Health and Safety

Personal Safety

We assess our workforce health and safety performance using a variety of metrics. The core metric measures the number of OSHA Recordable incidents per 200,000 work hours. The definition of an OSHA Recordable Injury is strictly defined to include all work related deaths, illnesses and injuries which result in a loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, permanent transfer to another job within the company or that require some type of medical treatment other than first-aid treatment. Our 2008 OSHA Recordable Rate was 0.295. This is a significant improvement on our safety performance in 2007(0.344)

Although the OSHA Recordable Rate is a good top level metric for assessing our overall Personal Safety performance , we also measure and record details for any lost time injuries, recordable incidents , injuries requiring first aid and near misses. We have recorded a drop in lost time injuries(LTI’s) and near misses. We have also seen a substantial increase in the number of recorded hazards.
Work Force Health

Atlantic LNG recognizes that a healthy environment and workforce are of paramount importance to the growth and productivity of the organization. To this end, Atlantic LNG has employed a holistic approach for the management of health at its locations.
The holistic approach focuses on the following areas;
- Medical / Fitness to Work
- Industrial Hygiene
- Occupational Health
- Wellness
The management of industrial hygiene concerns and issues from the operations is continual and 2008 saw a continuation of IH monitoring for both routine and plant turnaround activities. This provides an assurance that worker exposure issues are being identified and managed.
Our health plan for 2008 was developed using the results of a Health Risk Assessment (HRA) conducted in 2007. As the plan has just been rolled out in 2008, we do not yet have data to demonstrate the expected benefits to employee health.
In 2008 Atlantic LNG took a decision to implement the Fitness to Work Program. Fitness to Work (FTW) refers to an objective assessment of the physical, mental and psychological health of persons in relation to the requirements and working conditions of specific jobs. This ensures that the physical, mental and psychological state of persons is congruent to the demands of the specific job type. This program is being implemented in a phased approach to allow for a more sustainable process. A Framework governing the Fitness to Work program was developed.
At Atlantic LNG employee wellness is of key importance. The focus was on increased awareness of lifestyle health conditions and health issues of importance such as drug abuse, HIV and AIDS. The team also extended these awareness sessions to the Point Fortin Community by participating in community lectures and awareness sessions. We also provide tools for our employees to realize their own health and well-being goals. Our Employees have access to fitness facilities at both locations in Point Fortin and Port of Spain.
Process Safety
domino safety_fmtWe are proud of our operational safety record to date. We had no fines, citations or incidents out of compliance in 2008. There is continued focus on the safety of people in our operational processes. With the support of our Shareholders, in 2007 Atlantic LNG conducted a Safety and Operations Integrity (S&OI) audit which gave
us the opportunity to identify areas for improvement in both the HSSE and Integrity Management systems. Out of the audit we put together an action plan which has driven the improvement to ensure that our operation is safe and reliable.
To prevent the occurrence of a major accident, Atlantic LNG requires a consistent approach to the process safety and that is being accomplished with the implementation of the Asset Integrity Management Standard. The intent of the
Standard is to ensure a formal approach to the management of integrity of Atlantic LNG’s operations throughout their lifecycle from design and construction, through operation and maintenance, to decommissioning.
Our focus during 2008 and continuing into 2009 has been the identification and assessment of the significant risks and major hazards within all of our industrial processes and the development of Risk Reduction Plans that cover:
  • The adequate management of our mechanical and protective systems.
  • The formal competency assessment of the Operations and Maintenance Technicians by the implementation of the Competency Management AssuranceSystem (described in more detail in our Capability Growth Chapter).
  • The continuous improvement of our management of change, emergency response, incident investigations and lessons learnt processes.
  • The implementation / improvement of systems and tools for the proper management of the technical information related to operations, maintenance, inspection, engineering and HSSE areas.

Actions are identified out of the Risk Reduction Plans and are assigned to one or more responsible person/s for closure. All actions are tracked using a software which measures implementation against the assigned timelines and criteria. We developed key performance indicators and scorecards for the proper performance management
of those plans.

The Process Safety implementation is a good example of how we are embedding more systematic and robust methodologies within Atlantic LNG. Much of the knowledge and awareness that were integrated into the Integrity Management Systems have always been present in Atlantic LNG, but not organized into a formal system that
allows the organization to move through a continuous improvement cycle. This approach to Integrity Management is about continuously reducing risks.

risk reduction_fmt

Environmentally Responsible Operations

domino_iso_fmtOur efforts to protect the environment around our operations are rooted in our Health, Safety and Environment Policy which is part of the Code of Ethics. This policy commits us to minimizing our environmental impacts through pollution prevention and environmental conservation. We have implemented the commitments of this policy
through our Environmental Management System (EMS) which has been certified to the ISO 14001 international standard. As part of this certification, our EMS is audited annually by our Registrar and had a successful surveillance audit in 2008 with a single minor non-conformance for record-keeping found by the audit team. The nonconformance has been rectified.

Our EMS commits us to measuring, managing and improving our performance against key aspects. For Atlantic LNG, these aspects include greenhouse gas emissions and minimization of waste and spills. As part of the management system, we have implemented several control mechanisms to improve our performance:

  • Key environmental performance metrics are reported monthly to the Atlantic LNG Leadership Team.
  • Environmental targets for greenhouse gases and waste reduction based on the 2004 baseline. 2009 targets will be evaluated and agreed by the end of the calendar year.
  • Satety training programme for employees and contractors includes our environmental aspects.
  • All visitors to the Point Fortin facility undergo Induction Training which includes environmental responsibility, commitments and preventative measures.

Key Environmental PI

Minimizing Waste to Landfill

Our operations produce a variety of waste products including oily liquids and residues, oil filters, chemicals and other solid wastes. We comply with all waste disposal requirements, including the appropriate landfilling of some wastes. However, landfill disposal is a growing concern among our stakeholders. Therefore, in response to feedback from our community, government and shareholders, we have committed to reducing the amount of waste that we send todomino apple_fmt landfill. Our first goal is to reduce the amount of materials that we use – an activity that is captured and managed through our cost minimization programme. Our second priority is to recycle or reuse waste materials. For waste materials that cannot be recycled, we will use incineration where appropriate or safe disposal in approved landfills.

In 2008, we generated slightly more than 8,846 tonnes of total waste. This increase is the result of a post construction site clean-up exercise. Of this total, we recycled almost 93 tonnes (slightly over 1%) of material including paper, electronics, glass, used oil, empty barrels, scrap metal, empty gas cylinders and batteries. Over 1,804 tonnes (over 20%) were sent for disposal by incineration or other means. As a result, we reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill to 6,949 tonnes in 2008. This represents 7.93 cubic yards of waste per TBTU of LNG produced, well below our
target of 12.79 cubic yards per TTBTU.

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The challenge of combating climate change while still delivering the energy necessary to fuel economic growth is at the forefront of global issues. The oil and gas sector plays an important role in this challenge. Atlantic LNG is not involved in the exploration and refining of petroleum, however we recognize we have a role to play in reducing greenhouse gases emitted from our own operations. Although we use some electricity for our buildings and offices, the vast majority of our energy use and greenhouse gas usage comes from the natural gas that we process.

At Atlantic LNG, there are two main processes that result in greenhouse gas emissions. First, we use natural gas to power our four trains. Second, we use flaring as an important safety procedure to vent excess natural gas and maintain operating pressures. Flaring is also an important environmental control as methane, the primary constituent of natural gas, is 21 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (CO2). For both energy use and flaring, our continuous efforts to drive more efficient operations and better performance are our main mechanisms to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2008, we released approximately 6.528 tonnes of CO2 from natural gas energy use and flaring. Our 2008 performance was the second consecutive year that we surpassed our target to decrease emissions by 10% below our 2004 baseline. We expect to see continued improvement in our greenhouse gas emissions as a result of our efforts to improve the reliability and performance of our operations.

Safety Village

As a driven organization, we have to keep improving how we work. This particularly speaks to our drive to keep our people as safe as possible while they work on our facility. Work on the Atlantic facility involves not only staff, but contracted personnel as well. As such, it is important to recognize that not each worker coming on to the facility may be on par with the safety standards practiced here.

Sighting this, we wanted to ensure that all staff and contractors working on the facility are committed to work safely. As a result, Atlantic began hosting sessions that would specifically cater to providing information on best practices in safety in a high risk environment. These interventions would take place more often at critical times, such as prior to shutdown activities or any work that would require large numbers of contractors coming on the facility to work.

Over the years, these interventions evolved into Safety Villages, a large workshop where contractors provide assurances around safe work practices by their representatives and employees create awareness of current Atlantic’s safety standards and safe work practices. Our commitment to safety has resulted in exceptional safety statistics for the company, such as our recent celebration of 8 million man hours without a Lost Time Incident.

In 2010, the Safety Village concept was submitted to the BG Group’s Chairman’s Award, which aimed to recognize outstanding performance in the areas of safety, environment and social performance. Atlantic’s Safety Village won in the area of HSSE Effectiveness; the original approach to safety and commitment to making operations safe was highlighted as a best practice, as well as the creation of a positive rather than a punitive safety culture.