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OSH Officers to monitor Oil rigs and FPSOs after adequate training
Exxon’s Liza Destiny FPSO.
Kaieteur News – Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Officers will be able to do their part in monitoring Guyana’s oil and gas industry after undergoing adequate training.
Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton.
The Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, while speaking to Kaieteur News yesterday, related this. Earlier this month, at the launch of OSH month, Hamilton had explained that in Guyana there are no officers to inspect oil rigs and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels. This, he had said, is because the officers would first have to be trained on how to inspect and what to inspect, adding, “it’s not a joy ride with a helicopter.”
In light of this lack in capacity, Hamilton had revealed that government was ready to engage a remedial plan.
Currently the Ministry of Labour has nine officers within its employ but they are not yet trained for the sector. However, Hamilton shared that the Ministry is in talks with companies to have the requisite training done. They will have to look at the costing and other factors, but once those talks are finalised and training begins, the officers will be trained in OSH at the highest level to monitor not only the oil and gas industry but the other sectors as well.
Hamilton also disclosed that the Ministry is in the process of hiring 21 officers to expand the labour force, which will see them also being efficiently trained in OSH. He added, that since most of the OSH training will focus on oil and gas, if all things go well, the country could see adequately trained officers by year-end.
According to the Labour Minister, last year a joint technical committee was established with the United States oil giant, ExxonMobil, which is currently operating in Guyana. He explained that generally, there is OSH monitoring, but in the oil and gas industry, Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) monitoring is more common. With the joint committee in place, it is expected that there will be knowledge sharing as it relates to HSSE.
At the OSH launch, Hamilton was also keen to note that many private sector entities in the oil and gas business have also been lending a helping hand to the government.
The Minister revealed too, that joint technical committees have been established with the Maritime Administration Department and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, in a bid to ensure all the various sectors are adequately covered.
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