Bahrain-based RRC Middle East, a provider of specialist safety training and consultancy, recently helped manage health and safety during the turnaround of a major oil refinery in Oman.

RRCME was called in last month by Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) to ensure health and safety during the 46-day total turnaround of its Sohar refinery and petrochemical plant for major essential maintenance.

RRCME managed safety at the site, providing 10 competent oil and gas HSE practitioners to cover the vast areas and numerous maintenance activities required.

Hasan Alaradi, managing director of RRCME, said: “During oil and gas plants maintenance activities, vessels and pipelines are opened and this could under certain circumstances result in releases of hydrocarbons and/or toxic chemicals.

“There were many problems to overcome with an operation of this size, scale and risk. Over 3,500 workers performed a variety of extremely high-risk tasks at the same time, dealing with risks including fire, explosion and toxic gas release, often working at height or in confined and dusty spaces and during the hours of darkness.”

The RRCME team’s duties included providing safety induction training for the whole workforce, conducting regular safety inspections and spot checks, risk Assessment of work activities and enforcing adherence to PPE requirements, among others.

The RRCME HSE team managed to provide the site safety management service requested and helped the Orpic turnaround management team achieve its objectives of zero harm and minimum loss, a statement said. – TradeArabia News Service