The Safety Association for canada's Upstream Oil and Gas Industry

From Enform to have some info

What courses do I need to become a safety officer in the field? – How do I become a safety officer?

To clarify your questions, is your inquiry regarding the role of a safety practitioner in the oil and gas field, construction safety officer or a provincial OH&S officer that enforces health and safety regulations?


Safety Practitioner in oil and gas field

If interested in becoming a Safety Practitioner in oil and gas, commonly referred to as a Health and Safety Coordinator or Advisor, the Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada provides an occupational profile that can provide direction. Using this profile and working with your current employer to identify your organizations required experience and education requirements and possible opportunities, will provide you a better understanding where to begin.



Construction Safety Officer

If you are interested in the construction safety officer role, this position in most of Canada is referred to as a person with the National Construction Safety Officer or NCSO designation. This designation and the required training courses are managed by the provincial construction safety associations such as the Alberta Construction Safety Association, British Columbia Construction Safety Network and the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association. These associations require the applicant to have a minimum of 3 years field experience in the construction industry and successfully complete 13 health and safety related courses. Please contact one of the mentioned Construction Safety Associations for more details as Enform does not provide training for that designation.



Provincial OH&S Officer

The role of a Provincial OH&S Officer in the provinces is managed by the provincial government. These roles require the applicant to have significant experience, education and knowledge of health and safety in the provincial industries. While Enform does provide safety training that maybe required for this role, for example H2S Alive or First Aid, you will have to consult with the regulatory bodies in the province of interest to understand their specific skill set requirements for this role.



Enform's role in Safety training

Enform does provide several training courses geared towards specific industry hazards. These courses can be used to support a greater understanding of hazards and risks in the workplace but most Health and Safety positions require a greater understanding of management systems and a foundation of Health and Safety that is achieved from undergraduate studies from schools that include the University of Alberta, BCIT, Ryerson University and the University of New Brunswick.

The Safety Task Assignment (STA)

The Safety Task Assignment (STA)

Assessing Safety Hazards Prior to Job AssignmentsAuthor: Will Tom Gray

The safety task assignment is a procedure used to make an effective safety audit for a task before it is assigned. It is usually carried out at the beginning of each shift and often at the beginning of each assignment.

The STA is performed as a meeting held by the foreman or lead man to discuss any potential hazards of the assignment and preparations for the worksite. Most often it is accompanied with a checklist form that each participant signs to acknowledge that he has taken part in the procedure and understands the requirements.

Some of the obvious personal protective equipment checklist items are gloves, hardhat, safety glasses, ear protection, steel toes and personal fall protection. Each worksite has it's own permitting requirements but the usual ones are excavation, hot work, welding, confined space entry, concrete pouring, and line opening. There should also be plenty of space for adding additional requirements and instructions. 

Before each STA the supervisor should make a thorough inspection of the work location. He should locate the fire extinguishers, alarm stations, safety showers and egress routes. He should also make note of the noise level, footing, ventilation, weather, overhead work, lighting, debris, chemicals, fall hazards, and any other health and safety factors that may be of concern. And last but not least he should consult with other crews and workers in the area to discover additional or unusual hazards. 

On a construction project the landscape changes on a minute-by-minute basis while each task, craft, and worksite has it's own inherent dangers. A well-conducted STA will bring safety awareness to a new level by making each employee aware of the potential dangers and his own responsibilities. It will foster a heightened positive attitude toward overall safety that greatly benefits the company as well as the employee

Osha 1994 Its difficult to remind everyday if not practicable

Summary of Occupational Safety And Health Act 1994

1. Objectives of Act are:

	for securing the safety, health and welfare of persons at work;
	protect persons at a place of work other than employees;
	promote a suitable environment for persons at work;
	enable previous legislation to be replaced by regulations and approved industry codes of practice operating in combination with the OSH Act 1994

2. Duties of employers and self-employed persons to their employees

	ensure, so far as is practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of all his employees;
	the provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work to ensure safety and without risks to health;
	make arrangements for safety and absence of risk to health in the use of plant and substances;
	provide information, instructions, training and supervision to ensure safety and health;
	maintenance of place of work and working environment to ensure safety and without risk to health

3. An employer must prepare a written safety policy, keep it updated as and when required, and it to the notice of his       employees

4. Duties of employers and self-employed persons to persons other than their employees:

	conduct his activities, so far as is practicable, that others are not exposed to risks of their safety and health;
	provide information on safety and health to those who may be affected by his activities

5. Duties of designers, manufacturers and suppliers:

	that the plant is designed and constructed to be safe and without risk to health when properly used;
	carry out testing and examination as may be necessary required by design;
	make available adequate information for the user including condition of use regarding its safety and risks to health;
	duty of the person who design and manufacture the plant to carry out any research to minimise risk to safety and health in the use of the plant;
	it is the duty of the person who erects or installs the plant to ensure that nothing in the way in which it is installed makes it unsafe or risk to health when properly used

6. Duties of formulators, manufacturers, importers and suppliers of substances for use at work:

	ensures that the substance is safe and without risks to health when properly used;
	carry out testing and examination to conform to above;
	provide adequate information in connection with the safety and health risk of the substance;
	duty of the person who manufacture or supply to carry out research to eliminate or minimise risk to safety or health on the use of the substance

7. Penalty for non compliance of item 5 and 6 above is RM20k and jail term not exceeding 2 years or both

8. Duties of employees:

	take reasonable care of his own safety and health and others that may be affected by his actions;
	cooperate with his employer to comply by the Act and its regulations;
	wear or use protective equipment provided by the employer;
	comply with instructions instituted by the employer on occupational safety and health

9. Penalty for contravening the provisions is a fine of RM1k and jail term not exceeding 3 months or both

10. Person who intentionally, recklessly or negligently interferes with or misuses anything provided or done in the interest of safety, health and welfare in pursuance of this Act shall be guilty of an offence who can be fined RM20k and jail term not exceeding 2 years or both

11. No employer shall levy on his employee any actions done in pursuance of this Act or its regulations

12. An employee cannot be penalised if he makes a compliant on a matter he considers not safe, becomes a member of a safety and health committee or exercises his functions as a member in the committee

13. The minister has the authority to make regulations requiring medical surveillance for employees in certain industries

14. Notification of accidents, dangerous occurrence, occupational poisoning and occupational diseases:

an employer must notify the nearest DOSH office of any such incidences or if such incidences are likely to occur;

a registered medical practitioner or medical officer who attended to a patient whom he believes is suffering for a occupational disease listed in the Third schedule of the Factories and Machinery Act 1967 must report to the matter to the DG (Copy From)-  Summarised by:  SKC Cemerlang Technical Sdn Bhd, Malaysia (E-mail: enquiry@skcct.com)  Disclaimer:- The authors do not guarantee the correctness of the information above. Please refer to the original Act or Regulations or Order. Reference: Malaysian OSHA, OS&H Act 1994, Dept. DOSH / JKKP