Management of occupational health risks in the offshore oil and gas industry

Oil Industry Advisory Committee Management of occupational health risks in the offshore oil and gas industry This is a free-to-download, web-friendly version of ISBN 978 0 7176 0886 7 (1st edition, published 1996). This version has been adapted for online use Oil

Industry

from HSE’s current printed version. Advisory

Committee

.........................

Management of occupational health risks in You can buy the book at www.hsebooks.co.uk and most good bookshops. the offshore oil

and gas industry ISBN 978 0 7176 0886 7 Price £8.00

This book describes the occupational health hazards and risks found in the offshore oil and gas industry, the general principles you can use to ensure the continued good health of the offshore workforce and guidance on where to find more detailed advice, particularly on how to control specific health hazards.

The advice in this book is aimed at installation operators, installation owners, contractors and other offshore employers with responsibilities for the health of workers on installations, pipelay barges, heavy lift vessels and similar vessels. It is intended to help them to manage occupational health risks in the offshore industry.

HSE Books

Foreword This is guidance prepared, in consultation with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), by the Oil Industry Advisory Committee (OIAC) which was appointed by the Health and Safety Commission as part of its formal advisory structures. The guidance represents what is considered to be good practice by the members of the Committee. It has been agreed by the Commission. Following this guidance is not compulsory and you are free to take other action. But if you do follow this guidance you will normally be doing enough to comply with the law. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law and may refer to this guidance as illustrating good practice.

Contents Foreword 2

Introduction 4 What does the law require? 4 What is ‘occupational health’? 4 Why does occupational health matter? 5 How to manage occupational health issues 5

Identifying hazards to health 7 Is there a problem? 7 Preparing a hazard inventory 7

Assessing risks to health 13 How big is the problem? 13 How big is the risk? 13 The assessment process 14 What about subtle risks? 15 Reviewing the assessment 17

Controlling risks to health 18 Selecting control measures 18 Controlling psychosocial risks 18 Using control measures 20 Maintaining, examining and testing control measures 20 Monitoring and review 20 Health surveillance 20

Mitigating effects on health 22

Conclusion 23

Appendix: Sources of further advice 24

Introduction 1 This booklet describes in broad terms:

n the occupational health hazards and risks found in the offshore oil and gas industry; n the general principles you can use to ensure the continued good health of the offshore workforce; and n where to find more detailed advice, particularly on how to control specific health hazards.

2 The guidance contained in this booklet is aimed at installation operators, installation owners, contractors and other offshore employers with responsibilities for the health of workers on installations, pipelay barges, heavy lift vessels and similar vessels. It is intended to help them to manage occupational health risks in the offshore industry. It should also interest safety representatives, members of safety committees and other offshore workers. Much of it will be relevant to diving operations offshore, though the booklet does not deal with illness specifically related to diving.

3 The principles described in this booklet apply equally to work in the onshore oil and gas industry, where the guidance will also be of value. However, the booklet’s main aim is to show how the principles apply to work offshore.

What does the law 4 All employers, including offshore operators and owners and contractors, have require? legal duties to protect workers’ health. The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) applies to all work activities onshore and to the offshore oil and gas industry. It requires employers to ensure the health and safety of their employees and other workers who may be affected. The basic principle of the Act is that the main responsibility for controlling risks lies with those whose operations create them. Thus the owner or operator of an installation has responsibilities towards everyone working on the installation. But contractors also have responsibilities for health risks to their employees or others arising from their activities. These responsibilities overlap, so the law requires duty holders to co-operate with each other in ensuring health and safety. Employees also have duties not to endanger themselves or others.

5 Regulations made under the Act deal with many specific hazards to health such as chemicals, noise, ionising radiation and manual handling. Most of these regulations apply offshore or set standards which help to comply with the broad duties under the HSW Act. The specific regulations (such as the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) or the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992) cover most of the main health hazards found offshore. Where the specific regulations do not apply, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess risks, make arrangements for health and safety and provide health surveillance.

6 HSE has published detailed guidance on what you should do to comply with the regulations (see Appendix). This booklet provides an overview of managing occupational health problems offshore, but it does not go into detail on the law.

What is ‘occupational 7 Occupational health is about protecting the physical and mental health of health’? workers and ensuring their welfare in the workplace. It deals with the relationship between someone’s state of health and his or her job. This is very wide ranging,

but a priority is to prevent ill health arising out of conditions at work. Other important aspects include:

n ensuring fitness to perform a job safely; n providing first-aid and emergency medical services; n health education and promotion; n rehabilitation after illness or injury.

All these aspects are relevant to the offshore oil and gas industry, but this booklet deals mainly with preventing ill health at work. Further advice on other aspects of occupational health can be found in the Appendix.

Why does 8 Safety is rightly a priority offshore. Yet across industry, each year many more occupational health people become ill as a result of their work than are killed or injured in industrial matter? accidents. Most diseases caused by work do not kill, but they can involve years of pain, suffering and discomfort for those affected. They include respiratory disease, dermatitis, and hearing loss caused by excessive noise. As well as the human cost, there are potential production costs from loss of performance, staff turnover, retraining, adjusting work processes which have been found to affect health and, in extreme cases, dealing with medical emergencies. You can avoid or reduce these costs by acting before problems arise.

How to manage 9 You can manage occupational health issues with the same basic principles you occupational health use to manage safety or any other business area. For example: issues n your company should have a clear policy for health and safety; n every level of management should be committed to achieving the policy - top management commitment is essential; n integrate health and safety functions with other management functions.

10 It is best to avoid arbitrary distinctions between ‘health’ and ‘safety’ as they overlap to a great extent. Yet it is important to recognise that health issues are often much less clear-cut than safety issues. Cases of ill health arising from exposure to hazardous substances may take years or even decades to show up.

An illustration

The effects of being hit on the head by a falling brick are immediate and visible. There is no doubt what caused them. However, if the same brick is ground to a very fine powder which is inhaled over a long period, the possible result (lung disorder) may not be seen for years. It may be difficult to tie the result back to the brick dust.

11 So health problems may not be as obvious as a safety failure such as a structural collapse, a machinery accident, or fire and explosion. Most people may never see cases of occupational ill health while at work. They may miss the connection between the effect and its cause. So it is even more important to adopt a pro-active approach to managing health issues. HSE guidance is available on this in the publication Health risk management guide: A practical guide for managers in small and medium-sized companies (see Appendix), but the main steps to follow are:

n find out if there is a problem; n decide what to do based on what you have found out (for example, set objectives and targets to meet);

n put the decisions into practice; n check that the action has made improvements (eg that targets have been met).

Safety management system

In the offshore industry the management of health issues is integrated into the installation’s safety management system (SMS). This ensures that health objectives are built into existing control systems, such as permits to work and audits. Even more effective is to assess potential occupational health problems at the design stage. It is much easier to design out a health problem, or design in adequate controls, than to put right a problem once everything is in place.

12 The rest of this booklet looks in more detail at how you can develop an occupational health management programme. It deals mainly with specific workplaces, such as individual installations or barges, but programmes should also consider workers who move from place to place and are exposed to different hazards. There are four main sections:

n identifying hazards to health (a hazard is anything with the potential to cause harm, such as chemicals, noise or vibration); n assessing the risks posed by the hazards identified (a risk is the likelihood, great or small, that someone will actually be harmed by the hazard in the circumstances in which it is met); n introducing measures to ensure that the health risks are adequately controlled (ie that they are reduced to the lowest level that is reasonably practicable) and checking that the measures remain effective; and n making arrangements to mitigate the effects if the control measures fail or if problems arise which could not have been foreseen.

Involving the workforce

Workforce involvement and commitment are essential to the success of any health or safety programme. Offshore workers are closest to the hazards and it is their health which will benefit. Throughout this booklet there are suggestions about the part workers can play in protecting their health. These include:

■■ helping to identify hazardous agents; ■■ identifying jobs which might involve exposure to these agents; ■■ suggesting improvements to the way jobs are done; ■■ reporting problems or symptoms; ■■ providing feedback on the effectiveness of controls.

Further guidance on encouraging workforce involvement in health and safety is contained in the Oil IAC booklet Play your part! (see Appendix).

Identifying hazards to health Is there a problem? 13 Finding out if there is a problem means identifying hazards to health, a hazard being anything which might cause harm. Collecting information provides a basis to assess risks. Paragraph 10 explains that health hazards are often harder to recognise than safety hazards. So identifying hazards requires care and a structured approach.

14 Managers can do much of the hazard identification based on their knowledge of the work activity, though they may need access to specialist advice or assistance (eg from occupational hygienists, nurses or physicians) in carrying it out. Useful advice is available from HSE and other sources (see Appendix), including data sheets supplied with equipment or chemicals. As a general guide, however, the main health hazards found in the offshore oil and gas industry divide into the following five broad groups:

n chemical hazards; n physical hazards such as noise, vibration or radiation; n biological hazards such as micro-organisms; n ergonomic hazards such as manual handling; n psychosocial hazards.

15 Tables 1-5 give examples which can be found offshore of each of these groups of hazards. The tables describe briefly the possible short-term (acute) and long-term (chronic) adverse health effects of each example. The tables are not exhaustive, but they should help to find the more significant hazards.

Preparing a hazard 16 You should try to identify all hazards, using whatever means you think are inventory most suitable. The law does not require you to draw up a hazard inventory, that is to say a list of agents on the installation or barge which might present a hazard. But you may find an inventory to be a systematic way of gathering your thoughts. If so, it may help to divide the inventory into the five groups listed in paragraph 14. You could add extra groups if you are also looking for safety hazards such as slippery surfaces and defective equipment.

17 Try to involve as many people as possible in drawing up the list. For example:

n storemen can list chemicals in their stores; n mud engineers can list their mud treatment chemicals; n painting contractors can list their paints and coatings; n the camp boss can list floor cleaners and detergents used in the galley and laundry.

Table 1 Chemical hazards

Agent Example Source or use Potential health effect

Toxic substances Hydrogen sulphide Sour gas production, bacterial Acute - respiratory irritation, activity in stagnant water chemical asphyxiation

Benzene Component of crude oil, Acute - central nervous system concentrated in gas dryer vent effects emissions and Wemco Units Chronic -anaemia, leukaemia

Methanol Gas drying and hydrate control Acute - narcotic effects, damage to the optic nerve

Corrosive substances Hydrochloric acid Well stimulation Acute - skin, eye and respiratory irritation, burns, ulceration, tissue destruction

Sodium hydroxide Drilling fluid additive Acute - skin, eye and (caustic soda) respiratory irritation, burns, ulceration, tissue destruction

Sulphuric acid Wet batteries, regenerant for Acute - skin, eye and reverse osmosis water makers respiratory irritation, burns, ulceration, tissue destruction

Irritant substances Man-made mineral Thermal insulation and Acute - skin irritation, dermatitis fibre construction materials Chronic -possible lung cancer risk

Cement dust Oilwell cementing Acute - skin, eye and respiratory irritation, dermatitis

Sodium hypochlorite Injection water treatment Acute - respiratory irritation

Sensitising substances Isocyanates Two pack paints Acute - respiratory and skin allergic reactions after sensitisation

Glutaraldehyde Biocide for water treatment Acute - respiratory and systems skin allergic reactions after sensitisation

Terpenes Degraded d-limonene based Acute - degradation fumes may degreasers cause sensitisation

Possible carcinogens Asbestos Thermal insulation and Chronic -asbestosis, bronchial construction materials carcinoma, (encountered during removal) mesothelioma

Polycyclic aromatic Used engine oils Chronic -possible skin hydrocarbons carcinomas

Table 2 Physical hazards

Agent Example Source or use Potential health effect

Noise Machinery noise Engine rooms, compressor Acute - temporary threshold rooms, drilling brake, air tools, shift machine shop (metal grinding) Chronic - noise-induced hearing loss

Relief valve noise Actuation of relief and Acute - physical damage emergency blowdown valves to inner ear, including burst eardrum

HVAC noise Accommodation ventilation Chronic - sleep disturbance, systems irritation

Vibration Handtool vibration Needlegunning Chronic - hand-arm vibration syndrome

Ionising radiation Sealed sources Radiography, well logging, Acute - radiation burns, densitometers, interface radiation sickness instruments Chronic - blood disorders, leukaemia, carcinomas

Naturally occurring LSA scale in tubulars and Chronic - possible lung disorders radioactive material process plant

Non-ionising radiation Ultraviolet Arc welding, sunshine Acute - sun burns, keratoconjunctivitis Chronic - melanomas

Infra-red Flares Acute - sun burns, blistering Chronic - cataracts

Electromagnetic fields Transformers, power cables Acute - induced body currents, static shocks

Thermal extremes Heat Wellhead area, near the flare, on Acute - sweating, fatigue, skin the monkey board under certain burns, heat stress conditions

Cold Open modules in winter Acute - shivering, hypothermia

Table 3 Biological hazards

Agent Example Source or use Potential health effect

Acute - Legionnaires’ disease Water-borne bacteria Legionella Cooling systems, domestic water pneumophila systems Acute - gastro-intestinal Food-borne bacteria E. Coli Contaminated food disorders, food poisoning

Table 4 Ergonomic hazards

Agent Example Source or use Potential health effect

Manual handling Moving equipment and Pipe handling on drillfloor, Acute - back spasm, torn containers sack handling in sack store, ligaments manoeuvring equipment in Chronic - slipped disc, back pain awkward locations

Workstations Offices with display Poorly designed office Acute - headaches, muscular screen equipment furniture and poorly laid out discomfort workstations Chronic - upper limb disorder

Table 5 Psychosocial hazards related to work

Agent Source Factor Potential effect

Stressors connected Organisation and job Ambiguity of job Acute - worry, interrupted with work organisation design requirements, unclear sleep, excessive and job content reporting relationships, smoking and eating, over-supervision, under- fatigue, supervision, constant argumentativeness paperwork and acrimony

Work planning issues Work overload or underload, Chronic -possible serious unrealistic targets, lack of physical and mental ill clear planning, poor time health, particularly if management, atmosphere pressures are intense. of uncertainty due to Stress has been constant change, poor associated with high communications, inadequate blood pressure, heart training disease, thyroid disorders and mental Relationships at work Personality clashes, ‘blame’ problems including culture, age and background anxiety and depression differences, constant personnel changes, bullying, sexual or racial harassment

Work environment Noise, air quality, overcrowding, ergonomics

Working hours Inflexible or overdemanding work schedules

Working and living Mistakes can be catastrophic, in a hazardous vulnerable to mistakes of environment others, responsible for the safety of others

Offshore location Artificial society Male dominated society, rigid stressors work and social hierarchy, limited leisure and exercise options, no alcohol

Lack of privacy Shared cabins, same faces, same routine, feeling of claustrophobia and imprisonment

Living on the job Difficult to turn off in leisure time Difficulty of escape in an emergency Reliance on helicopter travel, adverse weather

18 Remember to include any emissions, that is substances not brought aboard for use, but created there by the work activity, such as welding fume, exhaust gases or hydrogen sulphide. As well as these chemical agents there may be:

n physical agents such as noise, vibration, ionising and non-ionising radiations; n biological agents such as