The role of HSE in reducing accident risk / A five-year safety improvement strategy at Jam Petrochemical

According to Jam Petrochemical's public and international relations office, quoting the ILNA news agency:

Speaking to ILNA about the importance of the HSE unit in improving safety at work and reducing the risk of accidents in the petrochemical industries, Ali Amjadi, Jam Petrochemical's health, safety and environment manager, said: the fields of safety, health, the environment, crisis management and passive defence are among the most important pillars of the oil, gas and petrochemical industries, and organisations are obliged to observe HSE standards if their business is to continue. The ultimate aim of the HSE function is stable and safe production and the continuity of the business, and worldwide every organisation and company working in oil, gas and petrochemicals must give priority to safety, health, the environment, crisis management and passive defence if their business is to continue safely.

On the part HSE plays in reducing the risk of accidents at work, he said: in production, HSE has a direct part to play in safety. In any industry, where process safety improves and safe equipment is put into service, the volume of production rises as well.

Jam Petrochemical's health, safety and environment manager went on: where employees are concerned there is the matter of occupational health and safety, and the healthier and safer the people present in industry and on the production line are, the more attractive their work becomes and the greater their job satisfaction. When employees work in a safe environment they are also encouraged to continue with greater motivation.

Amjadi added: on the part HSE plays in reducing environmental risks, I should say that since the petrochemical and petro-refining industries can by their very nature cause environmental pollution, the HSE function engages with this through its commitment to protecting employees' health, to protecting the environment and to discharging social responsibilities; in this area we are obliged to prevent water, soil and air pollution by observing environmental standards.

He emphasised: in passive defence too, within the HSE unit we can manage human threats that could halt or damage part of the organisation's business. Passive defence controls and manages cyber security, perimeter security and the security of people's access to industrial systems. Jam Petrochemical's cyber security is being strengthened under the direct supervision of the Passive Defence Organisation. There have been threats in the past which we were able to neutralise by identifying them quickly with the help of the relevant organisations. On raising the level of cyber security, points for improvement have been identified and we are pursuing that work with a dedicated consultant approved by the Passive Defence Organisation.

Jam Petrochemical's health, safety and environment manager emphasised: as for crisis management, if every protective layer loses its effectiveness and something happens in the business or the industry, the question is how crisis management can reduce the damage and the consequences of that event to a minimum. In other words, crisis management in such conditions proposes a systematic method by which every part of the organisation takes part, so that if something does happen its effects are reduced as far as possible and the business can return to normal in the shortest possible time; this too has its own particular instructions, which we put into effect.

On Jam Petrochemical's environmental projects, Amjadi said: Jam Petrochemical has carried out numerous environmental projects, in particular projects to reduce pollutants. In environmental protection, Jam's largest project was the installation of a flare system, which it completed in 1402. The project was recognised as an outstanding project in the region and was commended at the Green Growth conference. Among the social responsibility projects, one has been “Patron of the Jebeer Gazelle”; since the Jebeer gazelle is an endangered species, Jam Petrochemical has supported it since 1402. Cleaning the shores of the Persian Gulf is another of Jam Petrochemical's environmental projects, under which the company is responsible for clearing the coast from Bushehr to the shores of Assaluyeh.

He went on: Jam Petrochemical is also responsible for meeting some of the Department of Environment's needs, and we have very extensive dealings with the Department of Environment and with the Bushehr Province Directorate General of Environmental Protection, having concluded several memoranda with them. We also do everything we can to minimise pollution by installing high-technology systems, and as a result of these measures Jam Petrochemical was not on the list of polluting industries last year. In the production process too we do everything we can to observe every environmental parameter. It should be noted that both the flaring system and the stack outlets of the furnaces of Jam Petrochemical's olefin unit are monitored directly, continuously and online by the Department of Environment.

On the importance of the health and safety of staff and workers and the part the HSE unit plays in improving employees' health, Amjadi emphasised: fortunately the rate of process incidents and incidents involving people at Jam Petrochemical has been falling, and in the past several years there has been no explosion, fire or major leak at Jam Petrochemical, and we have not lost a single worker or member of staff to an accident or incident. The degree to which principles are observed, safety above all, counts for most in the oil and gas industries. Among all our country's industries, safety ranks highest in the oil, gas and petrochemical industry, and within that industry safety counts for most in the petrochemical sector.

Saying that process safety in petrochemicals is implemented on the basis of international standards, among them those of the Center for Chemical Process Safety of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (CCPS), and that among the petrochemical companies Jam leads in observing safety standards and implementing process safety, he said: the country's petrochemical health committee recently met at Jam, and at that meeting, on the proposal of the National Petrochemical Company, Jam was named a model for the other petrochemical companies in matters of health. Jam Petrochemical has also carried out many projects and taken good measures in the health and mental health of its employees.

Referring to Jam Petrochemical's medical equipment, the health, safety and environment manager said: Jam Petrochemical's clinic has been designated the reference clinic for the region, and in the Assaluyeh area it is the only clinic with a specialist physician on duty around the clock, with three specialist physicians working there. If something happens at other petrochemical companies, these facilities are made available to save colleagues' lives; in the Shahid Rajaee port incident, for instance, a heavy fire engine and three professional firefighters set out for the scene and were present there from the first hours of the incident.

He added: Jam Petrochemical's crisis management hall is also used as the crisis management room for the Assaluyeh region and is recognised as the crisis management centre for the region's petrochemical companies; the centre is equipped to international standards.

Emphasising that the old slogan “safety first, then work” has long been obsolete, Amjadi said: safety is in fact in the very nature and essence of the work, and safety is part of the work. Safety is not something that stops partway through a job or is confined to its beginning; safety always accompanies the work and lies in its nature.

He went on: the concepts of safety, the environment, passive defence, crisis management and firefighting are units within the HSE function, and the world has today concluded that safety cannot be established by behaving like a police officer and catching people out, and that behaviour of that kind does nothing to improve safety. When an organisation reaches HSE maturity, an interdependence arises — each person's safety depends on another's, colleagues take the observance of safety seriously and remind one another about it.

Jam Petrochemical's health, safety and environment manager said: in Jam Petrochemical's HSE unit we have tried to advance this culture, and to advance the HSE and safety culture among employees we have a five-year programme in hand, so that every employee becomes a safety person who, besides maintaining their own safety, watches over the safety of colleagues and, ultimately, sees that process equipment and equipment carrying risk operates safely.

Amjadi emphasised: I believe that culture is the instrument that can give the assurance that, where there is no policeman, people themselves will make the observance of safety principles their guiding rule.

Referring to the five-year safety improvement strategy in the HSE unit, he said: in the roughly two years since I joined the Jam Petrochemical family, I began a five-year strategy, and following it we have made all activities process-based and set indicators for them; international indicators have been put in place in these sections and units so that over five years we can improve against them. In the same period we also set up a planning and training unit, which is responsible for auditing and overseeing the indicators of every part of HSE.