Socio-Occupational Health, Safety And Environment In The Oil Fields Of North-East India - A Challenge Of 21st Century

摘要

The basic scientific support for the oil industry comes fromrnearth sciences. The earth sciences are, in true sense, open airrnsciences. All the geological, geophysical, drilling andrnproduction parties work in the open with nature and people. Itrnis one industry which comes in contact with the people of thernwhole area. The co-operation and contribution of the regionalrnpeople have an impact on oil exploration and exploitation.rnThus, the time has come that the health and safety should bernevaluated from the socio-occupational point of view.rnThe operational activities of oil industries in north-east Indiarncover more than one lakh square kilometer of sedimentaryrntracks on the western flanks of the Assam-Arakan basin. Butrndespite of having large geological reserves, the concentrationrnof exploration activities are in limited areas due to thernprevailing insurgency in most of these states. The frequentrnbombarding of oil pipelines, theft of well materials like Xmassrntrees, control manifold valves, pipe lines laid down forrndifferent wells, live electrical cables are the major threats tornsafety practices and caused number of accidents. Kidnappings,rnthreats, manhandling, killing of employees have developedrnfear psychosis, a phenomenal occupational health hazard inrnthis region. On the other hand, population explosion andrnsubsequent encroachment of houses and villages into the drillrnsite boundary have posed threats to social health and safety.rnThe central theme of this informative paper is to argue as tornhow socio-economical backwardness have an impact onrnindustrial health and safety and how ‘green’ businessrnstrategies can improve the performance of socio- occupationalrnhealth and safety management. An attempt has also beenrnmade to highlight the various efforts made by various oilrncompanies to gear themselves to carry out unhindered and safernactivities, save environment and still gain productivity throughrndifferent measures taken in this region.