In the April edition of APPEA's Flowline journal, Belinda Josey, APPEA policy analyst, said the association and its members had long recognised the health and safety of every employee, contractor, customer and community member was central to the industry's operations.
The oil and gas industry’s core business is handling large volumes of volatile hydrocarbons and she said there was no room for complacency in its commitment to preventing major accident events.
The industry tracks its occupational health and safety performance measures against world benchmarks. Josey said provisional figures showed that in 2004, the Australian industry recorded its best ever frequency rates in total reportable incident frequency rate (TRIFR), lost time incident frequency rate (LTIFR), medical treatment incident frequency rate (MTIFR) and alternative duties incident frequency rate (ADIFR).
While the industry is justly proud of this continuing improvement, it still translates to 296 incidents in 2004. Of these, 31.7% occurred to the hands and fingers of our workforce.
APPEA is planning an educational program aimed at reducing hand and finger injuries in the near future. Many hand and finger incidents are preventable accidents that may be reduced by increased awareness of situational hazards. “In 2005, APPEA is initiating an industry-wide drive to reduce hand and finger injuries and to raise general hazard awareness across the sector. The aim is to address these issues without losing focus on preventing major accident events,” said Josey.
Josey said the industry was a leader in safety performance in Australia against other industries. The most recent statistics (2003) show that the oil and gas industry is one of the best performers in lost time injury frequency rates in the country. “However, when the industry’s performance is compared to that of our peers in the United Kingdom and North America, the Australian industry lags significantly behind its international counterparts,” she said.
“Increasing the safety awareness of new recruits puts the industry one step ahead in preventing injuries. APPEA and its members are embarking on a range of projects to further improve the safety of our workforce.”
The APPEA safety incident database contains information dating back to 1996, and it is aiming to expand the scope of the system to be more wide ranging. “This year, to further investigate trends and root causes, APPEA is broadening the database to include a greater range of information, and is working with the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority to develop nationally consistent industry reporting.”
Flowline said the industry has rigorous training and induction programs for employees and guests new to the industry and to each individual site. It said APPEA members were working together to further enhance the effectiveness of these programs. APPEA was also working on a program to enhance the role and training of supervisors in safety leadership.
Josey also flagged a revision of APPEA’s guidelines and standards. It has created a compendium of international standards and guidelines for the oil and gas industry which Josey said will give members a greater range of resources to draw upon. Other safety guidelines are being reviewed by Association members to ensure that the information is relevant and up to date.
Despite the improvements, Josey said there was no room for complacency. “The aim of these projects is to reduce incidents and improve the safety of the industry’s workforce. APPEA and its members are committed to the goal of zero incidents, and will work continuously to achieve that goal.”
