Petroleum ministry to launch safety document

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, would launch key policy documents on Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) at the forthcoming international HSE Conference on the petroleum industry safety.
Dr Musa Zagi, the Deputy Director, HSE, DPR who also serves as the
Conference Organising Committee Chairman, said at a pre-conference in Lagos that Kachikwu will launch three policy documents on regulatory safety regulatory issues.
Zagi said that the conference serves to engender HSE awareness amongst stakeholders in the industry and still remains the biggest forum that brings HSE experts from both within and outside the country to share new ideas and experiences on HSE issues.
“The policy documents will focus on Environmental Guidelines and Standards for the Petroleum Industry in Nigeria (EGASPIN) 2018.
“Regulatory Guidance for the Management of NORM in the Petroleum Industry: Abandonment, Decommissioning and Decontamination of Oil and Gas Installations and Occupational Health Guidelines Standards for the Petroleum Industry in Nigeria,” Zagi said.
The chairman said the HSE conference will provide a platform for HSE professionals in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry and other interested participants (local and foreign) to meet and share experiences (local and foreign) relating to HSE issues arising from exploration, production, downstream and other related activities.
”The aim is to promote and entrench a safe and environmentally
sustainable oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
”The 18th edition of the International HSE Biennial Conference on the Oil and Gas Industry in Nigeria has been scheduled to hold from the 26th – 28th, Nov. 2018 with the theme: ‘Driving Sustainability in the Oil and Gas Industry through Improved Stakeholders’ Environmental Stewardship,” he said.
He argued that previous conferences have led to several achievements which includes Development of the Environmental Guidelines and Standards for the Petroleum Industry in Nigeria (EGASPIN).
He said that previous conferences had also led emergence of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and the subsequent establishment of the State Environmental Protection Agencies, the creation of the Nigerian Environmental Society (NES).
It also bring the establishment of the Environmental Sanitation Day, though it is no longer held in Lagos but still be held in some parts of the country every last or first Saturday of the month.
Others include the establishment of the Ecological Fund which later formed the basis for the conceptualisation and establishment of the Derivation Fund for the Oil Producing States, and establishment and sustenance of the Health, Safety and Environment Management Systems by operators in the industry.