GPCA’s Safety, Health & Environment (SHE) Committee organized a workshop under the theme Contractor Safety—Building Openness on November 22, 2007 in Dubai.
GPCA says that managing safety issues and preventing hazards are an integral part of its objectives. The committee was formed in 2007. Its role is to evaluate the SHE challenges faced by the regional chemical industry while encouraging greater transparency, GPCA says. The committee aims for continuous improvement through policies to promote safety, health, and the environment as a business commitment.
The workshop on contractor safety aimed to provide an opportunity for facility owners and
contractors to identify and better understand issues that affect their safety performance. These issues are crucial for contractors be-
cause they are responsible for the construction of new facilities; refur-bishment of existing facilities; and provision of maintenance and support services during routine shutdowns.
Twenty two delegates attended the workshop, of whom eight were from Borouge, six from Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), three from EQUATE Petrochemical Co., and one each from Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co.,
Nair (centre) hands over the certificate of participation at the workshop
to Stefaan Vandebril of Abu Dhabi Polymers (Borouge), watched by
Damani and Yunus.
Qatar Petrochemical Co., and Norgas (Oslo). No representatives of contractors were present, however.
The workshop was led by Qasim Yunus, safety advisor at SABIC; Sabir Damani, personal safety expert at EQUATE; and Prakash Nair, environment, health, and safety delivery leader at EQUATE. They outlined best practices for the industry and ways to identify key factors
a ffecting safety performance during contract or prequalification, selection, mobilization, a nd onsite supervision, as well as ongoing and e nd-of-contract evaluation. Their presentations i ncluded regional case studies of industrial acc idents involving contractors.
*Companies that have joined GPCA in 2008
*New GPCA committee members in 2008
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia A.K.BAKri & SonS (Jeddah) Contact: Raad Al Bakri www.albakri.com
HR Committee
◊ Salem Al Qamzei
ABu dhABi PolymerS ltd. (Borouge)
Kuwait irAKuS Petroleum induStrieS (Kuwait) Contact: Suhail Abograis
◊ Abdul Rahman Al Naama QAtAr Vinyl Co.
Oman
omAn PolyProPylene llC (Sohar) Contact: Hamad Al Dhahab www.oman-pp.com
SHE Committee
◊ Roy Vike Vardheim, Committee Chairman
ABu dhABi PolymerS ltd. (Borouge)
◊ Jassim Salem Almaki QAPCo
United Arab Emirates ABu dhABi PortS ComPAny (ADPC) Contact: Antoine Tayyar www.adpc.ae
Steering Committee
◊ Ali Al-Murar
ABu dhABi PolymerS ltd. (Borouge)
For full list including associate members, please visit:
www.gpca.org.ae/members
Participants at the workshop made several r ecommendations to GPCA. Future workshops o n contractor safety should have participation from contractors, and GPCA members should c ontinue to share best practices, participants s aid. GPCA should develop a mechanism to com- pile a yearly update on SHE incidents; establish acontractor contractor SHEstandard;andhaveuniform c riteria for selecting contractors and following c ontractor certification criteria. Participants also r ecommended the creation of a regional cont ractors” association, and called for legislation o n contractor certification and responsibilities. C oordination and information sharing among G PCA members is vital on issues pertaining to c ontractorqualityandSHEperformance,asis c oordination of turnaround time to ensure avail-a bility of contractors, workshop participants s aid.
—deepti ramesh
References:
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