WSSD Report FINAL! - OGP

CONTRIBUTING TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Health management
Health management
Background
Health is a core element of sustainable development.
Oil and gas companies and their
contractors need to rely on employees who are
healthy and fully functional in their jobs. These
people will not be healthy if their families are
unhealthy. Their families will not be healthy if
they are living in unhealthy communities.
By working with communities to improve their
health delivery capabilities through training,
systems and equipment, our efforts usually
create an infrastructure and culture that can
succeed and prosper independently, long after
the initial sponsorship.
Industry response
Work to improve health in the host countries
where we do business is shared by individual oil
and gas companies and industry associations.Areas
of activity encompass the health of employees
themselves, the communities in which they live,
and stewardship over the health implications of
what we produce and how it is distributed.
In terms of employee health, companies
throughout the industry engage in extensive
efforts to protect and promote employee wellbeing.
In our operations we engage in risk evaluation,
rigorous procedures, training and
information programmes for personnel and
contractors, and regular workplace inspections
to control noise, dust and hazardous substances.
Where health systems are inadequate
or, in many cases, non-existent, oil
and gas companies set up their own
medical units. Benefits of these medical
centres are often made available to local
communities. Often community
medical care extends to help in building,
staffing and providing hospitals, the
promotion of health education, and
provision of clean drinking water. In many cases,
where diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS are
rife, industry programmes have a specific as well as
general focus. In addition to focusing on sustainable
interventions, the industry is increasingly
working with host governments to enhance
philosophies and strategies for delivery of health
care services and infrastructure.
HIV/AIDS is a major threat in many of the
areas in which our industry operates, with
implications for health, social welfare and the
economies of host communities.
OGP has published guidelines to assist in the
development and application of measures to
control HIV/AIDS—as well as other bloodborne
pathogens. Developed for the use of
health professionals and management, it also
serves as a reference document for industry
people who want to determine the safeguards
that are in place.These guidelines are applicable
to everyone working in the upstream industry
as well as their dependents.
Health, safety and environmental management systems
OGP has developed a number of guidance documents to
help our industry increase across the board effectiveness
in health management.These have included guidelines
on general health issues as well as such specifics as:
monitoring and measuring health as part of HSE
management systems, standards for local medical
support, health aspects of work in extreme climates,
assessing fitness to work and health management in
remote land-based geophysical operations.
In 2000, OGP issued a report on Strategic
Health Management: Principles and Guidelines for the Oil and Gas
Industry.This document sets out a systematic process for
incorporating community health into local project planning and
management. It follows the OGP HSE management system
model and emphasizes the need for cooperation between oil
and gas companies, governments and civil society.
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