Proforma Safety Blog

Proforma Safety calls Health and Hygiene Stand Down; requests removal of personnel

Posted by proforma on March 20, 2009

Proforma Safety is committed to ensure work conditions meet the client’s expectations and fulfill all HSE standards and policies. Recently, a Proforma team of HSSE advisors called a Safety Stand Down due to unsafe conditions that directly endangered the health of oilfield workers.

Three days into a new assignment, the Proforma Safety HSSE advisor smelled a serious problem. Literally.

“It was 6:30 a.m., and raw sewage was releasing into the temporary crew quarters where our team was staying,” he said. “My clothing was saturated. I learned that this had occurred on several occasions in the past 10 days, with sewage running off the top floor into the living quarters. The stench was overpowering. Approximately 40 workers from several service companies were directly affected.”

He immediately raised the issue with the project manager, recommending that the workers be evacuated until the quarters were deemed habitable after cleaning and inspection by a hygienist. Attempts were made to fix the plumbing and the facilities were hosed down, but Proforma reiterated that the living quarters should be tested, as there may have been absorption of sewage by the wall insulation or seepage into less accessible areas. The project manager was not inclined to conduct any testing.

By early afternoon, Proforma had pursued conversations with project management and safety managers of the three companies involved in the project, advising that current conditions posed a health hazard.

Compounding the hygiene issue were problems associated with the confined space project for which Proforma had been contracted to provide HSE oversight. Before Proforma arrived, work was initiated without all the required confined space certificates having been obtained, nor a rescue drill conducted. Proforma issued a work stop order until these were successfully completed, but now, the project manager was intent on getting the job restarted, regardless of the sanitary conditions. Deadlines had to be met, whether there was HSE oversight or not.

At 4 p.m., Proforma Safety management and the HSSE advisor notified project management of all three companies they were calling a Health and Hygiene Stand Down and requested removal from the project until such time conditions were corrected and/or improved.

“This was a first for Proforma,” explains Mike Arnold, president of Proforma Safety. “But as HSE professionals, we take seriously our responsibility to protect the health and safety of the personnel under our care and ensure the client’s policies are followed.

“This incident illustrates how critical it is to have project managers that make the right decisions — not the easy decisions. Equally critical is a strong HSE voice that prioritizes safety over any other consideration and is willing to persevere in spite of resistance,” concluded Mike.