There has been considerable progress in industrial hygiene issues in offshore environments in recent years. Dr Jas Singh, Golder Associates' Hawaii-based health & safety consultant, offers this primer.
Experience in many offshore environments shows that there is growing understanding that industrial hygiene (IH) is not as much about emergency plans and response as it is about taking measures to provide for employees' longterm health and wellbeing day to day.
Some of the majors have well-developed IH risk assessments, plans and protocols, and are sharing those with their smaller joint venture partners. Where many companies fall short in their IH obligations offshore is around detailed and systematic assessments of IH risks.
The result may be increased employee injuries, or latent health conditions that may manifest later in the employee's life through impaired health or quality of life.
Assessing the risks related to IH in the offshore, and developing a well-considered plan of action to manage those risks, has many benefits. These include setting priorities and thus enabling better resource allocation, long-term reduction of illness and injury by identifying health hazards early, and better employee morale, resulting in higher productivity and easier recruitment and retention.
Three aspects unique to offshore environments can make IH issues more consequential than they are onshore.
Isolation and distance. Many managers in the offshore industry underestimate the psychological effects of the offshore environment. Employees are often away from home for weeks at a time.
They may be coping with news about a child not doing well in school, or a family member who is sick, and there is not much they can do about it. This can distract them from their work, in an isolated work environment with many potential hazards.
Small area, tight confines. The small footprint of most drilling platforms results in a crowded environment. Employees are often called upon to physically lift and carry heavy loads, twist and bend – with real potential for ergonomic stress. Hot, humid environments in warm waters provide welcoming homes for mould to grow, impacting interior air quality. In some situations, exhaust from engines on pumps and other equipment is picked up by ventilation intakes. Even if rooms are set aside for smoking, ventilation systems may be inadequate, so smoke drifts throughout the living quarters.
Stressful environment. In emergencies such as a fire or injury, crew members on remote platforms know that help will take some time to arrive, particularly during storms. The ever-present threat of fire or explosion can weigh heavily on their minds. The small space available for crew living quarters (bunk beds are the norm) can cause mental stresses that can flare up into interpersonal confrontations and bullying.
Risks offshore
Routine IH exposures on offshore platforms can come from pigging, routine maintenance and small leaks. Experience shows that most significant exposures may occur during the process upsets and maintenance activities such as vessel cleaning, changing filters, changing gaskets (particularly scraping and sanding broken gaskets), painting and paint removal, and pump maintenance/repair.
One of the best ways to manage these risks is a qualitative risk assessment. This tool for evaluating and prioritizing the risk of exposure to chemical and physical hazards goes beyond routine observation-based occupational exposure assessments to evaluate the inherent hazards of the agents, exposure duration, relative probability of exposure and severity of exposure. It then ranks overall exposure risks.
In IH, risk is considered to be the product of two factors:
Measuring risks, using qualified personnel (either in-house or through a third party) can help find the most serious risks, for setting priorities for action. The result is a safer workplace, which leads to greater employee confidence in their employers' willingness to safeguard their health and safety.OE
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