This paper describes the development of, and challenges in the implementation of accident response training schemes and their results both for employees and students. Key issues relating compatibility with a Middle Eastern environment are discussed.
It is not believed emergency training issues have been addressed in this way previously. The study demonstrates that successful transfer of health, safety, and environmental (HSE) practices between countries or regions must accommodate local culture and traditions. Recommendations and suggestions are made that can be used by other organizations.
Introduction
The Petroleum Institute (PI) was established in 2001 as an independent tertiary educational entity whose primary objective is to prepare UAE nationals for engineering careers in the UAE petroleum industry. The academic program leads to Bachelor of Science degrees in five disciplines---Petroleum Engineering, Petroleum Geosciences, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering. The first students graduated in June 2006. It has a fundamental duty of care for its students.
The oil industry is a truly global enterprise involving most countries in the world and thus is exposed to an enormous range of human behaviour. Deaths and injuries have a high cost to the industry, and significant effort is underway to improve safety and reduce the impact of accidents. The PI, with its strong links to the industry, has embarked on a major effort to implement accident response training throughout the organisation.
Although many people with an industrial background would automatically consider educational establishments as being low risk for health and safety issues, an evaluation of typical activities clearly shows this is not the case. At the PI, engineering students and employees are involved in a wide range of laboratory activities, where hazards such as chemicals, rotating equipment, toxic and combustible gas, noise, glassware, and electrical equipment are present, and where risk management is an important ongoing activity. Added to this are field and industry site visits, together with transport issues, and almost continuous new construction on the PI site. Another issue to consider is that the PI, similar to many other educational establishments in the Middle East, has a large number of expatriate teachers, many of whom are in the latter phases of their career. Older employees obviously have a higher likelihood of medical conditions than younger employees.
There is thus very significant potential for accidents at the PI and in the jobs the graduates will fill, and this has been recognised by the emphasis given both to health safety and environment management in general, and the provision of emergency response training in particular.
Emergency Response Components
The training course used by the PI is that provided by Emergency First Response Corporation of Rancho Santa Margarita, California. Materials can be presented in short modules and thus can generally be adapted to the different availability of trainees. The presentation includes frequent practice sessions, and many presentations can by subdivided by video presentations.
Course materials are of course not perfectly geared for use with a Middle eastern audience. Western actors and situations may give the impression that the course is intended for use elsewhere, but this has been successfully countered by holding practice sessions and exams in everyday locations within the PI in the presence of other bystanders and normal activities. The intention is to further add to realism by the use of false blood at accident scenes.
