Ensuring Effective use of Permit to Work Guidelines in the Oil and Gas Industry of Australia (Essay Sample)

Ensuring Effective use of Permit to Work Guidelines in the Oil and Gas Industry of Australia: An Exploratory Study
[14-Oct-2013]
Introduction
The oil and gas industry (referred to from here on as ‘the industry’) handles large quantities of toxic and flammable material ranging from Diesel, Petrol, Industrial Gases, etc. The potential for accidental fire, explosion, burns and pollution become a significant concern to industry players. An increase in related deaths of employees caused by these accidents is widely evident in industry reports. In fact, a survey within this industry indicates that the potential for accidents is a global concern (Offshore Technology, 2012). For example, an offshore platform Piper Alpha, which was located in the British part of the North Sea, experienced an incident on July 6, 1988 which claimed 167 deaths of people on board (Paté-Cornell, 1993). Recently in 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig located in the Gulf of Mexico saw a massive explosion and blowout that resulted in a major environmental catastrophe and killed 11 people in the ensuing destruction (Barstow, Rohde, & Saul, 2010). These cases and many others are not isolated phenomena in the industry as accident statistics and related deaths within the industry demonstrate the need to put safety measures in place.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) (2002) reported that more than 2 million people die from occupational accidents or work related diseases every year. Conservative global estimates suggest that approximately 270 million occupational accidents and 160 million cases of occupational diseases occur on an annual basis. Half of the associated deaths may be caused by exposure to hazardous chemicals. The United States alone reported 3.7 million cases of occupational injury and illnesses in 2008. Of these, 71 percent occurred in service providing industries; the remainder in goods producing industries (BLS, 2009).
Australia has also experienced an increase in accidents and related deaths in the industry. In the first six months of 2010, around 23 incidents were reported which included oil spill, gas spill, and blow out threats (Gold & Casselman, 2010). Such incidents are associated with environmental hazards, wastage of resources, and loss of life as well as having significant financial implications for the industry. Therefore, this explanatory / exploratory research addresses important social and organizational issues within a critical industry.
Permit to Work (PTW) is defined as a formal and legal written system used to control certain types of work which are potentially hazardous. The system provides a basis on which duty of care criteria or laws may be adhered to. The duty of care states that the employer is liable and responsible for injuries caused to an employee due to unsafe working conditions. Following the guidelines laid down in the permit to work systems, the oil and gas industry players will ensure performance of duty of care towards their employees hence demonstrating high levels of ethical and legal practices. Employees do not disregard safety regulations due to any malicious intent, and it may be expected that they are invested in their own and their co-workers well-being. Thus, the researcher believes that other factors that are associated with knowledge and ability to practice safety procedures could be responsible for the occurrence of accidents. PTW includes a number of objectives and functions that seek to provide safe working environment (IAOGP, 2003). This study shall attempt to evaluate the extent to which these procedures and regulations were understood by employees associated with incidents.
Research Statement
During the first six months of 2010, about 23 incidents of oil spill, gas spill, and blow out threat (Gold & Casselman, 2010) were reported in Australia. The researcher believes that these incidents could be avoided when oil firms follow the guidelines, procedures, and the Permit-to-Work (PTW) system, as provided by Federal Government standards on management of risk. The researcher beliefs that despite the legal requirement on the oil companies to follow PTW and loss of resources associated with these incidents, a number of companies may not be following PTW procedures or there is an implementation of the system is inappropriate. This is because large numbers of incidents are still occurring in the oil and gas industry of Australia. The proposed study will investigate the possible reasons that contribute to non-compliance of PTW by employees in the industry and will suggest measures to ensure effective implementation of PTW.
Problem Statement
Work can be said to be one of the most fundamental of life’s tasks (Csikszentmihalyi, 1992). Research focusing on workers safety recommends that, the level of safety practices within the industry is a key determinant of the level of ethical and legal conduct of the industry. This is because companies have a social responsibility to care for those who work for them (Armstrong, 2007). The inability to maintain accepted levels of safety practices within the industry has been shown to have a direct relation with the number of accidents and related deaths within this industry (USA Today, 2010). Most of these accidents can effectively be prevented or reduced when mechanisms are developed to ensure the effective use of permit to work guidelines. This proposal has been seen as an attempt to understand the factors reducing the use of PTW and formulate ways of enhancing the use of safety procedures.
Significance
The findings of the study are significant to different sectors including government and policy makers, as well as the oil and gas employers and employees
The Federal Government of Australia
The findings of this research are of significant value to the government of Australia as they will provide data that could form the basis of policy formulation and help in decision making. This is pertains the development of safety policies and the cultivation of a safe work culture within the oil and gas industry.
Policy makers
The study focuses on ensuring the effective use of permit to work guidelines. The findings will identify areas of concern that require reforms in work safety culture within this industry.
Oil and gas industry employers and employees
This study will focus on the promotion of safety practices within the industry through effective use of permit to work guidelines. The findings of this study will, therefore, provide a conceptual platform on which issues pertinent to the industry are highlighted and analyzed in details. Subsequently, stakeholders’ in the industry level of awareness with regards to the welfare of employees and these safety guidelines can be critically outlined. With positive insights, this could act as a defensible tenet where employees’ work environments can be secured by drawing insights from such findings. Thus, it is intended that employees’ work environments will be improved.
Not much research has been conducted to understand the effect of working in the drilling industry on workers on their health and safety with reference to permit to work systems. By investigating the causes of work related accidents and fatalities and developing strategies to overcome them, companies should be encouraged to use the Permit to work policy in a strategic manner. This study will provide awareness about opportunities to reduce the current rates of accidents by proper implementation of Permit to work policy.
To the researcher
The urge for conducting research often comes from personal needs or concerns. As a member of the industry, the researcher feels the concern about factors that affect co-workers and self. Personal experience and observation have encouraged the researcher about the factors that inhibit the use of safety measures. This will help in verifying the same using systematic and objective measures. It will also enhance his ability to create a better work environment and contribute positively to the industry.
Research Hypothesis
* Employees in the Western Australian oil and gas industry regularly fail to follow permit to work (PTW) procedures when performing hazardous tasks.
* Cultural practices within the industry, poor training methods and work pressures are the major causative factors that contribute to non-compliance with PTW procedures.
* Employees are commonly unaware of the risks that may arise if PTW procedures fail to be followed.
* Specific measures that ensure that employees in the industry follow PTW procedures.
Research Questions
The research will seek to respond fully following research questions:
* Why employees in the oil and gas industry of Australia fail to follow PTW procedures when undertaking hazardous tasks?
* What are the key reasons for non-compliance of employees in the Australian oil and gas industry on PTW procedures?
* Do employees in the Australian oil and gas industry have knowledge of problems that may arise if PTW procedures are not followed?
* Possible measures that can be taken to ensure that employees in the oil and gas industry of Australia follow PTW procedures.
Research Paper Organization
Outline of the Dissertation
This dissertation comprises of five chapters; Introduction, Literature review, Research Methodology, Research Data and Results. The dissertation is imperative to flow this arrangement as it is in line with a systematic organization with greater understanding to the readers and critics being imparted. Introduction introduces the topic with reference to the background of the survey being undertaken so as to make certain that the researcher gets his/her overall point across. Problem statement follows indicating the loopholes and the domains which are unexplored, thereby constituting the pr...