How Vision 2030 is transforming the HSE landscape

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is going through a far-reaching social and economic transformation, driven by Saudi Vision 2030, its blueprint aimed at creating a vibrant society, building a diverse economy and championing environmental sustainability. This includes health and safety, with Vision 2030 objectives aiming to minimise workplace injuries, diseases, and fatalities across all sectors.

The last decade has seen a steady decline in work injuries recorded by GOSI (the General Organization for Social Insurance), with figures down by two thirds since 2012 (from 73,896 to 27,133 in 2023).

For the trend to continue in line with the ambition of Vision 2030, however, cooperation between all layers of the HSE ecosystem, from corporate entities to contractors, must continue.

Many challenges and concerns remain among members of that ecosystem, some of which relate to the sheer scale and pace of the developments underway in the Kingdom. At the heart of the Kingdom’s diversification efforts are several massive transformative gigaprojects, backed by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), designed to widen employment opportunities, open up new sectors such as tourism, leisure and culture, enhance Saudi Arabia’s position regionally and internationally and set new standards of sustainability and innovation.

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is transforming every aspect of life in Saudi Arabia, and the HSE sector is no exception, with a positive drive from the government to improve standards and promote safe and healthy workplaces in line with international best practices. The scale and pace of developments pose both challenges and opportunities, with scope for partnerships and collaborations in areas ranging from training and consultancy to technology and equipment supply.

There is also a thirst for sharing knowledge and expertise more widely and building more valuable business connections.

This extract is from a 2024 outlook on the Saudi Arabia HSE landscape published by Offshore Network: the full report and others can be downloaded here.