Article

Ensure Your Workers’ Safety Readiness with a Mandated Safety Orientation

Standardized Safety Orientation is a Win for Pipeline Operators and Their Third-Party Contractors

Pipeline operators are charged with ensuring safe day-to-day operations in potentially hazardous work environments, yet it’s often unclear what occupational health and safety knowledge their third-party contractors bring to job sites. Uncertainty of contractors’ general safety training and how well it aligns with their expected job duties makes it difficult for operators to mitigate risks associated with inadequate or improper safety training among contractors.

Operators can avoid risk by requiring their contractors to undergo proper occupational health and safety training and orientations prior to arriving onsite. In turn, contractors can proactively train their employees to avoid injuries and potentially deadly accidents, and to ensure that they are ready for work.

Requiring a standardized instructor-led safety orientation efficiently and effectively prepares contractors before they begin work. The right upfront safety training enables contractors to safely operate machinery and understand how to mitigate the unique safety hazards of pipeline operations. By requiring contractors to complete training, operators can more effectively manage job site safety, protecting their workforce, their organization’s reputation, and their bottom line.

Why Effective, Standardized Contractor Safety Orientations Are Worthy of Time and Attention

Human error and negligence are among the top causes of preventable incidents and accidents in the oil and gas industry, deemed one of the most dangerous work environments in the United States. While contractors may be required to meet OSHA occupational health and safety requirements as a hiring prerequisite, the training they provide to their employees often stops short of preparedness.

Effective general safety training for contract personnel who work in gas and liquid pipeline operations, including instruction, best practices, and handling of hazardous materials, isn’t a nice-to-have. The right orientation is a necessity with many important benefits, including:

Protects workers, job sites, and communities.
Reduces costly and potentially deadly mistakes.
Mitigates risks inherent with poor safety practices.
Clearly establishes your organization’s expectations regarding safety performance.
Extends safety culture throughout your workforce and supply chain.
Increases contractors’ confidence in their abilities and knowledge needed to perform their jobs, ultimately enhancing job satisfaction.

Operators mandating a standardized safety orientation for all contractors as a component of a contractor safety program not only brings peace of mind that their workforce is properly prepared to safely perform their duties, but also helps to ensure they are sent more experienced crews to their site.

Standardized, Verifiable Upfront Orientation Designed for Midstream

The right safety orientation meets the needs of both contractors and operators who employ them by providing a highly-relevant, standardized, accredited orientation that is well recognized and easily verifiable.

Veriforce’s PEC Basic Pipeline orientation course does just that. This one-day safety orientation provides contractors with a strong foundation of high-quality, instructor-led safety awareness training that’s tailored to the needs of pipeline workers. The course provides general safety information that workers need to know before entering a job site and while performing their assigned work duties, and is specifically designed to cover the hazards workers may encounter in the pipeline industry, providing best practices to mitigate those hazards.

The Basic Pipeline training addresses seven of the 2019 “Top 10” most frequently cited OSHA violations, including fall protection, hazard communication, lockout/tagout, respiratory protection, and personal protective and lifesaving equipment. It also addresses industry-critical topics, including working with Hydrogen Sulfide, confined space, hazardous materials, pipe handling, and OQ (Operator Qualification). Course participants gain a better understanding of their rights under OSHA and how those rights apply in the pipeline industry.

The Basic Pipeline training course meets SafeLandUSA™ and SafeGulf requirements and includes Gold Shovel Standard certification. Veriforce is at the center of safety solutions for high-hazard work environments with the most widely adopted safety training network of highly qualified instructors across the nation. This wide adoption allows a contractor to complete the training and gain access to job sites without having to repeat redundant training they have already received elsewhere, saving them time and money.

The training is easy to verify, giving operators peace of mind that workers have met the minimum expectations for safety training before entering the job site. Upon successfully completing the course, the contractor’s record is updated in Veriforce’s Advanced Training Tracker national database to reflect the certification. The contractor’s Veriforce Digital ID card is updated via the website for immediate verification.

Learn about how requiring a standardized orientation course like Basic Pipeline can improve the safety of workers on your job sites, providing peace of mind to all involved. Complete the contact form to speak to one of our representatives.