Global Compliance

Oil and Gas Sector of Oman – Health and Safety

Introduction

The Sultanate of Oman Government is committed to maintaining the safety and health of workers, improving the performance of oil and gas sector workplaces, and contributing to the prevention and reduction of accidents, injuries, and occupational diseases. This is due to the application of legislation on the health and safety of workers in the Labor Law issued by Royal Decree No. 35/2003.

The Law regulates worker safety standards by imposing obligations on the employer. This can be done through provisioning medical care and protective means to protect workers from risk of injury during work, and enforcing worker duties.

From this point on, The Sultanate of Oman has issued a Regulation on occupational safety and health measures in establishments subject to the Labor Law Issued by Ministerial Decision No. 286/2008.

The Regulation defined the basic criteria that the employer must consider in the workplace. Additionally, the Law provides the basic needs of the workers, means of prevention, the definition of work risk, and health care for workers.

This practical note guides and assists readers to know the duties of an employer. These duties include providing for the security and safety of workers in the oil and gas fields.

An Overview of the Laws

• Sultanate Oman Labor Law.
• The Labor Law establishes the foundations and standards for maintaining the health and safety of workers that the employer must observe in all fields, including oil and gas:
• Duties of the employer (mentioned in Articles 100-103 of the Labor Law): According to Article 33, the employer shall provide medical facilities for his workers in the establishment, which shall be free of charge.
• The employer shall establish a front rescue point near the places of work. These facilities shall be equipped with the essential rescue equipment and necessary first-aid supplies. Inside the center, a communication facility shall be available which can be used instantly. A trained medical worker shall be appointed to supervise the rescue and first aid operations.
• In oil and gas workplaces, the employer shall provide drinking water and it shall be kept in special containers tightly closed to avoid contamination. Water shall be placed in reach of the workers but must be hygienically approved.
• The employer undertakes for his workers:
• To provide suitable lodgings for the workers.
• To provide his workers with three meals a day in restaurants to be established by him. The restaurants shall be clean and satisfying health conditions.
• If the meals are provided to the workers inside the oil and gas workplace, they shall be presented to the worker packed in a healthy manner or in tightly sealed containers.
• Provisions of meals shall not be waived in consideration of any payment of the financial allowance.
• To supervise the cleaning inside the place of work, the lodging area, and the worker's water closets.

The Regulations on Occupational Safety and Health: (Articles 7, 15 and 18)

• The employer shall inform the workers, before they take up work, of all the hazards they may be exposed to, and train them on protective procedures. 
• The employer shall take the necessary actions to provide sufficient protection of the worker's safety during their presence in work sites.
• The employer has to make sure that the conditions prevailing in the workplace are sufficiently safe for the workers' health, particularly in terms of:
• Lighting: By Provision of sufficient, adequate, natural or artificial lighting, free from direct or reflective rays.
• Heating and Air Conditioning: Technical methods should be used to control high temperature, such as absorbing substances or temperature reflecting devices.
• Ventilation: Avoid bad air by providing a natural or artificial ventilation system that provides fresh air in the workplace.
• The employer must provide work clothes and personal protection equipment adequate to the nature of the work performed.

Worker Duties: (Article 27/7 of the Labor Law)

• The worker shall abide by the instructions of safety and vocational health at the establishment which is prescribed by the law and instructions of the employer.
• According to Article 8 from the Regulation:
• The workers shall use means of protection
• The workers shall keep themselves away from injuries and refrain from all acts intended to obstruct the implementation of these instructions or cause harm or damage to the means set-up to protect the safety and health of their fellow workers.

In the Event of Occupational Injury (Articles 12 and 13 of the Regulation)

• The owner of the establishment shall be committed to notifying the department or section in writing within (24) hours of any serious accident, work injury, or occupational disease whose occurrence has been established.
• The employer shall also be committed to providing the section with periodical statistics on work injuries and occupational diseases that have been established.

In Case of Serious Work Accident: (Article 33 of the Labor Law)

• The employer shall provide his workers in addition to the aforementioned with all other facilities of treatment which require the assistance of specialist doctors or surgical operations or the like, as well as necessary medicines.
• If the worker is treated in a government or private hospital, the employer shall incur the cost of treatment, medicine, and in-patient care at the hospital.

Glossary

• Sultanate of Oman Labor Law issued by Royal Decree No. 35/2003.
• Sultanate of Oman Regulations on occupational safety and health measures in establishments subject to the Labor Law Issued by Ministerial Decision No. 286/2008.
• The department: The occupational safety and health (OSH) department of the directorate general for laborers welfare.
• Employer: every natural or corporate person employing one or more workers in consideration of a wage.
• Worker: every natural person who works with an employer in consideration of a wage and is under his management and supervision.
• Work: Any human effort- intellectual, technical, or physical- exerted in return for a wage, irrespective of whether such work is permanent or temporary.
• Wage: Any consideration, in cash or in kind, given to a worker, in return for his service under an employment contract, whether on yearly, monthly, weekly, daily, hourly, piecemeal, output or commission basis. 
• Serious accident: An accident that causes a permanent total or partial disability or death to a worker, or causes injury to a worker, or leads to losses in production and equipment.