Tatweer launched the Individual Development Plan programme for its employees as part of its commitment to train and develop all Bahraini employees in their respective fields of responsibility, says HISHAM ZUBARI, deputy CEO, Tatweer Petroleum

Over the past six years of operations Tatweer Petroleum has invested almost $4 billion to redevelop the mature Bahrain oil field and to transform the field into a tertiary mode through the implementation of advanced enhanced oil recovery techniques and new technologies, says Hisham Zubari, Deputy CEO, Tatweer Petroleum.

This project, which supports Tatweer’s vision to energise the kingdom’s economic growth and social prosperity, has significantly benefited local contractors, Zubari tells OGN in an exclusive interview.

As an example, during 2015, an additional 50 Bahraini companies were approved to carry out work for Tatweer Petroleum through a fully automated tendering process for contracts, services and procurement. The company’s Supply Chain Management department processed over 1,600 commercial commitments totalling around $350 million, he says.

Tatweer’s Bahrainisation is 3 per cent higher than 2014. Its headcount is now almost 733 staff, of which 75 per cent are Bahraini nationals. This success represents yet another contribution by Tatweer to the economic growth opportunities for the Kingdom of Bahrain and its people, he says.

A total of 16 Bahrainis were promoted to leadership positions in 2015. Additional leadership training will be conducted in 2016 to develop and prepare Bahrainis for more responsible future roles.

Having said that, Tatweer is proud of its expatriate employees who have contributed significantly to the company.

'Diversity is one of Tatweer values and we take pride in the multicultural environment strengthened by over 30 nationalities that Tatweer enjoys today and we will continue to maintain it,' says Zubari.

Excerpts from the interview:

How many hours of training do you plan to impart to the local workforce in 2016?

Tatweer launched the Individual Development Plan (IDP) programme for our employees as part of the company’s commitment to train and develop all Bahraini employees in their respective fields of responsibility. With the IDP programme, Tatweer has been able to put in place personalised development plans for all Bahraini employees. The plans has already been implemented in early 2016 and the progress of each Bahraini employee will be tracked throughout the year to assure progress is made toward agreed competency targets.

How many local contractors have benefited from Tatweer?

Some 67 per cent of all contracts and purchases were awarded to Bahraini companies in 2015, which equated to around 20 per cent of this committed spend. However if we exclude services that can only be provided by companies outside Bahrain, the normalised award to Bahraini companies value is actually 83 per cent.

What are Tatweer’s HSE goals and how they are going to be met?

Tatweer aims to provide a safe and injury free work place for its employees and contractors, and strives to continuously enhance its HSE programmes and initiatives to prevent and mitigate incidents involving people and the environment.

Considerable efforts and resources are always focused on improving HSE practices in the Bahrain oil field. The HSE department upgraded the Facility Walk-Through Inspections to a Management Walk-Through programme. The programme involved managers and executive management team members in planned visits to key facilities. A total of 11 visits were conducted with 165 recommendations provided. In addition, the company CEO and Deputy CEO carry out regular random ad hock visits to work locations to view working conditions and to listen to employees.

As part of ensuring HSE competency for Tatweer personnel and contractors, 140 class room training sessions were organised including:

• Permit to work and job safety analysis;

• Lock out / Tag out;

• Hazard recognition and communication;

• H2S safety;

• Authorised gas tester;

• Confined space entry awareness; and

• Basic firefighting and first aid training.

The Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) procedure was revised and strictly enforced in the field. Assessments were carried out for field maintenance-mechanical teams and the chemical warehouse. Employees were fit tested and provided with suitable PPE based on the risk assessment. Our employees are also provided with a 24/7 executive power to stop unsafe work environment through Stop Work Authority initiative.

Tatweer sponsored HSE campaigns in 2015 related to dropped object prevention, heat stress prevention, hunt the hazard, and an HSE week to improve employees’ and contractors’ hazard awareness in our operations. These and other programme improvements and topics were added to the Contractor HSE Forums to improve communication between Tatweer and its contractors. Health campaigns were also promoted including blood donation and breast cancer awareness.

The above programmes has helped Tatweer achieve a very low combined injury and illness rate (IIR) of 0.16 which was the lowest in Tatweer’s six-year history and considered very low by international standards in the oil and gas industry.

How many work hours have been achieved at the site? How many man-hours have been clocked without lost time accident (LTA) for contractors?

Tatweer and its contractors worked more than 7.7 million man-hours in 2015. In December 2015, a combined 5,000,000 man hours without LTI was achieved, and the number is still rising to date. By mid-February 2016, Tatweer has achieved a milestone of 365 days without LTI.

What are the risk reduction measures being implemented?

In addition to shareholder HSE audits, the HSE Department conducts HSE self-assessment to verify the effectiveness of HSE implementation in the operations. The results confirmed good progress in implementing recommendations from previous reviews and audits.

The focus continued to be on identifying and managing the high-risk areas through enforcement of a Process Risk Management (PRM) Programme.

The Emergency Management System (EMS) was reviewed and updated during 2015 with the full support of all Tatweer staff and management. The existing EMS Plan was also reviewed and approved with inputs for all the major stakeholders. A comprehensive training programme was also implemented for all members of the Emergency Management Team (EMT) and Crisis Management Team (CMT). Other key members of the organization were also trained in EMT and CMT training, who were identified as back up and additional members of the teams.

Also, in mid-2015, Tatweer took a fresh look at our Enterprise Risk Management by revising the methodology and engaging a larger number of employees in the process. This initiative which will be completed in 2016 will help us fine tune our Business Continuity Plan.

What were the highlights of the second contractors’ safety forum?

Tatweer sponsored HSE campaigns in 2015 related to dropped object prevention, heat stress prevention, Hunt the Hazard and an HSE week to improve employees’ and contractors’ hazard awareness in our operations. These and other programme improvements and topics were added to the contractor HSE Forums to improve communication between Tatweer and its contractors. Health campaigns were also promoted including blood donation and breast cancer awareness.

Could you explain how JSA (Job Safety Analysis) works in Tatweer?

JSA is a careful evaluation of the potential hazards associated with a task in order to determine the efforts required to make the work safe. It is used to identify the potential hazards, ensures that all safeguards are available, and provides an opportunity to remove hazards prior to employees and/or contractors starting a task. A strict workflow is established and then followed to complete the analysis.

Could you furnish details of the Near-Miss reporting programme? How did its last phase go?

With a strong commitment to safety, Tatweer employees contributed to a successful Near-Miss reporting programme. A rate of 8.5 reports per person was 42 per cent higher than the set target at 6.

What were the awards/recognitions received by Tatweer in 2015?

Throughout 2015, Tatweer continued to receive the full support and encouragement of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, HRH the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, and HRH the Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, to whom Tatweer expresses its sincere appreciation. We also, strengthened our engagement with our stakeholders such as the Southern governorate Office headed by Shaikh Abdulla bin Rashid Al Khalifa who has been a great supporter to Tatweer’s safe camping concerns; and the National Guard headed by Sh. Abdul Aziz bin Saud Al Khalifa; and the Traffic Directorate headed by Shaikh Nasser bin Abdul Rahman Al Khalifa;; and the Bahrain Health and Safety Society headed by Dr Mustafa Al Sayyed. We will continue to work very closely with our stakeholders to achieve a mutual cooperation and collaborations on all levels for the best interest of the Kingdom of Bahrain.