HSE Certification for Petroleum Industry Health and Safety Management System

The HSE Management System refers to an integrated management system that encompasses Health, Safety, and Environment. Accountability is at the core of the HSE Management System.

HSE stands for Health, Safety, and Environment. The formation and development of the HSE management system are the outcomes of many years of experience in the oil and gas exploration and development industry. In the 1970s and 1980s, people began to pay attention and reflect on the impact of social and economic development on societal progress, further evolving into concerns for social welfare, human rights, and the environment. In the 1990s, some multinational corporations and large modern conglomerates started to establish professional health, safety, and environmental management systems as a code of conduct for corporate self-regulation. By the mid-1990s, the principle of third-party certification was introduced. In 1989, Shell Oil Company issued the Occupational Health Management Guideline (OHUG) and released the Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) policy guidelines. In 1991, an international conference on health, safety, and environmental protection in the oil and gas exploration and development industry was held in The Hague, Netherlands, and the concept of HSE was gradually accepted. In 1995, China sent representatives to participate in the work of the ISO/OHS Special Working Group. In 1997, the China National Petroleum Corporation issued the Petroleum and Natural Gas Industry Standard (SY/T 6276—1997) "Health, Safety, and Environmental Management System for the Petroleum and Natural Gas Industry."

The trends in the development of the HSE management system are: (1) The deepening and broadening of HSE issues in the industry, where enterprises expand their international perspective, extending the concept of HSE and the connotation of corporate safety. The understanding of losses caused by accidents in safety, health, and environmental management is becoming more profound and involves more detailed consequence analysis. (2) The "externalization" of safety and health issues in the industry. This includes: safety and health issues occurring increasingly outside of direct working hours; safety, environmental, and health issues occurring more frequently outside the enterprise; and safety, environmental, and health issues being increasingly triggered by external factors. (3) The publicization and legalization of industry safety, environmental, and health issues, along with the professionalization of management personnel. (4) Managing safety, environmental, and health through the concept of human resources. This involves: at the decision-making level, establishing a management committee involving experts; and at the departmental level, committees composed of employees and supervisory personnel. (5) The emergence of a new health and safety management model. In all human resource activities, safety, environmental, and health management are activities that require proactive behavior. (6) New health management issues take a more significant position. These include employee stress and mental health issues, indoor environmental quality and sick building syndrome, and cumulative trauma disorder, among others. (7) International issues brought about by economic globalization—internationalization of human resources and new issues related to safety, environmental, and health.