James Kon
Exhibitions showcasing safety concerns over lifting management and work at height activities and how these concerns are progressively being addressed through enforcement activities in the form of regulatory inspections and monitoring visits were held by the Safety, Health and Environment National Authority (SHENA) at the Energy Week event during the Brunei Mid-Year Conference and Exhibition 2022 (Brunei MYCE 2022) at the International Convention Centre, Berakas.
Themed, ‘Compliance Culture, Today and Tomorrow’, the SHENA Pavilion aims to promote the legislations under its mandate and raise awareness on safety and health at the workplace and radiation matters.
According to SHENA, the exhibits promoted an overview of the Workplace Safety and Health Order, 2009 (WSHO, 2009) and Radiation Protection Act, Chapter 228 as well as the regulations under them in which all workplaces in Brunei Darussalam are required to comply.
Iteration on legal duties under the legislations were emphasised including the requirements for the appointment of Workplace Safety and Health Officer and Workplace Safety and Health Coordinator in a workplace.
Another showcase focussing on ionising radiation activities in Brunei Darussalam was also held, featuring the JAVA Realtime Online Decision System (JRODOS), radiation portal monitor, hand-held detectors and personal protective equipment (PPE) avail to protect individuals against radiation overexposure through means of predicting radiological plume direction and detect or measure radiation exposure or contamination.
As part of the radiological Emergency Preparedness and Response (ERP) capabilities, the equipment will enable SHENA to timely and effectively respond and monitor during routine operations and support first responders in the event of a nuclear or radiological emergency.
SHENA also demonstrated the health, safety and environment (HSE) performance reporting system in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economy through the Business Reporting Portal that provides a platform for reporting of HSE statistics on incidences at workplace. Supporting this feature is the step-by-step instructions on how to fill in the Initial Incident Notification (IIN) form for any reports.
Apart from showcases, a series of mini lectures were delivered to educate and raise awareness to industry stakeholders and the public.
Among the topics discussed include prevention of major accident and incident, enforcement and compliance culture, and walked through resilient safety culture in creating economic opportunities.
In line with the Brunei MYCE 2022 theme on ‘Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Economic Growth’, the mini lecture series titled ‘Resilient Safety Culture in Creating Economic Opportunities’ highlighted the importance and benefits of legal compliance with good workplace safety and health culture in any workplace.
The prospective opportunities for radiation technologies in industries such as oil and gas, healthcare and agriculture presented by the Compliance and International Division opened potential avenues that can support new economic diversification initiatives.
In ‘Enforcement and Compliance Culture’, SHENA Enforcement Division covered the legislation relating to workplace safety and health, radiation, the common contraventions observed at workplaces in the Sultanate when conducting enforcement activities.
This includes types of enforcement actions such as Remedial Order and Stop Work Order.
Meanwhile, ‘Prevention of Major Accident and Incident’ by the Process Safety Division discussed the management of safety cases in the prevention and mitigation of major accident specifically for Control of Major Accident Hazard (COMAH) facilities such as oil and gas and petrochemical facilities.
An overview of regulatory investigation and response as well as sharing of the incident statistics to date with learnings from incidents was also presented by the Investigation and Response Division.
SHENA also held interactive games promoting safety and health.