NOPSA hosts Malaysian government and petroleum industry delegation

A detailed overview of the Australian occupational health and safety regime for its offshore petroleum industry was delivered to a visiting delegation of Malaysian government safety and petroleum officials by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) in Perth on 21 and 22 May.

NOPSA hosted the delegation of five senior officials from the Malaysia Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and Petronas, the Malaysian government-owned petroleum company, for a two-day information session.

The Australian offshore safety regulator is delivering presentations on topics such as safety case assessment and validation, and policy and procedures for inspection of offshore facilities, enforcement and investigation.

“The visit is an example of the global nature of the oil and gas industry where sharing of information on management of safety and technical innovations between countries is vital in advancing the quality of risk management,” said John Clegg, CEO of NOPSA. “Although the health and safety performance of the Australian offshore petroleum industry is reasonable compared with many other industries, there are ever-present risks and areas that need improvement. NOPSA is concerned about the relatively high level of personal injuries and an increasing number of gas releases and is working with our industry to focus attention on these key areas.”

NOPSA is targeting further improvement of health and safety and understanding of risk in Australia’s offshore petroleum sector by guiding industry from a culture of compliance with codes and standards to one of continuous improvement.