We asked BP, Neste Oil, OMV, Statoil, and Total about numerous topics in the field of health and safety. With the

exception of Total, all companies were happy to talk to us. Our questions related to two different aspects: firstly,

Erste Asset Management wanted to know how incidents were measured, and secondly, how accidents at oil

companies could be avoided.

 

The safety of the staff is measured by a large number of indicators, from near-accident to fatality. All companies

comply with statutory regulations, but the best ones go further than that: Neste Oil for example pointed out that

indicators such as the number of inspections or notes and suggestions from employees play a crucial role in

measuring the safety of the various locations. Last year Neste Oil carried out more than 26,000 safety inspections.

​​Employee suggestionsplay a crucial role in measuring safety​

All contacted companies provide their employees with a messaging system for them to be able to report possible

safety breaches and thus to avoid incidents. At Neste Oil this internal system was used more than 30,000 times

in 2013. OMV considers training its most important measure to avoid accidents. They include training sessions

stipulated by law and internal guidelines as well as voluntary training. Neste Oil even temporarily disallows those

employees who fail the final exam of their safety training from returning to their work place.

 

According to Statoil most of the incidents occur in exploration and production. A conspicuously larger number

of incidents happens in older facilities.

 

Status:

With the exception of BP, all contacted companies are among the SRI trailblazers in the industry. Our talks

highlighted the fact that the oil industry is very interested in the safety of its workforce. In order to get an even

more acute picture of the industry, we are planning to hold personal talks with OMV in the coming months.

 

(Richard Boulanger)