HEALTH, SAFETY, ENVIRONMENT & COMMUNITY DEPARTMENT
1.0 CORE OBJECTIVES/MANDATES
The Health, Safety, Environment, and Community (HSEC) Department plays a pivotal role in ensuring sustainable and responsible operations in the upstream oil and gas industry. This department is tasked with overseeing and managing the environmental, health, safety, and community-related aspects of oil and gas operations. This synopsis provides an overview of the department’s structure and activities, emphasizing its critical functions and contributions to industry standards and best practices.
2.0 DIVISIONS
2.1 Health and Safety
The Health and Safety Division consists of four (4) units which work together to promote occupational health and safety best practices across the upstream oil and gas value chain.
2.1.1 Occupational Safety & Industrial Health (OSIH)
The OSIH unit is charged with ensuring that oil and gas companies implement safety procedures to identify and mitigate risks in the workplace. It also tracks and investigates accidents and incidents, administers offshore safety permits, and conducts periodic safety audits.
2.1.2 Process Safety
The Process Safety unit oversees the safety of operations in the oil and gas industry, ensuring that people, systems, and assets are in place to operate safely. It conducts technical safety studies, manages safety-critical equipment, and implements safety management systems.
2.1.3 Laboratory & Oilfield Chemicals Unit
This unit ensures quality assurance and control (QA/QC) in upstream industry operations by accrediting laboratories, monitoring environmental compliance, and regulating the use of oilfield chemicals.
2.1.4 Safety Standard Development and Coordination
The Safety Standards Development & Coordination Unit is dedicated to ensuring that local initiatives, programs, policies, and standards within the Nigerian upstream oil and gas sector are developed and implemented in alignment with both local and international best practices, codes, and standards. This unit is responsible for the continuous development, implementation, and review of Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) guidelines, policies, procedures, and management systems. It also plays a crucial role in the review and harmonization of health and safety standards, as well as their application across various stages of facility design, construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning. Additionally, the unit oversees the accreditation of Safety and Emergency Training Centers, ensuring they meet the competency development needs of the industry.
2.2. Environment and Sustainability
The Environment and sustainability Division consists of four (4) units which work together to entrench environmental and sustainability best practices across the upstream oil and gas value chain.
2.2.1 Industry Waste Management (IWM)
The IWM unit is charged with regulating and monitoring the management of all hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated in the upstream oil and gas industry. The unit seeks to entrench waste management best practices by tracking waste from its point of generation to its final disposal, issuing permits for waste treatment and discharge, and accrediting waste management facilities and service providers.
2.2.2 Sustainability (ESG and CCUS)
The Sustainability unit coordinates efforts related to climate change policy compliance, greenhouse gas emissions tracking, with a strong emphasis on mitigating methane emissions and other short-lived climate pollutants. This includes monitoring the implementation of Methane Leak Detection & Repair (LDAR) programs across all upstream operations and development of regulatory frameworks for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects. It also develops sustainability reporting guidance and frameworks for evaluating and accrediting service providers on emission management technologies.
2.2.3 Environmental Remediation
This Environmental Remediation unit is charged spearheading the pollution prevention and control programs across industry. These include oil spill contingency plan (OSCP) review and activation, spillage documentation, investigation, cleanup and stakeholder engagement, and the coordination of environmental remediation efforts for impacted sites. The unit also coordinates annual HSE audits/ OSCP activation.
2.2.4 Project Environmental Management Plan Administration
This unit is charged with managing the environmental and socio-economic risks associated with upstream oil and gas projects. Its core functions include reviewing and approving environmental impact assessments, risk registers, and management plans, as well as monitoring the implementation of environmental action plans by oil & gas operators.
3.0 Host Community
The Host Community Division consists of three (3) units which work together to operationalize, implement and monitor the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA 2021) with respect to Host Community Development Trusts (HCDTs)
3.1. Host Community Development Administration
The Host Community Development Administration Unit is charged with coordinating the incorporation and operationalization of the various Host Community Development Trusts. It provides regulatory guidance for the operation of the HCDTs including matters relating to pre-qualification of fund managers, audit and reporting, governance, fund remittances etc. The unit also manages the HOSTCOMPLY Portal.
3.2. Community Project Management (CPM)
The CPM branch manages the implementation of community development projects as outlined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 and ensures transparency and accountability in project execution. The unit provides regulatory guidance, approval and consents for matters relating to community needs assessment, Community Development Plans (CDPs) and sustainability performance monitoring of HCDT projects.
3.3. Host Community Project Review Management
The Community Project Review Management unit provides regulatory guidance on matters relating to legacy projects migration to HCDT, grievance resolution, HCDT project reporting, review and monitoring and HCDT Performance Evaluation.
