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The petroleum industry requires dangerous work. Protecting personnel from injury requires rigorous monitoring and training protocols and scrupulous attention to reporting, prevention and data analysis when an accident occurs. Here are three fundamental concepts to keep in mind when designing an effective injury management program:
1) Know your hazards. Most injuries in the petroleum industry fall into one of two large categories: safety-related injuries and health-related injuries. Safety-related injuries include those related to:
Health-related hazards include:
Be aware of where each of these may appear in your site or team workflows and make sure preventive and responsive protocols are in place to deal with each. 2) Manage your risks. A robust risk management program has the following 7 steps:
3) Design a program that works. Effective injury management programs must satisfy the following requirements:
If you adhere to the guidelines above when designing and refining your injury management program, you will be able to anticipate problems more effectively and resolve them more efficiently. For more information on how Accupoint’s web-based solution can help you improve your injury management program, please contact us today. Keeping your employees safe in the work place should be a top priority. This is especially true in the oil and gas industry. To that end, today’s post will discuss why HSE management is important and some techniques you can apply to your business plan.
Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) involves creating processes for identifying workplace hazards, reducing accidents and minimizing exposure to harmful situations and substances. This is accomplished by developing detailed operating procedures and then effectively communicating the information to your team. It is important to ensure that the information has been internalized and must be monitored to verify that it is followed. The main goal is to maintain a safe and productive work environment. Why HSE Management is Important
How to Get Employees to Comply Employees must complete hours of training that many people find boring and useless. To keep them interested, you should develop a safety compliance plan that is interactive, interesting, and to-the-point.
Visitor management refers to the tracking and accounting of visitors to a facility. Visitor management is very important in the petroleum industry because of the unique safety concerns that arise. The best practices for visitor management take the visitor from arrival to departure, making the experience both informative and safe for everyone involved.
Register Visitors The visitor management process begins with registration. This should be done electronically when a new visitor arrives. The visitor's name, business, and time of arrival will be recorded. At this time, a badge or other form of identification can be given to the visitor so they are clearly identifiable by employees. Safety With the types of equipment and chemicals used in the petroleum industry, visitor safety is a major concern. Visitors may be given hard hats or other safety equipment as needed. Supervision Making sure visitors are always properly supervised is a best practice for visitor management. Employees involved with supervising visitors should give visitors access to any relevant safety rules before allowing them into the facility. The employee should remain with the visitor for the duration of the visit. Restricted Areas There may be certain areas of your facility that visitors cannot go. Using electronic visitor management, you can restrict these areas to all or certain visitors. You may also be able to track a visitor's movements throughout a facility using their badge. Releasing Visitors Visitors should be released by reversing the registration process. They will need to return their badge and any safety equipment they used. The time they are released will be noted electronically in the visitor record. Using these visitor management best practices, your facility and all visitors will remain safe and well accounted for. To find out how Accupoint Software can help your business with visitor management, contact us. Per the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), every business must keep records and safety information about the chemicals they use. These records, called Material Safety Data sheets (MSDS) or Safety Data Sheets (SDS) list many types of information about the chemicals, including toxicology, ecological information, and fire-fighting measures. As part of the petroleum industry, properly organizing and managing your MSDS is important for many reasons.
To Comply with OSHA OSHA requires efficient management and organization of MSDS. If OSHA decides to perform an audit, they will check to see if you have MSDS readily available, along with other important safety documentation. Each chemical used in your facility must have an MSDS and a corresponding label on the chemical container to comply. Many Types of Chemicals The petroleum industry uses many types of chemicals in oil refineries, especially gasoline, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, and other types of fuels. These chemicals can be dangerous if proper safety procedures are not known. The MSDS for each chemical will list this information so it is readily available to all employees. Efficient management of MSDS is crucial because there are so many types of chemicals used in the petroleum industry. For the Safety of Your Employees One of the main reasons OSHA requires MSDS is in case of emergency. If there is an accident and a chemical gets into an employee's eye, another employee can look up the MSDS and find out how to treat the affected employee. Another example of an emergency situation is a fire. If a chemical fire breaks out, it is important for employees to know how to fight the fire or alert firefighters about the chemical. Having readily available and organized MSDS is imperative in these situations. Contact us today to find out how Accupoint Software can help you organize the management of your MSDS program. Happy New Year. Depending on the industry under discussion, there are varying levels of incidents that can occur which make having an effective incident management plan a necessity. The petroleum industry most certainly falls into the category of operations where establishing and consistently maintaining an effective incident management response is of paramount importance. Understanding that there is no way to completely prevent incidents -- only to successfully and completely prepare for them when they do occur -- is often the difference between a brief interruption in operations and a long-lasting, expensive situation that negatively impacts a firm's reputation. Read on as we outline four basic steps in any solid effective incident management plan.
Develop a communication plan This pertains to internal and external communication. Internally, the specifics of the plan are dependent on different factors unique to your organization (size, location, company culture), but whatever form the communication plan takes, it should be well-defined and able to be acted upon immediately. All internal employees should refer questions to your company spokesperson, with no exceptions. Externally, an honest assessment with a realistic timeline is the best course of action. Ensuring stakeholders and the public in general that you are taking every step necessary to deal with the incident in the timeliest manner possible is vital at this point. Understand how to classify (and respond to) the incident At this juncture, the severity of the incident is quantified. Will it affect operations in just one location, or at multiple company locations? Obviously this step will no doubt be drastically different depending upon the circumstances, but the key here is to understand what threats can result from the incident, and gauge the response accordingly. Formulate a basic framework for costs There's no question that any incident needs a successful resolution. However, a cost analysis is necessary to ensure that the response and recovery to the incident are not out of proportion to the severity of the situation. As with any business decision, a budget helps immensely for this step. Ensure your team is complete Probably the most important step in any effective incident management plan, having the right people in the right places is of utmost importance. The key here is to have a clearly defined plan of action, where all the members of the incident management team understand their role -- without any ambiguity -- and are ready to jump into action immediately. Developing an effective incident management response is certainly an important consideration, especially for companies operating in the petroleum industry. As is the case with any successful concept, ample planning will ensure that your organization is ready to respond -- and act quickly -- should an unexpected incident occur. If you have any questions about developing or maintaining your incident management plan, please don't hesitate to reach out to us -- there's a reason why our compliance management solutions are so highly touted! |
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