EU looks to strengthen oil and gas regs

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Walid Kattan

It seems as though the European Union, in spite of recent economic difficulties, might be headed for a bit of a shakeup in safety laws in the Oil and Gas sector. Back in October 2011, EU energy chief Günther Oettinger published a limited proposal to boost safety requirements in the industry that is often belaguered by comparatively lax safety laws.

The proposal has been stalled somewhat, but only as Members of European Parliament (MEPs) push to give the bill more teeth, namely by expanding its scope to consider delicate Artic ecosystems, adding ‘polluter pays’ laws, and ensuring greater oversight of the regulation’s implementation process.

If the EU does indeed move ahead with strengthened safety laws in the oil and gas sector, that’s great news for EHS professionals.

Whatever safety rules the EU does implement, perhaps it should take a cue from Petrobras’ experience and consider including protections from unindentified sea monsters! (See video below.)

Walid Kattan is a member of Intelex’s Oil and Gas solutions team.

Are you leading…or lagging? Revolutionizing safety performance in Oil and Gas

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Paul Leavoy

Editor’s note: This webinar is now available On Demand. Watch it anytime.

So, you’re tracking safety performance. Great. What metrics are you tracking? Are you measuring the right elements of your safety program? What are your metrics telling you? In short: are you leading, or lagging?

If you can’t answer these questions, join us for Leading and Lagging Indicators: Revolutionizing Safety Performance in Oil & Gas. Geared towards leaders in the oil and gas sector but applicable to any business that has to deal with recording, managing and tracking workplace incidents, accidents, near-misses, environmental impacts and more on a regular basis, this free 30-minute webinar explores how reimagining your approach to environment, health and safety (EHS) metrics can revolutionize organizational performance, minimize costs and curtail risk. It is slated to begin at 3 p.m. EST on Wednesday, August 15.

In the presentation, Intelex oil and gas solution specialists Stephen Buffett and Gurpreet Lalwani will explore how to leverage leading and lagging indicators to improve overall organizational safety performance, gain greater insight into understand your indicators and what they mean for your organization, and the role of tools in converting lagging into leading indicators.

“Behind every fatality, behind every recordable incident, there’s going to be tons of near-misses, and hundreds if not thousands of at-risk behaviours,” adds Buffett. “By changing the way you track leading and lagging indicators, you can significantly reduce the risk of these business-critical errors ever occurring.”

Intelex discusses Oil and Gas safety management in ISHN

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Paul Leavoy

As in other high-risk sectors, workplace safety is of utmost importance in the Oil and Gas industry, where the smallest of near-misses and at-risk behaviours can result in devastating consequences for frontline workers, not to mention catastrophic environmental impacts. In light of this, it’s hard to believe some oil and gas companies still rely on archaic, paper-based systems for EHS management. Yet in spite of the adoption of state-of-the-art EHS management systems by some industry leaders, paper- and spreadsheet-based systems are still in widespread use.

That said, the trend is changing and businesses are increasingly beginning to see how streamlined EHS management systems are ultimately investments with great returns that help companies navigate increasingly complex regulatory waters. Learn more about this dynamic by checking out my article “Goodbye to paper and spreadsheets” in the most recent issue of ISHN (Industrial Safety and Hygiene News). You’ll have to register to view the issue, but it’s free and ISHN is a great publication with a wealth of EHS news.

Intelex contributes to Oil and Gas Product News

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Paul Leavoy

Check out the recent Intelex article, When Paper Kills: The Perils of Reactive Management, in the latest issue of Oil and Gas Product News. Sure, the title sounds a bit dramatic, but when it comes to occupational health and safety, you can’t be too serious.

The story hones in on the sometimes archaic paper and spreadsheet-based systems that some Oil and Gas companies (not to mention businesses across all sectors) use to manage environmental, health and saefty (EHS) management data, particularly on oil rigs, drills, platforms and other worksites.

The article, through a couple of hypothetical case studies, explores the difference between reactive, paper-based EHS management systems and the proactive, streamlined alternative, and discuss how the impacts on workplace health and safety, environmental impacts, time and eficiency, and bottom line/ROI significantly vary between the two systems.

So take a look, and let us or Oil and Gas Product News know what you think. Just a final note that you’ll need to sign up for free registration to view the electronic issue, if you aren’t registered already.

Milk ain’t oil: EPA sides with common sense

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

Yes, the line’s been used a hundred times in the past few days, but warrants repeating: U.S. dairy farmers needn’t cry over spilled milk any longer.

Beneath the sound and fury of political arguments over the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) right (nay, duty) to regulate greenhouse gases, the agency quietly sided last week with milk producers and finally exempted milk from oil spill control regulations.

The EPA has long required shippers of oil tanks and containers to develop spill control and prevention plans. Problem was, this included dairy farmers, since milk is defined as oil under the Clean Water Act because it contains animal fat (an oil). The regulations were originally designed for Big Oil, not farmers, but it has taken a few years for the agency to exempt dairy from the Act’s requirements. With the final ruling, milk, milk product containers, and milk production equipment are exempt from Clean Water Act shipping and container requirements, effective immediately.

Some estimates peg the savings from the move at nearly $150 million for U.S. milk and dairy farmers.

Unfortunately, critics of the EPA have used the episode to underscore the perceived futility of the organization, apparently forgetting that it is keeping them safe from irradiated food products, among other things.