Iran concluded a memorandum of understanding with Germany's Institute Bruno Schmaeling Consulting Group to adopt new health, safety and environment policies in its gas industry, National Iranian Gas Company's HSE director said on Thursday.
"Gas industry has always been accident prone in nature, which is inflicting heavy financial losses on our economy," Mohammad Reza Yousefipour was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
According to Yousefipour, natural gas-related explosions are rooted in both hazardous activities and insecure conditions, which explain why a project called "Zero Accident" was implemented in NIGC.
"Dangerous behavior accounts for 90% of accidents in the gas industry," he said, adding that the main focus of the new approach is to reform the previous HSE policies.
The NIGC director underscored negotiations with oil and gas giants to select the best plan to enhance the quality and security of gas systems and equipment in addition to training personnel to follow the latest HSE standards.
"IBS's proposal was approved after holding three days of intensive talks with gas officials and a memorandum of understanding was signed with the German company to be implemented in three phases in 36 months," he said.
The first phase, which is also the most important one, encompasses a comprehensive study to assess NIGC's current situation and analyze contractors' behavior when it comes to HSE culture. The second phase, which will focus on educating the staff, is scheduled to run in 21 months based on the findings of the first phase.
In the third phase, which is basically to get feedback, the HSE policies will be modified to ensure the adoption of the best alternatives to handle HSE-related concerns.
Bandar Abbas Oil Refining Company has recently received the European Union's HSE Management Certificate granted by the European Association for Green Management in cooperation with the Iranian Society for Green Management.
A wide variety of community measures in the field of safety and health in workplaces have been adopted on the basis of Article 153 of the Treaty on the Functioning of European Union. The first formal HSE management approach was introduced in 1985 as a reaction to several catastrophic accidents (like Seveso and Bhopal disasters).
