Safety is top priority for ‘Leader in Safety Forum’
MUSCAT: The ‘Leader in Safety Forum’, also known as the LSF, held its periodic meeting recently, which was hosted by MB Petroleum Services (MBPS) in the Park Inn hotel in Muscat.
The LSF consists of highranking executives from the PDO well engineering & logistics directorate and their services contractors. The forum meets on monthly basis and dedicates its agenda purely to discuss important safety performance and related topics. The forum’s work is driven by its members’ strong belief in their duty towards the safety of their workforces.
In its meeting this month, the LSF members discussed several topics that included the management of competency for critical positions in well engineering operations, in addition to the hazards of hydrocarbons influx during drilling and maintenance activities, also referred to as well process safety.
Engineer Mohammed bin Hamed Al-Rashdi, PDO Well Engineering and Logistics director stated that LSF was established in 2006 to strengthen HSE leadership in PDO’s well engineering operations. The forum addresses strategic issues collectively to make the work place safer for the entire workforce, protect assets and the environment and drive continuous improvement.
Al-Rashdi added that the forum has moved HSE from being driven by PDO to an HSE programme that is set, owned and delivered by the contractor community with PDO support.
Competition between companies does not pose a barrier to a collective approach towards safety and towards creating a sustainable environment because the members believe that when it comes to safety and preservation of the environment, there should be no “silo” thinking, but fruitful collaboration for the benefit of all.
As such, the forum is, for instance, working on setting minimum standards for people competency and personal as well as wells process safety.
From his side, Dr Hamoud bin Rashid Al-Tobi, CEO of Alshawamikh Oil Services and the current chairman of the Leader in Safety Forum explained that the forum brings together the CEOs of around 40 Contractor Companies working in well engineering and logistics services.
He added: “The nature of the membership in the forum is voluntary and it is instigated from the deep belief of the members in the value of collaborative work to manage occupational hazards and to work continuously to develop and adopt effective systems to mitigate these hazards, and ultimately to protect the safety of all people in well sites.”
Dr Hamoud mentioned that the Leader in Safety Forum resembles a successful example of joint working in HSE management between PDO and their contractor from one side, and between the Contractors themselves on another side.
On the LSF method of working, Engineer Salim bin Said AlHarthi, CEO of MBPS and the current vice-chairman of the forum highlighted the positive role carried by the forum to improve safety management in well engineering operation.