OSHA grant boosts development of outreach training for oil/gas
OSHA has issued a grant to Red Rocks Community College in Colorado, an OSHA-authorized training center, to develop an oil- and gas-specific outreach training course. The course would be similar to the OSHA 10- and 30-hour outreach training courses based on OSHA regulations for a specific industry.
Red Rocks Community College, in association with the Rocky Mountain Education Center, hosted a meeting on 11-12 August to get input in the development of the curriculum for an OSHA 10-hour course. The meeting addressed three issues: defining course content that would cover all regulations that apply to the oil and gas industry, applying a hazard assessment approach to the course design and defining trainer qualifications to teach the OSHA oil and gas course.
It was determined that the outreach group would develop three courses: awareness orientation (which could be satisfied by the SafeLandUSA orientation), OSHA training (which would expand the orientation course time and content to meet workers’ need for training), and OSHA supervisor/safety leadership training.
Members urged to plan for ship requirements of Maritime Labour Convention
Alan Spackman, IADC vice president offshore technical and regulatory affairs, is urging members to begin planning for the entry into force of the International Labour Organization’s Maritime Labour Convention, 2006. The Convention will enter into force 12 months after it receives its 30th ratification, as the 17 countries that have ratified the Convention to date have fulfilled the minimum threshold level for tonnage.
The Convention requires that ships of States Party to the Convention obtain a Maritime Labour Certificate. To obtain the certificate, the flag-State must provide a Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance (DMLC-Part I), which identifies a list of matters subject to inspection, identifies all national requirements necessary for implementation of the Convention, refers to any ship-type specific requirements, and clearly records any matters subject to “substantial equivalence” or exemption determinations.
Based on DMLC-Part I, the ship owner must prepare a DMLC-Part II that will identify all measures that will be in place to ensure ongoing compliance with the national requirements, as well as measures to ensure continuous improvement in labor conditions onboard the ship. Most drilling companies will need to coordinate efforts to address company policies and procedures with regard to: human resources, training, safety, payroll and scheduling, claims management, insurance, legal, newbuild projects, medical and collective bargaining.
