The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has introduced offshore safety permit to ensure adequate protection of oil and gas workers.
DPR Director, Andrew Obaje, who disclosed this at the launch of the permit, described it as Personnel Accountability System, designed to account for oil and gas industry personnel working in the Nigerian swampy and offshore environment in line with the requirements of applicable legislations.
He stated that in addition to certification tracking, the system will also provide government with necessary tools to monitor personnel competence and ensure speedy achievement of Nigerian Content Act. He said the Nigerian Offshore Safety Permit wouldbe deployed as a stand-alone solution for personnel accountability in the Nigerian oil and gas industry hosted in the National Data Repository (NDR) within the DPR.
Obaje stressed that the objectives of the permit is also to guard against the loss of lives through effective training and ensure compliance with the provisions of the Nigerian petroleum regulations and applicable international codes, standards and best practices to achieve the vision of zero offshore incidents.
He declared that henceforths, all offshore and deep offshore workers must have an offshore safety permit that is strictly base on the Department’s Guidelines for Obtainment of Offshore Safety Permit.
