The Middle East region’s oil and gas industry needs to place health, safety and environment (HSE) issues at the centre of planning during the post ‘easy oil’ era, a distinguished panel of international experts and industry thought leaders urged.

Speaking at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec) 2014, under the theme ‘Aligning Cultures, Communication and Competence,’ the panel urged delegated to share best practices among organisations on how to deal with the vast number of nationalities amalgamating into teams, with distinct cultural backgrounds and differing levels of risk appreciation.

With 86.5 per cent of workers in the region last year being imported, according to recruiter Hays, key challenges that organisations’ are dealing with include the lack of experienced manpower along with the difficulty of recruiting and developing competent personnel with a strong commitment towards HSE.

Thierry Debertrand, senior vice president of HSE at Total, said: “HSE should be a core value for every company, but what does this mean? It means that the principles of HSE are passed through the entire work pyramid, from those in management to the employees doing the job on the field.

“Many companies have a top-down view, but what is even more important is a bottom-up approach. It has been shown that HSE is completely linked to efficiency. Our industry often requires large-scale work across multi-cultural and geographical levels, and the acceptance of these policies across all levels is essential.”

The Middle East’s oil and gas industry has seen significant improvement in HSE issues in recent years, said a statement.

The average number of lost working days to an incident has decreased from 26.2 in 2012 to just 13.6 last year, according to the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers.

Christopher Hudson, senior vice president, Energy at dmg event, the organisers of Adipec, said: “Here in the Middle East, HSE is central to everything that we do, but there is always scope for improvement. Adipec 2014 is showcasing the regional industry’s achievements and sharing best practices so that we can continue with responsible development.

“As we see unprecedented growth in the oil and gas industry we will experience further challenges. The Middle East is well positioned to lead the way in confronting these challenges and setting an example for the rest of the industry.” - TradeArabia News Service