New occupational health and safety standard for the oil and gas industry will be released in October 2016.
Currently in its draft stage, the new standard will be called ISO 45001, after the international standard-setting body, which is also the body drafting it.
When published, the ISO 45001 will be an international benchmark for industries worldwide including oil and gas.
Its main purpose will be to enable organisations to improve its occupational health and safety standards and prevent injury and ill-health.
It will also encourage employers to address work-related risks and launch various health, education and training initiatives.
Theuns Kotze, managing director at British Standards Institute, one of the national organisations behind the initiative, said: “What is interesting about an ISO standard is that there must be a 100% consensus on this standard; everybody on the committee must agree so it is a standard by consensus, which is fantastic.”
“We believe that through the ISO 45001, occupational health will get a more prominent position and a much more serious one. Of course it is a voluntary standard but this will be worldwide benchmark for health and safety and almost for all companies”, Kotze added.
To obtain the certification, companies will have to “provide objective evidence that the standard’s requirements are being met”.
David Smith, chairman of the project committee, said that ISO 45001 will insist that its rules and regulations are embodied in the overall management system of the organisation.
“ISO 45001 requires health and safety aspects to be part of an overall management system and no longer just an added extra.”
This will require a much stronger buy-in from its management and leadership. It will also be a big change for users who may currently delegate responsibility to a safety manager rather than integrate this entirely into the organization’s operations, he adds.
Oil and gas companies, which normally follow their own health and safety procedures, might therefore be sceptical about the new standard.
“We believe that oil and gas should have their own health and safety standard but I must say the oil and gas companies in general has been pretty smart with occupational health and safety.
“[They] come from a well- regulated health and safety environment [and] have very regimented type of procedures and ways of working,” said Kotze.
