Environmental Health And Safety Procedures For Operating Facilities
Authors: Garvey C.A. , Thomson R.A.A. 
Published: March 2010

This paper outlines the basic requirements for Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) Guidelines in field operations, and how they relate to the overall E, H&S management plan for an organization. The paper addresses the delivery of specific guidance to field personnel. The main segments of field procedures are briefly described, including:Policy and guiding principles.General principles and administration.Hazard identification, hazard control and operating procedures.Environmental protection.Emergency response.Training and education.Contractor requirements.

The paper also discusses new methods to deliver updated or new guidance to personnel in a cost effective and efficient manner, and also contains a partial listing of relevant reference information.

Policy and Guiding Principles

There must be agreement between the various stakeholders to save and protect the public, employees and company property with respect to environment health and safety. This requires development and implementation of an overall policy statement and a set of general guiding principles by the company and acknowledgement by all employees to accept and work within these "rules" and to proactively promote them within the company and its operations. It is important to realize that at the present time the structure of organizations has changed dramatically and the lines between management and employees have become blurred, if indeed they have not disappeared. For certain operations, front line employees or contractors may carry a high degree of responsibility and may be considered management if this is orally understood or outlined in employment or contractual agreements. Typically a company policy contains a commitment to:Safeguard human health and protect the environment in all of its operations;Assess the effects on worker safety as well as potential impairment of the environment and public health resulting from development activities;Comply with all laws and regulatory requirements in business activities;Reduce to an absolute minimum the final reclamation cost;Implement remedial measures in an efficient and effective manner in the event of mishap.

The policy must be signed by the chief executive officer of the company and publicly displayed to be effective. Underlying the policy are guiding principles which address responsibility of all workers, priority of EH&S, recognition of excellent performance and emphasis on continuous improvement. It is important to recognize the limitations of guidelines, the possibility of human error and the need to be constantly on the alert for hidden or poorly understood risks. Finally, it is important to obtain the signed commitment of all employees and contractors to abide by these principles.

General Principles and Administration

These are required to convert the policy into specific and workable guidelines with definition of expected performance and measurement of same. These may be broken down into the following topics.

Responsibility

There are three levels of responsibility that encompass all work situations-management, supervisors, and employees or workers.