Process safety and risk management in the petrochemical industry: A cultural perspective

摘要

Described as the lifeblood of the Saudi economy, the petrochemical industry in Saudi Arabia is considered an international sector with over 40,000 employees. Through years of hard work, Saudi Arabia now provides a complex, comprehensive and highly structured approval process as part of its process safety and risk management systems in the petrochemical industry. This makes Saudi Arabia the most advanced country in the Gulf region in terms of how seriously it takes process safety and risk management in the petrochemical industry. Yet, the industry is still bedevilled with various process safety and risk management challenges often associated with damage to assets, pollution, interruption to business, and injury to employees. As a result, process safety and risk management in the Saudi petrochemical industry has attracted significant attention and recognition in the recent past; partly because of regulatory pressure and the need to develop favourable working environments; and partly because of the need to avoid litigation. The industry is also currently faced with treats of terrorism and cyberattacks. Specifically, the paper will highlight three key issues: firstly, how Saudi culture impacts on training; secondly, how Saudi culture affects the continuous focus on good process safety practice in the petrochemical industry and thirdly, the impact of Saudi culture on non-Saudi employees. The paper is based on the presenter's experiences in process safety and risk management in the Saudi petrochemical industry with the aim to help build a safer industry. The presenter is an instructor at King Fahad Security College with over 15 years of experience. Over the years, the presenter has experienced how the wider Saudi culture affects the safety culture in his day-to-day working life. This paper seeks to share the experiences of the presenter on the process safety and risk management in the petrochemical industry in Saudi Arabia through a cultural lens.