An Meá and Logic Space are leveraging the global appeal of the world game to reinforce HSE messages using football metaphors such as "playing fair", "teamwork", and "playing to win".

"It is totally appropriate that we use the interest generated by the fever of soccer, and the recent World Cup, to promote sound HSE management", states Steve Williams, Managing Director of An Meá, a HSE management consultancy fast gaining an international reputation for its innovative approach to helping its industry clients achieve commercial success based on sound HSE management principles.

An Meá has spent the past four years working with Petroleum Development Oman (an oil exploration and production company with majority ownership from the Government of Oman and Shell International) to develop a comprehensive system to manage the impacts of its operations on people and the environment.

An Meá are working with Logic Space Consulting, an ethical research and communications company devoted to positive social and environmental change, to implement a campaign to communicate the requirements of this management system to PDO's 15,000 staff and contractors. The campaign will be rolled out over the next three months and will culminate with the launch of an interactive web site.

Tara Poole, Director of Logic Space is enthusiastic about the project. "This is an exciting opportunity to use our professional experience and expertise to deliver what has traditionally been a rather technical and, let's face it, mundane message."

"The football metaphor gives us so much scope to work with," she continued. "Timing the campaign to coincide with the enthusiasm generated by the World Cup has provided us with the perfect opportunity to show PDO's staff the real connection between playing a good game of football, and working safely."

This campaign will use various techniques including an interactive web site, a motivational video, screensavers, posters telephone hotline, stencils, and face to face briefings to communicate HSE messages. In addition, to help overcome the multitude of languages, a travelling theatre troupe will visit up to ten sites throughout the more remote areas of the country to bring the message direct to workers.

Steve Williams believes that the campaign will make its mark. "We are looking forward to the response that our campaign will generate. Particularly the theatre performed by a troupe of locally recruited Omanis. This will be the first time that performance art has been used to communicate HSE messages".

If the campaign achieves its goal of helping the PDO workforce to work as a team to protect the environment and ensure worker safety, the 2002 FIFA World Cup will truly be remembered as PDO's "Cup of Life".