OSH officers to monitor oil rigs and FPSOs after adequate training
Liza Destiny FPSO by Exxon.
Kaieteur News – Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Officers will be able to play their part in monitoring Guyana’s oil and gas industry after adequate training.
Labor Minister Joseph Hamilton.
Labor Minister Joseph Hamilton, while speaking to Kaieteur News yesterday, was concerned. Earlier this month, at the launch of the OSH month, Hamilton had made clear that there are no officials in Guyana to inspect oil rigs and floating production storage and unloading (FPSO) vessels. This, he said, was because the officers would first have to be trained on how to inspect and what to inspect, adding, “it is not a joyful helicopter trip.”
In light of this lack of capacity, Hamilton had revealed that the government was ready to draw up a recovery plan.
The Ministry of Labor currently has nine officers in its employment but has not yet been trained for the sector. However, Hamilton shared that the Ministry is in talks with companies to obtain the necessary training. They will have to look at the costs and other factors, but once those conversations are complete and training begins, the officers will be trained in top-level OSH to monitor not only the oil industry and gas but the other sectors as well.
Hamilton also revealed that the Ministry is in the process of hiring 21 officers to expand the workforce, which will mean they are also trained efficiently in OSH. He added that as most of the OSH training will focus on oil and gas, if all goes well, the country could see adequately trained officers by the end of the year.
According to the Labor Minister, last year a joint technical committee was set up with US oil giant ExxonMobil, which currently operates in Guyana. He explained that OSH monitoring is universal, but in the oil and gas industry, Health, Safety, Safety and Environment (HSSE) monitoring is more common. With the joint committee in place, it is expected that information will be shared as it relates to HSSE.
At the OSH launch, Hamilton was also keen to point out that many private sector entities in the oil and gas business had also been lending a helping hand to the government.
The Minister also revealed that joint technical committees had been set up with the Department of Maritime Administration and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, in a bid to ensure that all the various sectors were adequately covered.