New report urges stakeholders to ‘raise the bar’ on safety and environmental performance
Petroleum companies operating off the shore of Newfoundland and Labrador have committed to exploring environment, health and safety focus areas, and developing specific action plans to improve performance, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).
The focus areas were included in CAPP’s Collaborating for Safety and Sustainability: A Continuous Improvement Plan, which calls for the enhancement of processes for petroleum producers.
"We are confident that through enhanced collaboration between industry, government, regulators and other stakeholders, we will raise the bar on safety and environmental performance in the offshore region," said Paul Barnes, director of Atlantic Canada and Arctic.
Among the 13 focus areas listed in the report are establishing a common language to manage risk; working for an improved understanding of the perception of safety culture; sharing lessons learned among the industry; and collaborating to identify opportunities for alignment and improvement.
The report also called for the enhancement of training, learning and information sharing; collaborative work between the fishing industry and other stakeholders; sharing and adopting best practices; and the evaluation of options for additional simulation training to enhance learning.
Additionally, the report encouraged stakeholders to conduct an assessment of spill response capabilities; map greenhouse gas emissions for producing assets; work with government and regulators to enhance training for wildlife observers; evaluate and adopt new leak detection and subsea monitoring technology; and identify research and development opportunities.
"Canada's standards for EH&S in the offshore region are among the most stringent in the world,” said Barnes. “It is our belief that EH&S goes beyond the individual operators and must be industry-wide, increasing collaboration and information sharing. We are looking to address concerns today while establishing and maintaining a long-term plan for EH&S offshore Newfoundland and Labrador."
The report will continue to evolve and change as CAPP engages with others that share the same goals of strengthening EH&S in the offshore region, said CAPP.
