JULY 202119MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSSafety Concerns during Oil & Gas Industry Downturn; Along with Change and Changing Times Coming to All!By Mike Pittman, Safety Director, Industrial Service SolutionsAre companies continuing to promote safety during a time of such pressure around costs and lean job markets? In three days, there were three different explosions within plants, accident related fires, an accident causing one of the largest explosions in the world to date. Not even bringing up the continued fears in the streets. This is reason for safety concern. Adding fuel to an already burning fire of industrial downturns, comes in many different forms. A time when business leaders should be concerned about every employee's health and well-being, including mental stress state of mind. (There are "A LOT,") of other fear factors going on everywhere around the world. As never before havingto absorb, i.e. COVID-19 concerns, for self, loved ones, schooling, layoffs, overall job marking(s). Hundreds and thousands of jobs have completely been done away with in these times of changing environments. The oil and gas industry has taken on the greatest downturn so far in farin its history. This down-turn for many years started before COVID-19 came along; Slowly but surely the oil and gas industry has been going through a down-turnover the past (5-6 years). Staffing themselves within the oil and gas industry with tenure, knows already how the past down turns have progressed. Believing this one no different, yet time and now COVID-19 brings about the worst ever seen in our lifetime. Many complete rigs and other businesses having to shut down, and all other oil and gas industry facilities being highly affected over this, multiple year of continued down turning. Now, management is faced with one of two different ways each individual company leadership may perform in; concerning professional safety performances and awareness. 1) Leadership can allow occupational safety to become lessoned, through reducing safety professional (s). Allowing safety to be placed on the back burner as leadership strives as never before to maintain business operations.2) Leadership can acknowledge the highest priority of safety needed, knowing that what already is a down industry, does not become an even worse costly and harmful environment. The greatest differences in this down-turn is; each individual employee will be affected in some manner not due to their individual work performance, but what is going on in the world around them. Pressure of individual concerns for their own jobs, may cause individuals to start believing that by taking short cuts and risks, they will complete their work assignments faster; excluding or causing reducing safety out of the entire process.CXO INSIGHTSMike Pittman
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