Incident management
For AOC, health and safety is paramount for our own workforce and for the communities in which we work. While our focus is always on prevention, we are aware of the need to be ready to respond to incidents large and small where nature, procedure, travel problems or life events require our input to manage the outcome.
A primary example of AOC’s readiness to respond is the action we take to prepare for the possibility of an incident involving tankers operated by Saudi Aramco shipping subsidiary Vela. AOC, as part of a coordinated effort by all of Saudi Aramco, maintains a regional contingency plan, a trained team, and the ability to deploy them with communications equipment to any affected location, and to support national governments in mitigating the impacts.
The principal task of the AOC Regional Response Team is training team members, and maintaining contingency plans, communications equipment and relationships with organizations who can assist and support us around the globe.
Reducing the impact on the affected staff, area or local communities meets our corporate social and moral responsibilities.
Exercises are undertaken to ensure preparedness both in-house and, in the case of oil spills, in conjunction with national authorities along the shipping routes, to test plans and train personnel. These exercises offer the opportunity for the many other organizations that would support an incident to fine-tune their response plans, identify gaps in resources, and address these in advance of a real incident.
Travel
In the course of our business we have a lot of people travelling. Travel delays, health problems while away from home, or other family problems can create issues we need to address. The Icelandic volcanic ash cloud resulted in staff being stranded in many parts of the globe. Not only did these staff need support, but there were also business and family commitments to be considered. Further thought had to be given to the travel plans of other staff and assessment of the risks of proceeding with planned trips.
China – new oil spill regulations
China announced plans to introduce new legislation regarding the response to oil spills, which included a greater role for the vessel owner. A joint mission was undertaken by Saudi Aramco, Vela and AOC to assess the impact of the changes and ensure that, in advance of the new legislation being enacted, we were prepared and practiced in the new procedures and interfaces. To that end, the mission identified the need to conduct exercises with the authorities in China to allow both sides to test and evaluate their revised plans and address any gaps in advance of an incident. This proactive approach was the first taken by a major international ship operator in response to the planned change in legislation, and will help the authorities in realizing the practical application of its new legislation.
Knowledge management
Dissemination of knowledge is achieved through a number of meetings, committees and conferences, through which Saudi Aramco and other parties share experience, best practices and lessons learned. Participants include authorities, response organizations and other interested parties. Through the support of these activities AOC helps to ensure its resources and plans are constantly improved, that lessons are learned when mistakes are made and that we and other parties can work to prevent incidents from taking place in the future.
Prevention first – oil spills
For Saudi Aramco, the prevention of accidents is the first and most desirable way to deal with oil spills, and its record in this regard is among the best in the world. The activities of Vela focus on the reduction of the risk of oil spills through vessel design, operation and quality procedures, including crew selection and training. Saudi Aramco, recognizing that a residual risk always remains from equipment failure, human error or from actions of other parties, maintains a capability to respond to incidents should they occur.
Given that an incident could occur at any location, a global oil spill response coordinator has been assigned, under whom there are four regional oil spill response coordinators with defined geographical areas of responsibility. Each of these is supported by teams drawn from within their respective organizations who provide specialist skills (Logisitics, IT, Visa services) to support the response. In the event of an incident, the entire global resources of the company and its subsidiaries are available, where required. These same resources can equally be deployed to deal with other incident types and situations.
Saudi Aramco is also a full participant shareholder in the oil industries-owned Oil Spill Response Limited – which has global major incident response capability. From bases in the UK, Bahrain and Singapore, personnel and specialist resources can be deployed to bolster the local or national capability for major incidents.
An inside story
AOC employees were among those stranded during Iceland’s volcanic ash incident in April 2010. Staff safety was a priority, as well as the development of strategies to support those stranded, while managing future planned travel. For the former, a clear and supportive point of contact, reliable information and practical support were essential, and an incident management team exists to meet such needs.
One of our engineering specialists, working in a remote part of Russia, found his team’s return flight to Amsterdam delayed by the volcanic ash. Flights to Moscow were possible but not beyond and with so many delays, accommodation was a problem. Staying locally was an option but communications were limited. Working with the office team, a plan was developed to move by road to a larger but relatively close city with better communication. The team could safely wait out the situation, but at least had the assurance of access to the office, family and the ability to keep on top of work. Through regular communication and after a week’s enforced extension, an alternative route was found and the team was able to return safely.
