Abstract
The oil and gas industry is at a time when sustaining the license-to-operate; maintaining a positive reputation amongst stakeholders as well as achieving competitive performance is at the heart of business objective. This period also coincides with an all-time high entrance of young technical professionals into the industry due to an accelerated reaction to the impending crew change. Recent catastrophic process safety related incidents which resulted in fatalities, reputational damage and financial loss to the industry have once again brought to the forefront the importance of Process Safety management to industry leadership. Historically, the industry builds on long established focus on personal safety. In this regard, several organisations have developed Process Safety capability frameworks and terms of reference. Efforts have also been made to align these as much as possible to existing Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) critical competencies. “A process safety risk is a hazard that can give rise to major accidents involving the release of potentially hazardous materials, release of energy, or both; and Process safety in Wells is about keeping all hydrocarbons safely in the pipe, well or reservoir at all times” – Shell. Demographic shift in the oil and gas industry is emerging as one of the most significant challenges to business continuity and sustainability in the face of a rapidly aging workforce and shortfall in skilled and experienced manpower. The need for a well-knit strategy to enhance the training and competency development of young technical professionals becomes imperative in order to ensure that Process Safety oriented culture is fully understood and imbibed. This paper will examine how process safety can be successfully managed with the ‘big crew change’.
