By Peter Uzoho
Asharami Energy, a Sahara Group upstream subsidiary, has reported 1, 852,052 man-hours without Lost Time Injury (LTI) across its operations, saying the feat was driven by its responsible engineering and unwavering commitment to global occupational safety and health (OSH) standards.
The company added that the feat represented LTI-free man-hours over 873 days of zero work related incidents, enabled by the company’s robust Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) policies.
In a statement, Asharami disclosed that in 2020, it achieved 1,712,295 LTI-free man-hours, a record it claimed, surpassed the industry recording standard which is set at 1,000,000 LTI-free man-hours.
A key oil and gas sector OSH benchmark, Lost Time Injury is a measure of injury or illness resulting from a work-related event which involves lost days away from work or resulting in downtime in operations.
The Chief Operating Officer, Asharami Energy, Mr. Henry Menkiti, said the exploration and production company puts the safety and health of its workers, partners, and stakeholders above all other considerations.
“We are delighted at achieving this feat of 1,852,052 LTI-free man-hours as of March 31, 2021. At Asharami Energy, we have adopted responsible HSSE policies which align our upstream operations, community relations, procurement, environmental, social and governance impact with global best practice. We are happy to be leading the charge towards promoting sustainability in Africa’s oil and gas sector,” he said.
Menkiti said Asharami’s safety and health protocols were instrumental to achieving hitch-free operations during the COVID-19 pandemic which literally caused global business disruptions.
“Guided by our COVID-19 Prevention and Early Detection Management Procedure as well as consistent test administration, we recorded zero cases during the period that had 2,136 employees actively involved in our operations,” Menkiti noted.
He said the company holds regular safety and health awareness campaigns and training sessions targeted at employees and stakeholders to ensure consistent levels of commitment to making safety everyone’s business.
“With almost 3,000,000 work related deaths annually and four per cent of the world’s GDP attributable to lost works days globally, all businesses need to take proactive steps in mitigating workplace safety and health risks.
“The sustainability of work today and work as we will know it to be in the future depends on this,” he said.
According to Menkiti, continuing investment, technology, self-appraisals, and peer reviews will help the oil and gas sector promote OSH standards which are critical to achieving sustainable growth, inclusive employment, and decent work for all.
He lauded the contribution of Asharami’s employees, host communities and other partners to the company’s sterling HSSE records, adding: “Asharami Energy will continue to work towards sustaining and improving our safety machinery across all our operational touch-points.”
