HSE People - Health and Safety Community

HSE People are working with a key clients who currently has a range of HSE Positions within the Oil and Gas Sector.
 

SENIOR HSE ADVISOR - EDINBURGH UK
This position is on a staff basis and the suitable candidate should live close to or be willing to relocate to Edinburgh. Candidates will be degree qualified with exposure to the exploration and drilling industry. Candidates with operator experience are preferred.
SALARY £60-80k

ONSHORE LEAD HSE ADVISOR - DRILLING - COPENHAGEN
This is a long term contract position for a large operator supporting the Well Construction Team and Drilling Manager. Suitable candidates will have an extensive drilling background having worked for drilling contractors previously.

OFFSHORE DRILLING HSE ADVISORS - VARIOUS
Drilling HSE Advisors required with at least 5 years experience supporting drilling operations offshore. Two positions available starting 1st Quarter next year so would suit candidates at the end of an existing contract.

To be considered for these position please send your CV directly to julia@chronosoilandgas.com including details of your availability and expected rate.

Register on www.oilandgaspeople.com to be automatically matched to suitable Oil and Gas positions.

Robert Gordon University Thursday 1^st September 18.00

 

As a leader in engineering design and information management solutions to the Oil & Gas industry, AVEVA is keen to contribute to the debate and to fully understand the role of Information Systems within Health & Safety.

 

As such we would like to invite you to come along to our engaging event to be held at Aberdeen Business School on the evening of Thursday, 1^st September 18:00 for 18.30 start.   The purpose of this event is to showcase the findings of an independent study carried out by researchers at Robert Gordon University, in order to provide the industry as a whole with  a better understanding of the role information management plays in managing health and safety in the Oil & Gas Industry. The research also explores how organisations achieve improvements in health and safety performance based on factors that range from culture to technology.

 

Hosted by Jeremy Cresswell, editor of the Press and Journal’s ENERGY supplement and honorary Professor at RGU’s Business School, the evening will commence with a presentation of the report’s findings by Professor Rita Marcella, Dean of Aberdeen Business School. This will be followed by a panel discussion of the topics raised and we are delighted to announce the panel members comprise

-          Malcolm Webb, Chief Executive of Oil & Gas UK

-          Brian Taylor, Chief Operating Officer for KCA DEUTAG Drilling Ltd

-          John Pearson, Managing Director Europe and West Africa for AMEC Natural Resources

-          Robin Davies, Vice President Integration & Business Improvement for Subsea 7

 

Refreshments on arrival and a post event buffet will be provided.  There will be ample parking at the university and no parking restrictions are in place. 

 

We would be delighted to welcome you along to join the debate. To ensure we have enough space available I would be very grateful if you could inform us of your intention to attend by contacting Matt Wren, Marketing Coordinator for AVEVA’s UK operations; matt.wren@aveva.com +44 1246 572916.

 

See the event online at www.aveva.com/rgu

 

 

With the current down turn in the oil industry and a recent trend for pay cuts and pay offs, a record number of people in the industry are now seeking employment. The decline in oil prices has lead to projects being put on hold and some projects being cancelled altogether. Major oil companies are looking to reduce costs, and in doing so are cutting their work force.

This has an immediate impact on the recruitment industry, with some recruitment companies reporting half the amount of positions and double the amount of available candidates, compared to this time last year. With the market even more competitive than ever before recruitment companies are also looking to cut costs. Unfortunately this isn’t so easy as in a down turn, recruitment agencies work loads actually increase, as more people seek employment.

Most recruitment companies covering the oil and gas sector use sites like oilcareers and oilandgasjobsearch to find candidates and advertise positions. These sites are so well established that they are a must have resource for recruitment companies. They charge extortionate rates and do nothing to help recruiters cut costs. They know there model works and they know recruiters have to use them, as there is no alternative! Until now…

www.oilandgaspeople.com is a new recruitment site developed by Kevin Forbes, a contractor who works in the Oil Industry. Kevin seen the problems faced by recruiters and also the frustration faced by candidates seeking work. He says: “Oilandgaspeople fills a gap in the market and offers a solution that is genuinely better for recruiters and candidates”.

No longer do recruiters have to pay for job postings and access to a database. Candidates benefit by being automatically matched to positions that they meet the requirements for. Candidates don’t have to browse for new jobs every day and they will never miss out on suitable positions. Recruiters don’t need to wait for candidates to reply to job postings and no longer have to sort through hundreds of irrelevant CV’s often received in response to job ads.

The best thing is the above process is totally free, with recruiters only ever paying a fee when they have a candidate match. There are no hidden fees and the site includes many features that other job sites charge for, for free!

Oilandgaspeople has been created from a clean slate; the site follows a new model and has been designed to offer a better solution for candidates and recruiters. We aim to be the largest oil and gas job site, which we will achieve by working with recruiters and candidates, listening to feedback received and building a site that works for Oil and Gas People and not for the media companies profiting vastly from other sites!

To prove our commitment to the industry we have also launched a community site that will allow oil and gas people the world over to network and exchange information. www.oilandgascommunity.com aims to create safer work environments by allowing oil and gas people world wide to learn from each others experiences, mistakes, lessons learned and to share advances in technology and improved work methods.

www.oilandgaspeople is live to candidates now and will be live to recruiters soon.

More information on how the site benefits recruiters and candidates can be found here http://www.oilandgaspeople.com/about.asp
 

Social networking is growing more popular every day, LinkedIn, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter and others, have fast became a part of our every day lives. The ability to network and connect with like minded people all over the world is not only a great way to socialise and keep in touch with friends; it is also a very powerful business and marketing tool.

Lots of small companies and even some larger ones are releasing the power of the web and using it as a way of generating interest in their business. Lots of companies now recruit on social networking sites and the chances are if you don’t have an online presence you are probably missing out.

All of the above are reasons why people join such sites. www.oilandgaspeople.com hopes to take it a step further. We believe social networking could be used to improve safety within the oil and gas industry. In terms of safety, some countries are much further ahead than others, some companies have strict policies in place, and others have next to none. The standard varies from country to country and from individual to individual.

It comes down to training, knowledge and education. We see the same accidents occurring time and time again. Often those involved will say they ‘didn’t know’ or ‘weren’t aware’ Accidents and incidents that probably would have been avoided, if only we had managed to learn from other peoples lessons and mistakes.

Let’s use the powers of social networking to share lessons learned and to educate others in the industry. Wouldn’t it be great to have a massive resource of people from all aspects of the oil industry? A bank of knowledge and information that can be tapped at any time! From every day tasks to huge projects, you can bet someone has done it before. They may know a better way, a product you wasn’t aware of or a procedure that could save you time, money and improve safety.

The industry is ever changing, ever developing and pushing the barriers of new technology every day. It’s impossible to keep track with everything. Let’s use social networking to expand our knowledge, share our experiences and to improve safety across the board.

www.oilandgaspeople.com is not just another oil and gas jobs site. It has been created by oil and gas people, for oil and gas people! As part of the site and to prove our commitment to the industry, we are proud to announce the launch of www.oilandgascommunity.com a brand new social networking site for anyone working in oil and gas.

It doesn’t matter where you work or what you do, we are confident you will have something to bring to the table. We are going to be developing the site over the coming months and hope to include lots of pages with information, lessons learned, new technology, industry news etc, etc…

People can post requests for help and information on the forums. Join groups of like minded people, create events, chat instantly with other members, share information through blogs and build a profile advertising their company.

If you work in health and safety our sister site www.hsepeople.com will also be very relevant to you. HSE people is a well established community site that will give people an insight into the potential of www.oilandgascommunity.com

Hope to see you all there soon.

Kevin Forbes
www.oilandgaspeople.com
www.oilandgascommunity.com
www.hsepeople.com
 

The UK's new offshore safety chief has warned the industry there is no room for complacency.

Steve Walker, who has just replaced Ian Whewekk as head of the Health and Safety Executives (HSE) offshore division, said he wants the regulator to be respected.

Meeting Industry at Offshore Europe in Aberdeen yesterday for the first "time in his new position, Walker said: ' Ian has left me an excellent legacy. Under his watch the industry did improve in its leadership of offshore health and safety... but one of my top priorities is to make sure the industry is not complacent with its current safety standards.

"I want the industry to deliver on its commitments to maintain safety."

Walker said he wants the HSE to be an efficient and effective regulator and hopes it will be respected by the industry. However, he raised concerns about spikes in the number of hydrocarbon releases and major accidents in the first quarter of this year.

Walker, who has been with the HSE for more than 30 years and in the offshore division since 2004 was responsible for running the organisation's recent and largely positive KP3 review into offshore safety.

"We gave the industry a pretty good message when the review was published in July but the Industry still has to keep its eye on the ball.

"I recognise the challenges in keeping aging installations fit for purpose at a time when industry is looking at the technical and cost demands of developing existing fields, especially in the context of the economic climate and the energy debate," he said.

Robert Paterson, the health and safety director of industry group Oil and Gas UK, said: "Over the last 21 years the industry has made huge progress in putting in place multiple barriers on its offshore installations to prevent escalation of dangerous occurrences and to reduce their impact.

SOURCE - www.upstreamonline.com

There are few families that have impacted the American people as much as the Kennedys. Through politics, activism, fashion, controversy and tragedy, one thing that everyone can agree upon is that this family name will be remembered. The latest tragic end has fallen upon Senator Edward M. Kennedy who died at the age of 77 on August 25th.

Kennedy spent over 3 decades of his life in the U.S. Senate and among his many contributions (over 2,500 bills), one of his passions was creating a safer workplace for American workers.

One of the most well-known rights Kennedy fought to give workers was the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This act gave all workers the ability to take unpaid leave to care for themselves or family members in case of a medical illness or for maternity leave without fear of termination. Over 60 million Americans have been able to take advantage of this act thanks in part to Ted Kennedy.

Kennedy also worked to provide Americans with the right to paid sick leave by introducing the Healthy Families Act, which would ensure 7 days of paid sick leave to be used for workers’ health maintenance as well as their family members. He also saw the need for the Working Families Flexibility Act in order to allow employees the ability to meet the needs of both family and work through a flexible job arrangement.

He even made a point throughout his career to address the financial discrimination that hits women where it hurts, their wallets. Women currently earn 78 cents to every $1 earned by a man. When the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 was signed by President Obama, Kennedy was a leader in its passing.

Another group Kennedy fought for are those in the mining industry, with his MINER Act legislation passed in 2006. Despite the new law being passed, Kennedy felt more needed to be done and he continued to call for safety investigations across the country concerning these workers.

He also worked tirelessly to pass the Protecting America’s Worker’s Act, which would expand the coverage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. “Enacting of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970 was a major step in guaranteeing the basic right of workers to be safe on the job.  Since the law was signed, however, we have not substantially amended it to improve worker protections,” said Kennedy.

Although this bill has not yet become law, even after his death it will live on through the efforts of his fellow senators. He will be missed.

Summer is coming to a close and parents are busy getting their children prepared for going back to school. This is usually the time of year where young children are experiencing a mix of emotions ranging between excitement and nervousness, but now it’s their parents that have something to worry about. Experts say that the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, could make a comeback when kids head back to school.

Here are a list of things that you can do to reduce risk of infection.

1. Do your research.

Learn about the H1N1 virus and what precautions you should be taking yourself. The Center for Disease Control (CDC.gov) is a great resource on the latest information about health threats. You can also take SafetySkills free Flu Symptoms and Prevention Strategies course. This free online course includes vital information about swine flu and how to protect yourself from infection. After taking this course, recommend it to other parents and your children’s daycare or school staff members.

2. Be clean.

It sounds like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised how many people do not perform simple cleansing chores that could save them and their family members from getting sick.

• Use proper cleaning supplies in your kitchen and bathrooms, but don’t over do it with the bleach. That will cause a whole new health problem.
• Take out the trash in a timely fashion. This will prevent insect infestation and mold, plus it’s not the best smell to have in your home.
• Always use anti-bacterial soap and carry anti-bacterial gel (such as Purell) in your purse, car, etc.
• Keep tissues available in every room of your home.
• Make washing hands fun for kids – have them sing their ABC’s while washing to ensure that they have done it long enough, they’ll love it!
• Use anti-bacterial sprays around the house, like Febreeze. It really does help.

3. Ask your child’s teacher and daycare center administrator what they are doing to prevent the spread of infection.

As a parent, I know that I feel guilty enough about leaving my child at her pre-school everyday without needing to worry about if she is going to come home with a dangerous case of the flu. Having a good relationship with your child’s teachers and caregivers is extremely important for many reasons, but especially when it comes to being aware of how they are protecting your child. If you do not feel satisfied with their approach, give them a recommendation of what you would like for them to use or consider moving your child to another daycare or school that fits your criteria.

4. Use common sense.

Obviously if your child is sick, do not send your child to school. This spreads illness and it turns into an endless cycle of misery. If your child appears to have more than just a case of the sniffles, make an appointment with your pediatrician. Remember to keep your house as clean as possible when anyone in the household is sick to reduce the chances of others in the home coming down with it.

If anyone has any helpful tips to give other parents or child caregivers, please leave a comment below. Thanks.

The new " Introduction to Health and Safety at Work" fourth edition by Hughes and Ferrett will be available from Amazon Books in August. 

Advance orders are now being accepted for mid August delivery. (Check for updated delivery information with Amazon Books) 

This book will be of particular interest and benefit to students studying for the Nebosh National General Certificate.