Investigation the Impact of Culture & on the Overall Health and Safety from the Oil and Gas Sector

This review attempts to describe a cultural approach towards understanding SIS. It aims to help the reader understand SIS from a cultural viewpoint, and how SIS culture can be assessed as part of a process of organizational improvement. The aim is to convey up-to-date information on this complex topic in a straightforward, condensed way, trying to build a bridge between research and practice. The review is intended as an informative text for business managers in general, and as a practical guide for SIS practitioners. This is because much of the academic research related to the topic is published in scientific books and journals that are often less accessible for non-academic SIS professionals. Furthermore, in the course of this study, data was collected through open-ended Questionnaires to the workers and the Occupational Health Doctor. Also, Environmental Monitoring/Surveillance was carried out in seven main units of the Refinery. The questionnaire was administered to the workers randomly and was used to identify the Health Hazards, determine the awareness of the workers of the Health Hazards and evaluate the Occupational Health Practice that exists in the Refinery. Environmental Monitoring/Surveillance which includes the use of specialized equipments and good housekeeping were used to identify the different Health Hazards, and also, to assess the risk associated with the Health Hazards identified. Hazard Risk Assessment Matrix was used to identify the Health Hazards and the risks associated with them. A total of 85 respondents participated in the study. Most of the respondents were in the age range of 31- 40 years and approximately 31% run Shift Duty. Majority of respondents (82.4%) were males, married (64.7%) and had completed tertiary education (81.2%) respectively. Majority of respondents were able to identify the Health Hazards: Physical Health Hazard (74.2%); Chemical Health Hazard (70.9%); Mechanical/Ergonomics Health Hazard (78.8%) but the level of awareness of Psychosocial Health Hazard (48.3%) and Biological Health Hazards (9.6%) were low especially that of the latter. For the evaluation of Occupational Health Practice most of the respondent (78.1%) agree that management is committed to the health and well-being of their workers. With the Environmental Monitoring, it was deduced that the above named first three Health Hazards and the Biological Health Hazard are prevalent in the Refinery. With the Hazards Risk Assessment Matrix, the level of risk these identified Health Hazards pose on the workers was 3D, 5E, 3C and 0A respectively. However, workers’ susceptibility to work related-diseases depends on a lot of factors, and it usually takes some time before the manifestation of the illnesses and diseases on the worker could be diagnosed. Consequently, Health Effect Management Process which is an element in Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHS-MS) amongst others is recommended management protocol that would assist the management of an Oil and Gas Refinery protect, promote and rehabilitate the health and well-being of their workers.