DOHA: The Minister of Energy and Industry, and the Chairman and Managing Director of Qatar Petroleum, H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada awarded Shell's Executive Vice President and Managing Director Pearl GTL, Andy Brown, with the inaugural Qatar Oil and Gas Industry Safety Award. Pearl GTL was awarded the Gold Safety Award and recognised as the leader in safety in the industry.
"We are very proud to receive the Gold Safety Award from Dr Al Sada. The close cooperation between Qatar Petroleum and Shell has helped us achieve the great safety performance on the project, and we have both focused on safety since day one," said Brown.
"I would like to thank everyone for their effort and support in making our journey in safety leadership a reality."
Pearl Gas to Liquids (GTL) is the largest energy project ever launched in Qatar. It is being developed by Qatar Petroleum and Shell.
The project has implemented an extensive safety programme that has created a culture in which everyone recognises their role and responsibility for ensuring the safety of themselves and everyone around them.
"Pearl GTL has differentiated itself through the dual focus of caring for people and absolute compliance to safety rules, which promotes a safety culture where people know the rules and want to follow them rather than just having to follow the rules," added Andy Brown.
"This focus has achieved a world class safety performance because people believe that it is possible to work without incidents."
At peak construction around 52,000 people were working on Pearl GTL, although that has now decreased to around 20,000. The project has taken a total of 500 million working hours to deliver.
In August last year, the project achieved 77 million manhours without an injury leading to lost work time, a record for both Ras Laffan Industrial City and the Shell Group worldwide.
The Pearl Village was established to support over 40,000 workers. The Pearl village leads the Middle East in terms of worker welfare, providing workers a home away from homes, where they can not only eat and sleep, but also enjoy numerous entertainment, cultural and sporting events. An advanced health and psychological welfare infrastructure also exists in the Village.
Twice a year the project holds a site-wide Safety Day, with workers downing tools to renew their commitment to working safely. Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev has participated in Safety Day three times to talk about his own perspective on safety.
A purpose-built training centre was constructed at the heart of the Pearl Village, where workers live.
Around 350,000 courses have been delivered in training centre so far, covering various safety themes as well as leadership development for over 5000 front-line supervisors.
Shell's safety efforts extend to road safety as well. Road journeys have been eliminated wherever possible by requiring Doha-based personnel to travel to Ras Laffan by bus rather than personal cars.
The project team also built a special offloading facility in Ras Laffan port to import freight, rather than trucking it from Doha port. The team has also focused on driver training and monitoring driving through electronic systems. So far people have driven over 270 million kilometres executing their project duties without a single serious accident.
Pearl GTL will produce high quality liquid fuels, lubricants and chemical feedstocks from natural gas, opening new markets for Qatar's natural resources. It will also produce significant quantities of natural gas liquids and ethane.
© The Peninsula 2011
