an accident coupled with the associated concern break could coerce a heavy load on the company. Some larger companies have suffered this in the yesteryear and could non last.
If any smaller company thinks, incorporating and pull offing HSE systems in concern is expensive, allow them seek accidents.
Small to medium sized oil companies should cognize that bar of accidents and pollutions is non merely better but cheaper than remedy.
WORD COUNT: 1,820
Mention
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MARATHON PETROLEUM CORPORATION, 2012.Marathon Petroleum to buy BP ‘s Texas City Refinery [ online ] Ohio: MPC.
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