Health, Safety and Environmental Plans for Royal Dutch Shell on Oil Production

This thesis evaluates the health, safety and environmental plans of Royal Dutch Shell on oil production facilities. It assesses the effectiveness of the policies and strategies adopted by the company and suggests recommendations for improvement. The study aims to understand the safety measures and policies implemented by the company and their impact on the employees and the environment. The research questions focus on the efficiency of the safety and health processes and policies of Royal Dutch Shell in restricting workplace injuries.

Running head: HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH
SHELL ON OIL PRODUCTION
How robust are the health, safety and environmental plans for Royal Dutch Shell on the
production facilities of oil
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
Abstract
In the last few years, it is seen that environment, health and safety have been the most essential
priorities for the organizations that are operational in the “oil and gas industry” and they have the
aim of keeping their level of accidents at zero. Simultaneously, it is seen that the “oil and gas”
companies have been looking to develop their plans and policies related to the safety, health and
environment in order to reduce and mitigate the risks that are associated with this sector. The
thesis has even concentrated on the economic threats and social accountabilities as these have
been significant factors that encourage the plans and policies for the welfare of the employees as
well for the society.
This thesis therefore has been constructed in order to have certain idea about the health,
environment and health measures that have been undertaken by Royal Dutch Shell and thereby
understand their robustness. The results have indicated that there have been a mixed view with
respect to the results that have been obtained and recommendations gathered from the result can
be used by the company in order to enhance their operational level.

2
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................5
1.1 Background of the Study.......................................................................................................5
1.2 Problem Statement.................................................................................................................6
1.3 Rationale of the Study...........................................................................................................7
1.4 The case.................................................................................................................................8
1.5 Aims and Objectives of the Study.........................................................................................9
1.6 Research Questions..............................................................................................................10
1.7 Outline of the Study.............................................................................................................10
Chapter 2: Literature Review.........................................................................................................12
2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................12
2.2 Green House Gas Emissions................................................................................................12
2.3 What is the Term Gas Flaring?............................................................................................13
2.4 Gas Flaring and Power Plants contribution to Global Climate change...............................15
2.5 Environmental Management Theories.................................................................................17
2.6 Sustainable Development Concept......................................................................................18
2.7 Theoretical Framework........................................................................................................18
2.8 Occupational Injuries on the Oil Rigs.................................................................................20
2.9 Psychological Wellbeing of the labours of the oil rigs........................................................25
2.10 Environmental Impacts......................................................................................................26

3
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
2.11 HSE Management in Royal Dutch Shell...........................................................................28
2.12 Gaps in HSE Management.................................................................................................30
2.13 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................31
Chapter 3: Research Methodology................................................................................................33
3.1 Method Outline....................................................................................................................33
3.2 Research Philosophy............................................................................................................33
3.3 Research Approach..............................................................................................................34
3.4 Study Location.....................................................................................................................35
3.5 Data Collection Technique..................................................................................................36
3.6 Case Background.................................................................................................................37
3.7 Analysis Technique.............................................................................................................38
3.8 Ethical Concern...................................................................................................................38
3.9 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................38
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Discussion......................................................................................39
4.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................39
4.2 Results and Findings............................................................................................................39
Part A: Social and Safety Data..............................................................................................39
Part B:....................................................................................................................................50
4.3 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................64
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation...............................................................................65

4
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
5.1 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................65
5.2 Addressing the Objectives...................................................................................................66
5.3 Recommendations................................................................................................................67
5.4 Future Work.........................................................................................................................68
Reference List................................................................................................................................70
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................78

5
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
Chapter 1: Introduction
The oil and gas sector is found to be a worldwide aspect and it can be determined by the
fact that that this industry is operational in all the corners and regions of the globe as the industry
is seen Australia to Canada, even in remote locations in the Arctic sector, the rainforests in the
tropical location and even in the temperate forests that are seen in Europe. This specific sector
has been one of the most significant sources with the help of which everyone gets to receive the
consumable energy, which is helpful in functioning the households and the industries all over the
globe and in the current time period has still maintained its rank to be the most prime foundation
of energy in the globe.
Khan and Hashemi (2017) cited that the administration of the safety and the health issues
is regarded to be one of the most significant aspects that the companies associated with the “oil
and gas” sector focuses on and researchers have the thought that most of the functional activities
of this industry with respect to the products that are created with the help of these operations are
related with serious amount of risks with regards to safety and health.
The key goal in accordance to which this thesis is being undertaken is to provide an
overview and a complete assessment of the research work that would look to evaluate the safety,
environment and health plans that have been undertaken by “Royal Dutch Shell”, which is one of
the renowned oil and gas companies of United Kingdom in order to extract and make use of the
production facilities of oil.
1.1 Background of the Study
Hennchen (2015) have addressed the fact that in the previous few years, the oil and gas
industry that is functioning globally has faced numerous kinds of dangerous and hazardous

6
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
accidents within the working environment and this in most of the cases leads to injuries and
casualties. A study that was undertaken on this topic has explained that a fire that had taken place
in the “Paraguana Refinery Complex” had more than 151 injuries and this had been the world’s
third largest oil refinery and this result has been due to the ineffective and unsuitable policies
related to security and health as incorporated by the management of the refinery that had been
affected.
Tomlinson (2017) has explained the several causes that have been behind the injuries and
the casualties that has taken place because of the explosion that took place at “Deepwater
Horizon” drilling centre in the year 2010 and thereafter an outcome has been attained which
explains that most of the accidents that the gas and oil industry have faced in the recent history
could have been mitigated by the incorporation of specific and precise heath and securities
policies.
1.2 Problem Statement
The frequent and the daily operational functions of the oil and gas sector are looked upon
to create a massive amount of threat to the survival of the employees mainly because of the
severe conditions within which the employees perform and the explosive and hazardous
characteristics of the products that are manufactured by this sector. Therefore, there is no need to
say that in this scenario, the companies functioning in this genre are anticipated to have
knowledge about the significance of the requirements of health and safety that needs to be
implemented in the working atmosphere (Venugopal et al. 2016).
It has been disclosed that the large and the renowned oil and gas companies have stated
that they make use of and have incorporated effective safety, health and environmental safety

7
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
policies and regulations within their operational sector, the statements and the reports disclosed
by “Gas Extraction Council” and “NORA Oil” have stated that the frequency of deaths due to
accidents in the gas and oil sector is seen to be eight times higher than that of the entire rate of
the all the other companies that are operating in the economy. In such situations, it became an
essentiality to assess the healthiness of the “safety, health and environmental” protection aspects
that have been implemented by the renowned and big firms that are functional in the domain of
oil and gas sector.
1.3 Rationale of the Study
It is seen that there have been several number of workplace injuries and accidents, which
have been faced by the employees of the several companies that are operational in the oil and gas
sector and this report has influenced several kinds of researches and works on this sector in the
last few years. There has been several numbers of researches that looked to recognise the
essential factors that are accountable for these kinds of hazardous incidents (Ahmad et al. 2017).
However, on the other hand, the research works have even been undertaken with the goal of
recognising the principle and the fundamental plans and strategies that could have been made use
in order to restrict these kinds of accidents.
Conversely, the researchers have been successful in understanding the fact that very few
and restricted information is available with respect to the safety plans and regulations that have
been used in the current time period by the renowned oil manufacturers of United Kingdom.
Therefore, it is seen that this specific sector has been selected in order to undertake a research
work, with the goal of fulfilling the gap that has been available with respect to this research other
than understanding and addressing the safety and health policies, which is being actually been
used to be a prominent participant in the “oil and gas” sector.

8
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
1.4 The case
The topic of the thesis paper is related to Royal Dutch Shell and this topic ideal for this
thesis. The company has gone through organizational transformations with the help of
international centralization along with standardization, which generates very severe scenarios for
the universalism of the cultures. Furthermore, the company has look to consider a culturally and
independent safety measures and practices and these have been addressed as the golden rules
(Stephenson and Agnew 2016). The cultural diversity and globalisation that has been taken into
consideration by the organization looks to be increasingly suitable in order to have an
understanding of the universal tools in order to explain their impacts. This practice is the
essential goal of the thesis in order to have an understanding of the culture that is existent within
the organization.
The issue that is related to the company has been whether to have an understanding
whether the company is able to establish an organizational design that would be helpful in
mitigating the extent of accidents. The main issue has been creating a culture within the company
with the help of which the risks and the operational activities that have taken place within the
work environment can be mitigated (Gonzalez 2016). The paper would look to discover the
theories that would be taken into consideration with the help of which these difficult conditions
can be mitigated and accordingly the employees would be satisfied and reliability on the safety
and security measures can be undertaken.
The thesis even looks to create and understanding of the incorporation processes that is in
accordance to the safety of the company. The process with the help of which the process is
incorporated and presented is regarded to have implications on their impacts. The organizational
safety is looked upon to be safety that can be modified, transformed and impacted by the

9
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
companies with the help of the organizational features and the characteristics. The organizational
features and the designs are additionally seen to have an impact on the process of making
decisions at every level of the companies that would lead to a safer process of decision making
and rise in the level of safety. It is seen that cultural uniformity is regarded as a homogenous
trend of the fundamental estimations which are shared by the management of the company which
functions unconsciously that consequently affects the decisions that are being undertaken.
1.5 Aims and Objectives of the Thesis
The essential goal of the thesis that would be explained in this report is to predict the
effectiveness of the environmental and health safety measures and policies that have been
implemented by one of the most renowned companies that is operational in the “oil and gas”
industry of United Kingdom and the company which has been taken into consideration is the
Royal Dutch Shell. The thesis would even stress on the approaches and the policies which may
be adopted additionally by the company for attaining an increased degree of protection within the
work place.
Objective of the Study
The thesis objective that is being undertaken in this work are explained as follows:
 To assess the safety and health policies of “Royal Dutch Shell” and their effects on the
functions within the stipulated timeframe which is 2006 to 2017;
 To evaluate the environmental strategies of “Royal Dutch Shell” and their impacts on the
operations within the stipulated time frame which is 2006 to 2017;
 To recognise the probable strategies for additional developments in the current “safety,
health and environmental” plans of “Royal Dutch Shell”;

10
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
1.6 Research Questions
The thesis work that is being discussed currently looks to discover the answers and the
solutions and this is understood with the help of the research questions that have been given as
follows:
Q1. How efficient are safety and health processes and policies of Royal Dutch Shell in restricting
the injuries that are seen in the workplace for the employees?
Q2. How is Royal Dutch Shell managing their present environmental issues as an outcome of
their activities?
Q3. What policies and strategies can be incorporated by the managerial personnel for
undertaking additional developments in the current safety, health and environmental plans for
Royal Dutch Shell?
1.7 Outline of the Study
The entire thesis is framed in the outline that has been explained as follows:
Chapter 1: Introduction
This is known as the preliminary section of thesis and has been constructed in order to
highlight the basic and the fundamental ideas of the research paper so that the theme of the
overall thesis becomes easy for the readers to gain certain amount understanding. The objectives
and the aims of the thesis have been constructed in accordance to the research questions and in
this section.

11
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
Chapter 2: Literature Review
It is properly understood that the current theories and concepts aids the processes for
completing the thesis paper. The thesis has assessed the numerous currently present academic
articles (that disclose the results of the work of the research that has been undertaken on this
specific area) and has disclosed an overview of the data that has been collected from the journals
and articles in this specific segment of the thesis.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
The acceptance of the much exploited methodologies aids the procedure of undertaking
the research thesis, the recognition of the methods and processes for undertaking the data will
become simpler. The third segment of the thesis provides an overview into the research
processes that is being exploited in this specific thesis paper.
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Interpretation
The next segment of the thesis has been undertaken for assessing the interpreting the
information that has been gathered during the process of the thesis paper.
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations
The last segment of the thesis would be used in order to summarize the results and the
discoveries of thesis, besides evaluating the accomplishment of the thesis (by associating the
discoveries with the goals of the thesis as explained in the first section).

12
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
This section of the paper has been constructed in order to have an understanding of the
suggestions and the advices that have been put forth by several researchers and authors in
accordance to similar topics with the help of which a proper understanding can be attained and
accordingly a comparison with the other researches can be taken in order to bring out the best
result that would be used for the purpose of completing this thesis paper in an effective manner.
2.2 Green House Gas Emissions
Greenhouse gases traps sun’s light energy which is converted into heat energy into the
earth’s environment causing the greenhouse effect. These gases are mainly the atmospheric gases
which surround the earth environment (Tysiachniouk et al. 2018). This effect overall increases
the earth’s temperature and causes climatic change. Thus the most importance policy issue of
global system is to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and decrease the rate of climatic
change. We can say greenhouse effect is the phenomenon that is caused by some atmospheric
gases which incense the temperature of the planet by trapping sun light which are reflected back
to the plant’s surface in the form of infrared radiation. This trapping of heat happens in
troposphere and these greenhouse gases are present in the stratosphere just above the troposphere
of the atmospheric column. Joseph Fourier was the first person to discover the effects of
greenhouse in 1824. In 1854 John Tyndall did the first experiment to prove the effects, but
Svante Arrhenius in 1896 first gave the valid proof of these effects (Wade 2017).
In 1997 in Kyoto, Japan the entire world made a protocol (known as Kyoto protocol) to
form a pact and fight the issues causing the greenhouse effects and reduce the emission of

13
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
greenhouse gases specially carbon dioxide. “Carbon dioxide”, “nitrous oxide”, “methane”,
“water vapour”, and “chlorofluorocarbon” (which are industrial chemical) are mainly the gases
which are responsible for greenhouse effects as mentioned by Wade (2017). These gases are
mainly transparent to sunlight but traps infrared radiation which is emitted by the earth so as to
return it to the space as a result this infrared radiation returns back to the earth increasing its
temperature. Arrhenius also mentions that the combustion of fossil fuels will result in increase of
these gases thus giving rise to global warming. He also discovered that due to the existence of
“water vapour” and “carbon dioxide” the average earth’s temperature is near about 15
centigrade. If the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is double the temperature of
the earth increases by 5 degree centigrade, as addressed by Leschine et al. (2015). Thus different
human activities such as deforestation, gases from gas flaring, vehicles and industries, and
agriculture emit greenhouse gases increasing the concentration. These gases cause dipolar
movement which emits and absorbs radiation that are infrared in nature. Thus it is necessary to
discover an answer for the discharge of “greenhouse gases” in the UK to reduce the presence of
these gases and solve the problem of global climate change.
2.3 What is the Term Gas Flaring?
Geologists discovered that with natural gas there is a presence of the abundant deposits of
oil. Thus to extract this oil natural gas has to be removed. This removal of natural gas due to
absence of infrastructure to contain it is called gas flaring. From Texas to Saudi Arabia these
natural gas was continuously flared from the oil wells as they were considered worthless during
1960’s and 70’s. This process added around “110 million metrics” tons of “carbon dioxide” to
the environment every year which contributes to “0.5 percent” of the total emission of global
“carbon dioxide”. After 1970’s the use of natural gas was acknowledged by the companies and

14
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
this process of gas flaring has reduced. Further the decrease in the flaring process occurred with
the realization of the negative impact of burning gases were understood by the society and the
companies were pressurised for reduction of the process (Steinzor 2015). This effected in the
reduction of carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere thus improving the climatic changes.
However in UK flaring is common and it is found that about 40 percent of natural gas is charred
off in an about “2.5 billion” normal cubic feet per day. In Friends of the Earth, 2010 it is
mentioned that the natural gas lost due to the flaring process with meet the needs of one third of
natural gas of EU needs every year.
The definition of flaring states that, a gas flare is even referred to as a gas stack, which is
an upright upright transmission discovered convoys the existence of the “oil and gas” “wells”,
“rigs”, “refineries”, “chemical plant”, “natural gas plants”, and “landfills”. The purpose of it is to
remove the gas that is wasted that is not practicable for use or can be transported from one place
to another. This process also ensures that the required gas or non-wasted gas is safely acquired
with the help of pressure relieving valves when the equipment required to release the stain on
them, thus protecting the gas processing equipment from getting over pressurised (Baskin 2016).
Again, in the emergency conditions this process of flaring system helps by burring the complete
reserve gas and avoiding any casualties. The main and constituent origin of these greenhouse
gases are due to the process of “flaring and venting” of natural gas present in the wells of “oil
and gas”. Due to the reforms in 1970’s the emission of greenhouse gases from flaring has now
reduced to three quarters, which at present is about “0.5 percent” of the total “carbon dioxide”
emission. This percentage has been reduced but still is at an alarming percentage. Still it is
observed that 150 billion cubic metres of natural gas which is wasted due to the process of
flaring or venting is equivalent to approximately 30.6 billion dollars, which is same as 25

15
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
percentage of natural gas consumption in United Sates or is equivalent to the consumption of 30
percent of natural gas in European Union every year as estimated by the world bank in
September 2009 (Klare 2017).
2.4 Gas Flaring and Power Plants contribution to Global Climate change
The environmental problems are understood by society after a long and regular scientific
research, as it is not clearly noticed unless it causes some problems. Similarly effects of
greenhouse gases on the earth and global climate change were realized after many scientific
researches. After the energy policy debates in 1970s a little concentration was given to the
effects of these gases, but in the early 80’s due to sever climatic changes scientific organizations
started influencing policy makers so as to bring their attention towards the changing climate.
This attempt gave rise to only little attention, but after a series of climatic changes in 1988,
finally policy makers and society understood the severe impact of these harmful greenhouse
gases. As pointed out by McLeod (2016) that almost every sector of energy production produces
80 percent of carbon dioxide emission in the environment, in this 80 percent 70 percent is from
burning of fossil fuels from energy sector, this causes severe environmental problems. It is also
noticed 15 percent of total population produces 45 percent of carbon dioxide whereas 30 percent
emits only 7 percent of carbon dioxide, thus there was a wide difference between the
consumption of energy and emission of carbon dioxide between the rich and developing
countries. So correct this new energy production policies were made to satisfy the needs of
growing population without hampering the environment.
Changes in climate are also the result of gas flaring, causing serious problems in UK as
well as globally. It is estimated that during the course of 21st century there will be sever climatic
changes due to the discharge of “greenhouse gases” from combustion of fossil fuels that includes

16
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
“coal”, “oil and gas”. To address this problem in 1988 an intergovernmental panel was formed
by the “UN” and the “World Meteorological Organization”. In 2001 its third assembly report
was produced which said that the overall surface temperature of the globe has been raised by
nearly “0.6 degree centigrade” and by 2100 the temperature would rise by 1.4 to 5.8 degree
centigrade, giving rise to the sea level. This increase in the temperature is due to increase in the
concentration of the greenhouse gases (Andeobu, Hettihewa and Wright 2015).
The main reason for emission of carbon dioxide the major gas causing greenhouse effect
is due to the process of gas flaming and fossil fuel burning by the oil producing companies in
UK. These gases if released without venting procedure produce methane gas. This methane gas
is known as the second major gas causing greenhouse effects. These two gases carbon dioxide
and methane contributes to nearly 80 percent of global warming. In the third assessment report of
IPCC it is explained and proved that 60 percent of increase in global warming is due to the
increased activity of these wells producing oils. Scientists have found out that greenhouse gases
are formed of 17500 – 2000 of carbon dioxide and the contribution of methane in greenhouse
gases in 20 percent. Methane released from oil plants has higher potential for global warming
than carbon dioxide. Methane is a shorter life span than carbon dioxide but is more harmful than
carbon dioxide (Killian 2017). Experiments shown that 1kilogram of methane has “62 times”
more harmful effects than 1 kg of “carbon dioxid”e when kept for 20 years, over a period of 100
years its effects or powerfulness is about 23 times as compared to carbon dioxide and after 500
years it is even powerful for over 7 times. These gases have the major composition in the gas
released form the gas flaring process and power plants in UK.

17
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
2.5 Environmental Management Theories
As discussed above in this research greenhouse gases causes adverse effects in the
climate and warms the earth surface, so to understand it better it is important to go through
different environmental management concepts of different ecological and neo-classical
economics paradigms with different perspectives in the region of research.
Before going to the concepts let’s understand what environmental management is.
Tysyachnyouk et al. (2017) explained what is environment, according to him it the complete
surrounding of the earth which includes our atmosphere, land and water bodies. It consists of our
natural resources, flora, fauna and humans beings. Management is managing or maintaining it
includes different executives, leader or managers in an organization. Thus Akintola et al. (2016)
finally says that environmental management is the complete set of management activities to be
performed by the government and organizations by forming different policies for the betterment
of the environment. According to Comyns (2017) environmental management cannot alone be
considered as study it needs to be in part with different business organizational practises.
Overall, environmental management’s goal is to generate a system that will increase production
and decrease the waste production in different plants as explained by Dyker (2015).
Summarizing the whole concept leads to a very broad topic which includes
environmental obligations like governmental policies and regulations, new green technologies,
social awareness and socio-economic impacts.
2.6 Sustainable Development Concept
Wan Ahmad, de Brito and Tavasszy (2016) explained sustainable development by the
help of “Triple Bottom Line” principle which is inclusive of the “economic”, “social” and

18
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
“environmental” issues of organizations. For the basis of having a natural life it is important to
have these three working together. Economic dimension includes the profitability of the firm;
social includes cultural respect and having a quality life and finally environmental for saving and
protecting ecosystem. Thus according to triple bottom line sustainable development is a concept
that includes economic growth, social wellbeing and environment preservation.
Thus both states and organizations needs to understand this sustainable development and
bring reforms for environmental management in UK. Understanding this concept gives us the
knowledge of recycling. The following figure explains the triple bottom line.
2.7 Theoretical Framework
Patterson and McLean (2017) addressed that healthy and safe working environment in the
current time period to be decisive for the attainment and success irrespective of the sector and the
domain within which the organization functions. With respect to the workplace, efficient safety
and health provides assistance to the employees to be innovative and jubilant and even reduce
the cost of injuries that are related to individuals and the overall business. With respect to de
Abreu Campos et al. (2017), there have been numerous investigations and works for research
that has discovered the fact that efficient safety and health policies diminish the work associated
anxiety and therefore the workplace accidents getting mitigated in an effective manner.
Again, Sherval (2015) explained that care, communication and advises are the three key
elements that are essential to gain a safe and healthy work environment. Conversely, it is even
observed that managing the safe utilisation of the hazardous goods and dangerous chemicals,
managing the issues like noise, dust and fumes that are even required to manage while
functioning in the working environment. In the same manner, it restricts the unhealthy individual

19
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
health processes within the working environment. The figure below explains a theoretical model,
which has described the efficiency of the safety and health regulations and policies in a suitable
way.
Figure 1: Theoretical framework for the health and safety policies
(Source: Pendley 2017)
2.8 Occupational Injuries on the Oil Rigs
In accordance to Yemen et al. (2017), during the year 2000 to the year 2013, the
production of oil and gas companies have seen exceptional development because of a higher
number of brutal accidents that have taken place year after year. In this scenario, there is a
question that arises regarding the robustness of the safety and the health plans and processes of

20
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
Royal Dutch Shell and the oil manufacturing processes. Vecchiato (2015) has assessed numerous
information and data that has been gathered from Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) surveys. It is
viewed that, accidents that are work associated in the industries of oil and gas have risen by
27.6% that is inclusive of death that has been around 11,000 individuals. Frumhoff, Heede and
Oreskes (2015) cited that the rate of fatalities that are occupation related have fallen by 36% per
annum. Hence, it is very essential for the oil and gas companies to undertake essential initiatives
like engineering processes with the help of mechanised tools and processes and the policies that
are associated to transportation in order to reduce the fatal incidents from the plain ground level.
It is discovered that within the previous “ten years” around 1,189 employees who have been
functioning in the extraction of oil and gas have died.
Scanlan (2017) cited that in the year 2006, one of the most extensive accidents that have
taken place was in which 325 individuals have expired from 10,000 employees with more than
125 casualties.

21
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS FOR ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ON
OIL PRODUCTION
Figure 2: Fatal Accident rate in Oil and Gas Industries
(Source: Chindo 2015)
Within this time frame, it is seen that most of the employees who have lost their life have
been under the age of 25-35 years. There has been an observation that 14.3% of the employees
have lost their life because of explosions within the oil and gas companies. The frequency of the
accidents has been huge even in the drilling industries rather than the well maintenance
industries. Tarigan et al. (2017) explained that the degree of fatality in the “oil and gas” sector
has been variant in accordance to the organization and the type of events. This idea can be
regarded from the tables that have been explained in the tables below: