Regional Coverage
Regional Coverage
- Details
- Matthew Hayhoe
- Europe
- Region: Europe
- Date: 31 January, 2025
- Year: 2025
Great Britain's health and safety regulator is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025.
The Health and Safety Executive was the result of the 1974 Health and Safety at Work etc Act., which came into effect in the UK from January 1st, 1975.
1974, before the HSE was established, 651 Brits were killed in workplace incidents. Figures from 2023/24 show that the figure has fallen to 138.
The Health and Safety Executive's chief executive, Sarah Albon, said the executive "has led the way in establishing Great Britain as a safe place to work," noting that "there is still much for HSE to take on... as we look ahead to the next 50 years."
Sir Stephen Timms, the Minister for Social Security and Disability, added, "Over the last half-century this organisation has been at the heart of efforts to protect people and places across Britain: I would like to thank them for this vital work.
"As we support more people to get into work through our Get Britain Working White paper, and as we move to strengthen protection for workers, their mission will be as important as ever – now and long into the future."
- Details
- Sania Aziz
- Middle East
- Region: Middle East
- Date: 29 January, 2025
- Year: 2025
The integration of AI and automation is significantly advancing HSE standards across the Middle East's construction sector. These technologies are enhancing risk management, improving safety, and optimising construction processes. Companies are eager to implement cutting-edge solutions, which is contributing to better HSE outcomes across the region.
ALEC, a leading construction company in the UAE, has embraced autonomous robots for tasks like site inspections and 3D scanning.
Equipped with AI, these robots navigate construction sites, capture high-quality images, and generate 3D models. This innovation not only improves the precision of site assessments but also boosts safety by identifying potential hazards before they cause harm. Certain AI systems, for instance, can prioritise issues based on risk scores, enabling managers to focus on the most critical threats.
Additionally, Trimble Constructible’s AI assists in project planning by using robots to capture 3D scans and feed the data into neural networks, helping to optimise schedules and address issues before they escalate.
In Qatar, Qatari Diar is leveraging AI to assess and manage risks on their construction projects. AI systems process data from multiple sources, including weather forecasts and equipment usage patterns, to predict and mitigate risks. This enables project managers to focus on high-risk areas, ensuring that resources and safety measures are allocated effectively.
Enhancing HSE measures during floods
The severe rainfall in April last year caused widespread flooding, construction delays, and infrastructure damage, highlighting weaknesses in existing HSE practices and prompting immediate action from developers.
DAMAC Properties responded by investing in advanced drainage solutions to mitigate future flooding risks. The company deployed tankers to remove floodwaters and maintained open communication with residents to address concerns quickly. To ensure worker safety and minimise disruptions, DAMAC promptly responded to meteorological alerts and coordinated efforts with local authorities. Following the storms, teams were deployed to clear floodwaters, remove sand and debris, and restore landscaping.
The floods in Dubai served as a pivotal reminder for the construction industry. By adopting enhanced HSE measures, developers are not only protecting their projects and workforce but also contributing to a more resilient and sustainable construction environment.
The above is an extra from Offshore Network’s MENA Health, Safety & Environment Report 2024.
- Details
- Matthew Hayhoe
- Middle East
- Region: Middle East
- Date: 28 January, 2025
- Year: 2025
HSE regulators and experts may suggest that comprehensive HSE strategies and regulation is critical regardless of region or breadth of operation. It is doubtless, however, that Saudi Arabia's political, business and societal landscape pose unique challenges that deserve due consideration by operators in the region.
A unique climate posing unique challenges
One might not expect a global superpower in the industrial and tourism spheres to emerge from the harsh desert environment of Saudi Arabia. The fact that one has, however, has earned it widespread criticism around worker safety, perhaps with little surprise given its extreme heat, sandstorms and dehydration risk.
Heat stress management and hydration/temperature policies demand rigorous implementation and monitoring to assuage some of that criticism and limit heat-related incidents.
Rising to the challenge of oil & gas reliance
Saudi Arabia's historic reliance on the oil & gas industry carries risk. The industry has unfortunately been ridden with high-profile incidents of compromised safety and, given the international standards of operation, neglecting or breaching policy jeopardises not only safety but reputation and project feasibility.
Staying one step ahead of shifting regulation
While KSA has made significant strides in HSE regulations, compliance remains an ongoing challenge due to rapidly-changing standards. Saudi Vision 2030 initiative aims to improve workplace safety and environmental sustainability, but carries with it near-constant shifting policies. Companies must stay updated with new regulations and ensure proper implementation.
Overcoming language barriers
Saudi Arabia's multinational workforce means language and communication barriers can hinder the efficacy of HSE training. Ensuring that safety regulations are both understood and carried out across various languages and cultures is essential for accident prevention.
- Details
- Leah Kelly
- North America
- Region: North America
- Date: 28 January, 2025
- Year: 2025
Industry leaders operating in the offshore oil and gas space in the Gulf of Mexico must contend with a number of key challenges to maximise HSE performance, some of these emanate from the nature of the industry, others to the unique character of the North American regulatory environment
Some of the key principle challenges include:
- High risk nature of industry: Employees working within the offshore oil and gas industry can be exposed to a range of dangers including unsafe substances, noise, vibration, radiations, extreme temperatures, and ergonomic hazards. Historically, oil and gas extraction workers in the US face elevated fatal occupational injury rates seven-times higher than all other US workers, according to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, although fatality rates have been dropping –especially offshore in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon reaction.
- Evolving regulations: The legislative reaction to the Deepwater Horizon disaster brought in a wave of procedures, rules and regulations to tighten up offshore operations with the aim of preventing incidents that could cause harm to workers and the environment. In recent years these have been pulled either way by different administrations and appear constantly under scrutiny. Those regulations for meeting HSE obligations have expressed it can be difficult to keep up and ensure the entire workforce it aligned when the rules are consistently shifting. It can also require significant investment in technology and practices to ensure compliance with new standards.
- Getting workers on board: HSE strategies can only be effective if employees are fully engaged and participate in the delivery of a safety culture. “Safety culture is an integral component of any high-risk industry, and its significance for oil rig operations cannot be overstated,” as stated in a report by Lyons & Simmons around oil rig safety in the US. “It encompasses the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and values that employees share in relation to safety within an organisation […] by prioritising safety in every decision and operation, companies can significantly reduce the likelihood of accidents and create a safer workforce for all employees.” Without workers buying into compliant programmes – and incorporating it into every action they take – a successful safety culture cannot be achieved.
- Covid hangover: The global pandemic had a profound effect on the offshore oil and gas industry, particularly in regards to the workforce with a high turnover leading to skills shortages. In regards to HSE, the persisting problem is translating into a lack of experience within the field, with leaders suggesting it can be challenging to get new recruits to recognise the importance of practicing safe working at all times, especially with experienced staff no longer around to provide guidance. The high number of short-term contractor staff also feeds in here; it can be challenging to get them aligned with operator standards.
- Ageing assets: SLB data shows that productive fields and reservoirs around the world are maturing with more than two-thirds of wells expected to be over 10 years old by 2030. This challenge is all too familiar in the Gulf of Mexico which is one of the world’s oldest offshore oil producing regions. Older assets and equipment typically pose a greater incident risk due to factors such as deterioration, lack of familiarity, difficulty obtaining repair parts and losses of critical information. As one of the biggest sources of offshore incidents, ageing assets is a leading cause of HSE breaches and is therefore identified as a primary concern for industry leaders.
The above is an extra from Offshore Network’s Gulf of Mexico: Health, Safety & Environment Report 2024 which can be downloaded here.
- Details
- Madhuri Ramesh
- Europe
- Region: Europe
- Date: 27 January, 2025
- Year: 2025
The European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) recently released its 2025 action plan aimed at fostering quality apprenticeships in the EU and beyond
The 2025 action plan reflects EAfA’s unwavering commitment to empowering apprenticeships as a foundation for Europe’s workforce strategy. With a key emphasis on innovation and cooperation, members of the EAfA continue to share presentations, infographics and factsheets, in an attempt to promote apprenticeships and the work of EAfA. Meanwhile, targeted outreach campaigns will focus on expanding the membership in underrepresented key economic sectors experiencing shortages, such as agriculture, construction, and hospitality.
Networking will take centre stage in 2025, with high-profile events designed to connect stakeholders and inspire action. The annual high-level conference in Brussels will delve into apprenticeships' role in achieving the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal, addressing themes like labour mobility, skill recognition, and cross-border collaboration.
Complementing this, the EAfA Get-Together and the European Apprentices Network (EAN) meetings will facilitate dialogue among members and amplify apprentices’ voices, with the 10th annual seminar scheduled to be held later this year.
To support its members, new tools and learning materials will be introduced in 2025 highlighing on apprenticeships for adults and factsheets equipping trainers with appropriate skills and competencies, developing basic skills, and expanding higher-level apprenticeships. A couple of webinars will also tackle such as improving working conditions and addressing gender stereotypes in apprenticeships.
- Details
- Sania Aziz
- Europe
- Region: Europe
- Date: 24 January, 2025
- Year: 2025
Chris Floyd, Evri’s transport and safety lead, has been named chair of RoSPA’s National Road Safety Committee (NRSC), bringing two decades of professional and personal dedication to road safety.
With a career that began as an HGV driver and evolved into leadership roles in transport management and safety advocacy, Floyd’s journey has been shaped by his understanding of the personal and economic impacts of road incidents.
Data-driven approach
As Chair, Floyd aims to strike a balance between leveraging data and recognising the human stories behind road safety statistics. He emphasises that each incident represents a life, a family, and a community affected, underscoring the need to combine analytical insights with compassion.
Floyd’s contributions to the road safety community include chairing the Institute of Couriers’ Road Safety & Wellbeing group and delivering the Bridget Driscoll Memorial Lecture at the University of West London.
His involvement with organisations such as RoSPA, ScORSA, and National Highways highlights his commitment to advancing safety standards across the sector.
Reflecting on his vision for the NRSC, Floyd aspires to build on the committee’s legacy by advocating for practical, sustainable solutions that influence decision-makers locally, nationally, and internationally. He hopes to continue fostering collaboration and driving actionable change to make roads safer for everyone.
- Details
- Matthew Hayhoe
- Middle East
- Date: 24 January, 2025
- Year: 2025
At the tail end of last year, Saudi Arabia's National Council for Occupational Safety & Health (Ncosh) responded to "misinformation circulating across various media platforms" relating to worker fatalities.
The claims largely spawned during, and as a result of, an ITV documentary, Kindom Uncovered: Inside Saudi Arabia, which alleged that the Kingdom's Vision 2030 has led to 21,000 deaths since 2017.
That accusation was subsequently followed by the allegation that 100,000 people have "disappeared" since construction on NEOM began in 2021 by The Hindustan Times.
Ncosh "unequivocally refute[d]" those claims in a statement in November 2024.
"The Council affirms the work-related fatalities in Saudi Arabia is 1.12 per 100,000 workers. This figure positions Saudi Arabia among the lowest globally in terms of work-related fatalities.
"The International Labour Organization (ILO) acknowledges this progress, highlighting on its official website that Saudi Arabia has made significant advancements in improving occupational safety and health and reducing workplace accidents at the national level."
The Saudi government has not confirmed how many jobs have been created as a result of Vision 2030 projects, and therefore how many fatalities are expected as a result of construction: based on Ncosh's report of 1.12 fatalities per 100,000 workers figure, the documentary's allegations made would suggest a workforce of over two billion. Ncosh reiterated that "the safety and well-being of workers are fundamental priorities in all regulations and laws implemented in Saudi Arabia."
- Details
- Louise Waters
- Middle East
- Region: Middle East
- Date: 23 January, 2025
- Year: 2025
Leading industrial companies in Bahrain, along with their counterparts elsewhere in the GCC, have made great strides in raising health and safety standards, promoting strong HSE leadership and driving a good safety culture throughout their organisations
The efforts of four leading Bahrain-based companies in this regard have been recognised by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), the UK-based charity focused on reducing accidents and promoting occupational safety globally, which has honoured them with Life President Awards for their exceptional commitment to maintaining the highest standards of health and safety. The awards recognised the remarkable efforts of each organisation in safeguarding their employees and setting regional and global benchmarks.
The companies awarded are Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), one of the world’s largest aluminium smelters, recognised for ongoing advocacy and support of the RoSPA Health and Safety Awards; BAPCO Gas (formerly Banagas), recognised for long-term support of the RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, as RoSPA’s longest participating continuous entrant, with 40 years of dedication to safety at Gold level or higher; BAPCO Refining, recognised for commitment to health and safety during the delivery of the landmark Bapco Modernisation Programme, which will increase refining capacity from 267,000 bpd, to 380,000 bpd; and Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co. (GPIC), recognised for a 20-year legacy of advocacy and partnership in the RoSPA Health and Safety Awards.
Dedication and commitment
Lord Jordan of Bournville, Life President of RoSPA, said, “The dedication and commitment of these companies to health and safety are truly commendable. Their efforts not only safeguard their employees but also set a high standard for others to aspire to. By prioritising safety and fostering inclusive environments, they are paving the way for a future where every workplace is a model of excellence and care. It’s inspiring to see such passion and dedication in action, and I am proud to honour these outstanding achievements.”
RoSPA’s CEO, Rebecca Hickman, said, “RoSPA has praised the significant progress the country has made in worker protection. Bahrain has achieved a 60 per cent reduction in occupational injuries since implementing the midday work ban. This milestone underlines the Kingdom's commitment to enhancing workplace safety and aligns with RoSPA’s mission to promote safe and healthy working environments worldwide.”
- Details
- Matthew Hayhoe
- Middle East
- Date: 22 January, 2025
- Year: 2025
As Saudi Arabia continues its unprecedented infrastructure boom, with ambition fuelled firmly by Vision 2030, the Kingdom continues to accelerate its already significant strides in HSE standards amidst its growing workforce, project volume, and infrastructure complexity.
The speed at which Saudi operators have adopted, and continue to integrate, cutting-edge technology into their HSE frameworks can not be understated in developing rigorous monitoring and enforcement processes around workplace safety.
Wearable devices tracking safety and health metrics and AI-driven systems predicting hazards or safety weakpoints are two such examples that may have been dismissed as the stuff of science fiction as little as a decade ago. They are now the benchmark for project safety protocols across Saudi Arabia.
Operators' ability to train, share best practices and raise awareness is key, too; comprehensive training programmes, industry gatherings and widespread multi-lingual resources have been key to raising standards amidst a rapidly growing, multi-national workforce.
Government bodies like the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development and the National Center for Industrial Development have also had a role to play in legislating such standards and enforcing them in law.
As the calendar approaches 2030 much quicker than many would like, Saudi Arabia's commitment to setting, enforcing and raising HSE standards positions it as a transformative beacon for the global construction sector.
- Details
- Madhuri Ramesh
- Europe
- Region: Europe
- Date: 22 January, 2025
- Year: 2025
To address the numerous cybersecurity challenges faced by EU countries in the past few years, the European Commission has presented an Action Plan to strengthen the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers
The rise in data-related threat risks can affect a number of systems that would be likely to have a significant affect on patient care. By building on existing legislation and extending its scope to include general practices, the new Action Plan focuses on impact mitigation as well as preventing, detecting and deterring cyber threats.
Moreover, it also aims to offer bespoke guidance to hospitals and healthcare providers by setting up a pan-European Cybersecurity Support Centre which is scheduled to be set up over the next couple of years.
- Details
- Matthew Hayhoe
- North America
- Region: North America
- Date: 21 January, 2025
- Year: 2025
President Trump’s first term had a significant impact on HSE: deregulation and policy shifts hoped to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses, often at the expense of stricter HSE oversight.
Beyond mere strategic priorities, Trump made tangible impacts with the rollback of several regulations from preceding administrations; rollbacks that continue to impact how operators approach legislation and standards. Throughout their first term, Trump & co. reduced the extent of OSHA inspections and potentially delayed the implementation of new safety standards in construction and oil and gas.
While these shifts undoubtedly played a starring role in President Trump's broader mission to streamline operations, reduce project lead-in times (especially in the energy sector) and minimise business costs, many still feel that worker protections were eroded to a degree that they have yet to recover fully from, four years on from the successive administration's inauguration.
In the case of over 100 environmental protections that the New York Times found were rolled back or restricted in breadth, many will argue that, beyond worker protections, the planet paid the price, too.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated for his second term in office, industries should anticipate further deregulation and policies favoring economic growth over stringent oversight.
In the face of such rollbacks, the industry may see current CSR and ESG strategies pushed to the wayside in favour of the lower operating costs and project efficiencies granted by a less-regulated environment. Federal policy changes, and businesses' reaction to them, will become even more critical to project success: those reacting quickest to them will likely be the most efficient, profitable and, in the eyes of many organisations, successful.
Whether short-term cost savings (courtesy of deregulation) cannibalise long-term HSE, ESG and CSR strategies, or businesses hold strong on their ambitious commitments, the sustainability and safety spheres are undoubtedly in for a transformative second Trump term.
- Details
- Sania Aziz
- Middle East
- Region: Middle East
- Date: 17 January, 2025
- Year: 2025
Oil and gas companies in the region are leveraging advanced technologies to prioritise health and safety while boosting operational efficiency.
ADNOC, for instance, has ramped up its use of innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), advanced analytics, and robotic automation. By employing AI-powered modelling and analysis, the company effectively monitors business continuity strategies and encourages critical health, safety, and environmental (HSE) practices.
Key initiatives include VR-based fire-fighting training and the use of robotic fire-fighting equipment to reduce risks for personnel, as well as in-vehicle monitoring systems that promote safer driving habits—achieving a remarkable 99% reduction in driving violations since 2021. ADNOC has also equipped its rigs with smart glasses to provide real-time video sharing and easy access to technical documents, alongside an electronic work management system with over 100 integrated safety features.
At Aramco’s Yanbu Refinery, drones and robotics are transforming confined space inspections. By deploying specialised caged drones, the refinery has eliminated the need for human entry and scaffolding, significantly enhancing safety and minimising downtime. Across its facilities, Aramco operates over 100 drones to inspect assets and monitor for potential methane leaks, aligning with its emission reduction goals.
Better training
In the maritime industry, Drydocks World has redefined employee education on HSE by adopting technologies such as virtual reality (VR) training, artificial intelligence, and mobile learning. These innovative methods, recognised by the Shiptek ‘Best HSE Initiative’ award, have enhanced training engagement and improved workplace safety outcomes.
Similarly, P&O Maritime Logistics (P&OML) has developed an AI-powered Safety Assistant (AISA) using ChatGPT to guide employees on incident response, compliance requirements, risk assessment, and safety protocols. This tool provides instant access to critical HSE information and resources, fostering a safer and more informed workforce.
Technology providers are finding strong demand in the region’s oil and gas sector. Salunda, for example, recently secured a contract to install its Crew Hawk Red Zone monitoring solution on a jack-up rig.
This system offers real-time monitoring of hazardous zones, tracking personnel and equipment to ensure safety and minimise risks. Meanwhile, WakeCap’s IoT-based safety and productivity solutions helped achieve a 91% reduction in safety incidents at a major gas facility in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province by using advanced real-time analytics.
Additionally, 3t has partnered with the Saudi Arabian Drilling Academy (SADA) to integrate its 3t Drilling Systems simulators into training programmes, aiming to enhance the learning experience for drilling professionals.