MARCH/APRIL 2014
Oil and gas FUEL FOR
As the energy sector explores new sources around the world, health and safety issues are high on the agenda. Rob Gill reports
WITH THE COMPLEXITIES AND DANGERS of travelling to some of the world’s most remote and unsettled destinations, the oil and gas sector is a challenging environment for travel buyers. Over the last year, a series of incidents have thrown into sharp focus the issues that buyers and their companies can face: the siege at an Algerian gas plant in early 2013, which saw the death of 40 energy workers; the crash of a helicopter carrying North Sea oil workers in August, killing four people; and the evacuation of energy workers over Christmas in South Sudan due to the country’s civil war. Given this background, it is hardly surprising that health and safety has become the number one priority for companies in the oil and gas industry – talk to any buyer in the energy sector at business travel events and this is a message that comes over loud and clear. Ryan Taylor, who has spent 17 years working in the sector, says there is now a “huge focus on duty of care” which has become more prevalent over the last two or three years. “Buyers are increasingly working with their health and safety
vice-presidents – I think this is mainly down to events around the world which have affected the industry,” adds Taylor, who is currently global travel manager for oilfield engineering specialist Sparrows Group.
DUTY OF CARE Managing risk for travellers within the industry, as well as ensuring their duty of care, were the major topics on the agenda during the Global Business Travel Association’s Oil, Gas and Marine Travel Symposium, held in Copenhagen last October. Speaking at the event was Mike Mann, senior vice-president of global health, safety, security, environment and quality for Stork Technical Services. He highlighted four major elements to duty of care: managing the safety and wellbeing of employees; managing and assessing risks to the company’s business; identifying risks and reducing them as much “as reasonably practical”; and complying with laws and regulations. He also identified four major areas of concern for oil and gas companies: health, including diseases such as
malaria and the lack of adequate healthcare facilities; the safety of transport and hotels; security threats, such as potential terrorist attacks, kidnapping and civil unrest; and, finally, environmental events including earthquakes, tsunamis, or ash clouds grounding aircraft. With all these potential problems, it’s not surprising that oil and gas companies work closely with their travel management companies (TMCs), and travel security specialists, such as International SOS and Red 24, who put together evacuation plans for workers should the need arise for a speedy escape. Adam Knights, group sales and marketing director for ATPI Group, says: “Almost every company we deal with in this sector has an emergency response team and situation room ready for these types of
occurrences.Not being prepared is simply not an option to customers or to a supplier of the customer when the call comes.”
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