Effective safety control at the Krechba gas production and CO2 sequestration plant on the In Salah gas field in Algeria’s Sahara desert is resulting in fewer on-the-job injuries.
Reda Allali reverently pats his chest and says “Insha’Allah” (If God is willing). He’s referring to the promised Norway trip he and colleagues won as top performers during a recent safe behaviour workshop in Algeria.
A chemist at Krechba, Mr Allali is one of 20,000 workers employed or contracted by Algerian national oil company Sonatrach who have already completed the safety course. All 120,000 Sonatrach employees and contractors will eventually pass through the programme.
StatoilHydro launched its safe behaviour programme in Algeria after signing a memorandum of understanding with Sonatrach in 2005. The original programme was launched by StatoilHydro in 2003 to improve personnel safety in Norway. It worked. Four out of five employees surveyed in 2005 said the workshops enhanced safety in both the company and with contractors.
A modified version of the Norwegian course was crafted for Sonatrach in cooperation with the Algerian Institute of Petroleum, and first presented two years ago. “Sontrach’s response has been very positive,” says Kåre Røsandhaug, StatoilHydro’s country manager in Algeria.
“We use more resources on HSE in Algeria, and our supervisors and managers are a lot more hands-on than in Norway, where there’s more of an assumption that people follow the rules,” Mr Røsandhaug explains.
Various HSE tools are employed at StatoilHydro offices and operational facilities. One of the most effective is elegantly simple – the display of colourful posters clearly depicting the consequences of safety negligence.
Some of the most dangerous situations in Algeria are while driving on roads and in the desert.
“There are a lot of traffic accidents,” says ISG operations manager Sigbjørn Ohnstad at Hassi Messaoud, where the In Salah and In Amenas joint ventures and Hassi Mouina licence are administrated. Measures to curb reckless driving by operations personnel include the installation of driver monitors that record excessive speed, sudden stops and other erratic behaviour on all vehicles.
“Our safety culture is partly why Sonatrach wants us here, to help raise standards,” says Mr Ohnstad. “The joint venture is a perfect way of doing it. We’re trying to move towards a more attitude and behaviour based safety and integrity culture in Algeria.”
