On the occasion of the National Day for Occupational Safety, NOC’s Department of Health, Safety, Environment, Security and Sustainable Development held a workshop on Monday, 30 April 2018, in the presence of Eng. Mustafa Sanalla, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Eng. Abulgasem Shengheer and Mr. Elamari M. Elamari. The workshop was also attended by Brigadier Abdul Salam Tabeeb, Head of the National Safety Authority, in addition to a number of heads of management committees of NOC operating companies, directors of HSE departments, a number of specialists in this field and members of the National Safety Authority.
Eng. Mustafa Sanalla opened the forum, wishing God’s mercy to the martyrs of the Sharara oil field plane crash and to those who have died in separate incidents in the past in the line of duty for NOC. “As much as we celebrate this day, we must reflect on several painful incidents that have cost us dearly and from which we should learn. Our concern for workers safety is more important than the bottom line and increasing production. Libya’s current security situation requires a more robust approach to security protocols and safety regulations in all of our operations”, said Mr. Sanalla.
“Libya has been one of the leading countries in the field of occupational safety by producing laws and regulations in this area since the 1950s. We must review and amend legislation to ensure safer production operations. We should identify the cause of work accidents, analyse them and the frequency at which they occur to ensure they are avoided in the future”, he added.
Mr. Sanalla praised NOC’s comprehensive survey of environmental pollution in the Wahat area and programs put in place to preserve the environment. A similar survey will also be conducted in the western region, with all of these programs taking place under the framework of preserving the environment and overall safety.
In a speech given by the Head of the National Safety Authority, he praised the support of the oil sector and its continued cooperation with the NSA, most notably during several unfortunate incidents that included considerable fire-fighting efforts. He added that the NSA has developed an operational plan for the year ahead in cooperation with NOC.
The NSA presented a working paper entitled “Safety as seen by the Authority” for group participation during the workshop. The program also included a presentation of the serious incidents unfolding during 2017 in the oil sector, a presentation on the Zelten field incident and a presentation by the Harouge oil operations company about the most important reasons behind the recent leaks.
Finally, recommendations and proposals were presented. The most important of which is the necessity of working to modernize the sector’s security and safety protocols, in order to avoid accidents and minimize them as much as possible. Additional emphasis was placed on updating work permit systems within oil fields and ports, and to agree on a mechanism to unify efforts between security and safety departments within the oil sector so that they are supportive of production and not an obstacle to it.
