By Thompson ABISOLA
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu will launch key policy documents on Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) at the forthcoming international HSE Conference on the Petroleum Industry safety.
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.
Speaking with journalists at the DPR Head Office in Lagos on Wednesday, the Deputy Director, HSE, DPR who also serves as the
Conference Organizing Committee Chairman, Dr. Musa Zagi, stated that “the Honorable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, will launch three policy documents on regulatory safety regulatory 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”.
He 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, November 2018 with the theme: “Driving Sustainability in the Oil and Gas Industry through Improved Stakeholders’ Environmental Stewardship.”
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), the 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),
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 conceptualization 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.
