Robert Gabert, Health and Safety Manager

Current occupational health practices tend to focus on the key task of ensuring that employees are fit to work, through pre-employment assessments and periodic medical checkups. This is the job of the Occupational Health Department, which checks that employees' health is not adversely affected by their jobs. But employers have another core responsibility, preventing health risks. This entails identifying, quantifying and managing occupational risks efficiently and effectively, which is what the Industrial Hygiene Department does.

Although based on a similar principle as occupational safety, health risk management differs from accident prevention in a number of ways. Health problems may have more than one cause and often occur as a result of chronic exposure. In fact, some illnesses appear several years, sometimes even decades, after exposure to a health risk. Asbestos poisoning is an unfortunate case in point.

So health hazards have to be identified even more carefully and accurately, and exposure situations have to be clarified and even quantified using appropriate measurement methods. When health hazards and exposure situations overlap, risks have to be quantified and managed by taking suitable steps, such as reducing emissions at the source, limiting exposure and using appropriate measuring and monitoring techniques. All of this is based on proven industrial hygiene standards, and has to be put in writing and validated.

Setting the same high standards for both Group and contractor employees, our industrial hygiene policy covers three tiers of prevention—from top down, risk assessment and management, diagnosis and medical checkups, and monitoring and support from Human Resources. That means that a wide variety of employees are involved in its implementation, including managers, physicians, HSE experts, industrial hygienists and HR employees with relevant skills.

Over the past three years, a number of initiatives have been introduced to make sure that our industrial hygiene policy is properly applied. We have prepared and distributed corporate Occupational Health and Hygiene Guidelines that have been deployed across all major sites in our Exploration & Production, Gas & Power, Refining & Marketing and Chemicals businesses. As well, a health and hygiene network has been set up, with health and hygiene officers appointed to implement the guidelines. Additionally, health and hygiene training is provided and occupational illness reporting is performed.