TOOLBOX TALK

TOOLBOX TALK: WHAT IS SAFETY? :   Sometimes we think or assume we know only to find out we don't. For example, can you honestly answer the question: What is safety?...

  Sometimes we think or assume we know only to find out we don't. For example, can you honestly answer the question: What is safety? Is it the absence of danger? Or a state of no accident, injury or damage? Or just some abstract thing that doesn't really exist outside y our mind? Have you really given it a thought? It is a bit like asking BB King what is jazz music, isn't it?. Would you say it has to do with something that started somewhere in Africa, forcibly brought to America via slave ships or that jazz is simply good music or something else? Either way you won't be making much sense to quite a number of folks but in the end, it is generally accepted that jazz is good music by followers of that genre of music. Safety though is simpler and much more complex at the same time. Now safety is why you're careful about the water you drink, the food you eat, how you travel, where you sleep and when, the company you keep, etc. etc. That's why folks say to you t...

  If this were to happen on your installation how would you react or respond? Would you know what to do? Are your people prepared to do what has to be done? Is there a plan in place to deal with stuff like this?   Has the plan ever been tested, worked or it is locked up in the boss' office to show who  the Top Cat is? Or it is widely publicized for the workforce's clear and unambiguous understanding and effective practical interpretation?   Does anyone know for sure what the plan says and who's got what and what role in any type of situation? What are the goals of the plan?   When last was it updated to reflect current installation status or take into account recent hardware or procedural changes?   Who's the focal point or custodian,whose job it is to maintain the Plan in a state of currency? Now is everyone confident they can do what's expected of them correctly and in time in an emergency?   Who has been trained? W...

TOOLBOX TALK: FIRE IN AN AND GAS INSTALLATION :  Fire on an oil and gas facility is no joking matter especially if located offshore. For one thing these accident types choose the most ...

 Fire on an oil and gas facility is no joking matter especially if located offshore. For one thing these accident types choose the most unexpected times to occur. Typically in the dead of the night, pitch b lack surroundings, while most persons onboard are in slumberland dreaming of a beautiful and magical tomorrow. So the accident arrives, unannounced, and proceeds to wreak havoc on all, any and every, leaving devastation in its wake. Survivors, if there are any, are left aghast, wondering what went wrong. The aftermath of any major accident event (MAE) on an oil and gas facility is sure to throw up an endless reel of questions ranging from what was going on at the time, who was doing what, where, how, when and for how long? Was the correct procedure adopted? Was the job hazard thoroughly evaluated? Was the supervisor competent to oversee such jobs? What about safety precautions for the job? Was there a Permit-To-Work clearing the work to go ahead? What about Emergency Respo...

TOOLBOX TALK: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN ACCIDENT : We often tend to cover up avoidable mistakes at work, play, on the road, at home and in the community with that word "ACCIDENT", ...

We often tend to cover up avoidable mistakes at work, play, on the road, at home and in the community with that word "ACCIDENT", but most times the word is just a convenient scape goat. Sheer escapism. But don't get me wrong because occasionally accidents do occur. Earthquakes, land and mud slides, tsunamis, etc. are accidents but they happen to be natural occurrences or events. Being of such peculiar nature, there is precious little we can do to prevent them coming to pass, thereby limiting us to whatever damage controls we can muster in their aftermath to minimize fallouts or consequences. But not so for injuries, deaths or property damage at work, play, home, road or in the community because we can and should be able to prevent or at the very least, reduce the frequency of occurrence, if we chose to do so. It therefore follows that what we like to conveniently refer to as accidents at work and everywhere else are simply produc...