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ENOC Group and DP World have signed an agreement to enhance emergency and fire response capabilities across Dubai’s energy and logistics infrastructure, through joint training, planning and coordination
The MoU mandates an annual joint exercise to enhance training, preparedness, and response times, led by ENOC and DP World's emergency teams. It also outlines regular updates to emergency response plans and a shared protocol for engaging external parties to ensure swift and coordinated action.
ENOC Group continues to demonstrate its commitment to the highest levels of safety and emergency preparedness. In 2022, the Group launched an Emergency Response Centre in Jebel Ali in partnership with Dubai Civil Defence. More recently, members of ENOC’s Emergency Response Centre completed specialised training at the International Fire Training Centre in the UK, enhancing the Group’s HAZMAT and fire risk assessment capabilities. This advanced training equips firefighters with the skills to respond effectively to hazardous material incidents, perform complex rescue operations, and conduct fire risk assessments within the high-risk oil and gas sector. The group has specialised centres of excellence for delivering emergency response and crisis management and fire training services to corporate, segments and business units.
His Excellency Saif Humaid Al Falasi, Group CEO, ENOC, said, “This MoU marks a significant stride forward in solidifying our commitment to the highest safety standards and emergency preparedness. We are proud to collaborate with DP World, a partner who shares our deeply held values of ensuring operational safety and resilience across the board. This collaborative approach will undoubtedly enhance our collective ability to respond effectively to any unforeseen incidents, safeguarding our people, assets, and the community.”
His Excellency Abdulla Bin Damithan, CEO & managing director, DP World GCC said, “Safety is the core value that underpins everything we do at DP World. This agreement reflects our shared commitment to creating a safe environment for our people, assets and operations. Together with ENOC, we’re enhancing our ability to respond to emergencies and building more resilient, safe infrastructure to support regional trade.”
‘Explosion, fire or burns’ was the leading cause of fatalities in the oil and gas sector in 2024, according to the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers' (IOGP) newly-published Safety Performance Indicators, which are based on data from its member companies
‘Explosion, fire or burns’ accounted for 41% of fatalities, with 13 fatalities in five separate incidents.
‘Struck by (not dropped object)’ accounted for 13% of fatalities, with four fatalities in four separate incidents. ‘Assault or violent act' also accounted for 13% of fatalities, with four fatalities in a single incident, while falls from height accounted for three fatalities.
According to the Safety Performance Indicators, there were 32 fatalities in 2024 occurring in 21 separate incidents. While all of these incidents were tragedies, it is nevertheless encouraging that the fatal accident rate (0.77) was 6% lower than last year’s figure (0.82), and has decreased by over 90% since 1985.
In terms of activity, the highest number of fatalities was recorded in 'Drilling, workover, well operations' (34%), with 11 fatalities as a result of six separate incidents.
The overall total recordable injury rate (TRIR) was 0.81, 4% lower than in 2023 (0.84), while the overall lost time injury rate (LTIR) (fatalities and lost work day cases per million work hours) was 0.24, unchanged compared with 2023.
Participating IOGP member companies reported 946 lost work day cases (LWDCs), 22% categorised as ‘Slips and trips’, 20% 'Caught in, under or between (excl. dropped objects)' and 16% ‘Struck by (not dropped object).
North America had a fatal accident rate of 0.93 compared with a global average of 0.77, and total recordable injury rate again relatively high at 1.62 compared with a global average of 0.81, while the LTIR was 0.28, near to the global average of 0.24.
North America fatalities
In North America there were seven fatalities in 2024, with 208 LWDCs. These reflect the predominance of the ‘explosion, fire or burns’ category as the cause of fatalities.
The fatalities were as follows:
- One contractor employee died as a result of a fire in a large-scale production operation onshore Mexico, where lack of communications between workers was cited as a factor;
- An employee of a subcontractor died as a result of a traffic collision, onshore USA;
- A contractor worker in an onshore USA operation died during the re-running of tubing into a well after repair, when the travelling block of the draw works struck them while being lowered to the rig floor. Not following correct procedures and the disabling or removal of guards, warning systems or safety devices were cited as factors;
- A worker was electrocuted during a flex line spooling operation, onshore USA, when a telehandler made contact with an overhead powerline. Inadequate initial emergency response and inadequate or incorrect use of equipment were cited as factors;
- Three contractors died as a result of a fire in a processing centre, offshore Mexico where there was a sudden loss of containment and release of gas in a high-pressure fuel gas heater, causing a fire and explosion. The fire spread due to the storage of hazardous chemicals located on the second and third levels of the platform and the poor coordination in emergency response. Lack of planning, failure in communications and inadequate maintenance/inspection/testing were cited as factors.
“The two most adopted IOGP Recommended Practices, the Life Saving Rules and Process Safety Fundamentals were developed based on analysis of the fatal accident data, and following these will help prevent future incidents,” said Steve Norton, IOGP Health, Safety, Security & Wells director. “At IOGP we continue to promote adoption of these practices and through the work of the Committees update and issue new Recommended Practices to address key gaps observed in the safety data.”
IOGP is currently developing new guidance for Process Safety in Design, Process Safety for Leaders, Guidelines for Determination of Process Safety Events that could result in Fatality and / or Permanent Impairment, and Process Safety Leading Indicators.
The Safety Performance Indicators are free to download from the IOGP website at https://www.iogp.org/bookstore/product-category/safety/
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