Organizational factors influencing safety in oil and gas processing industry : focusing on the impacts of cost cutting and culture of safety

This article highlights the need of establishing Abdract: a positive safety culture within safety critical industries such as offshore oil and gas sector, as a vital part of their safety management systems. Obsessive cost cutting drives currently happening in the oil and gas industry is recognized as a deterrent to positive safety cultures. If not properly managed within bounds, such cost saving actions may potentially lead to long-lasting negative repercussions. The key role of regulative authorities in this scenario is discussed. In trie context of Sri Lanka, urgent necessity of a robust regulative framework and an able enforcement authority is emphasized, in order to safely utilize any hydrocarbon resources available in the Sri Lankan territorial waters

Safety and emergency preparedness in oil and gas industry : experience based on North Sea offshore platforms

It is .anticipated that viable oil and gas Abstract: resources are present in Sri Lanka's exclusive economic zone in the Indian Ocean. Offshore oil and gas exploration and production activities can nevertheless lead to formidable engineering challenges with severe safety repercussions. It is absolutely necessary to follow state of the art safety design practices with safety conscious management schemes. This article outlines the general structure of the safety and emergency preparedness practice used in North Sea oil and gas sector in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). Being one of the safest oil and gas industries in the world, it is expected that the outlined framework used in NCS can be adopted with necessary modifications to safeguard future offshore oil and gas activities in Sri Lanka. It is further emphasized that Sri Lanka needs to establish a solid regulatory framework to regulate, guide, and monitor petroleum activities within its waters

Risk Assessment of Trace Element Contamination in Drinking Water and Agricultural Soil: A Study in Selected Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology (CKDu) Endemic Areas in Sri Lanka

Unexplained or unclear etiology of chronic kidney disease (CKDu) has been reported in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province (NCP) for more than two decades. Meanwhile, high exposure to heavy metals/metalloids and their accumulation are recognized as the origin of many acute and chronic diseases in certain vulnerable human tissues including kidneys. This study evaluates the contamination status of heavy metals/metalloids of the drinking water and agricultural soil in two CKDu endemic areas compared with a reference area in Sri Lanka based on common indexes and attribute of the commonly used fertilizers evaluated to identify the basic sources of toxic metals in the agricultural soil. Mean concentrations of heavy metals/metalloids such as Mn, Co, As, Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Fe in drinking water of CKDu endemic areas were far below Sri Lankan water quality standards (permissible limits). In addition, all sampling locations dropped below the medium range of the heavy metal pollution index of water (HPI 15–40). Geoaccumulation indexes (Igeo) of soil reveal that paddy soil in CKDu endemic areas is being moderately polluted with toxic metals/metalloids such as As, Pb, Cu, Ni, Cr, Zn, and Cd. On the other hand, the application of fertilizers, which contained a high dose of toxic metals, could be the driving force for agricultural soil pollution, and limitless application of low-quality fertilizer would lead to more soil contamination with heavy metals. Hence, hazardous metals can be incorporated into the food chains via contaminated paddy soil