RasGas Celebrates Record Safety Milestone

RAS LAFFAN, Qatar, December 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

More than 30,000 construction workers achieve record 100 million manhours LTI-free at Ras Laffan

RasGas Company Limited celebrated an unprecedented record of 100 million work manhours Lost Time Incident (LTI) free at a ceremony in Ras Laffan this morning.  This impressive achievement became a reality as a result of RasGas' on-going commitment to safety and through its stringent safety strategies, systems and processes.

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The celebration was attended by His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry and Chairman and Managing Director of Qatar Petroleum, Hamad Rashid Al Mohannadi, RasGas Chief Executive Officer (CEO), RasGas Board of Directors, Barzan Executive Committee, President and General Manager of ExxonMobil Qatar Inc., RasGas' Executive Leadership Team, international dignitaries as well as representatives from the various contractors and sub-contractors. It was also attended by 10,000 of the multi-national contractor site workers who made this amazing achievement possible.

During the celebration, welcome speeches were given by Mr. Al-Mohannadi and Mr. Bseiso, RasGas Chief Venture Officer and a short film on the record achievement was also shown. Guests later visited the Barzan construction site, where H.E. Dr. Al-Sada in his speech recognised and congratulated the contract workers and toured the project site.

H.E. Dr. Al-Sada, expressed his pride with this achievement. "On behalf of the State of Qatar and Qatar Petroleum, I am delighted to join you today to celebrate a historic achievement and to congratulate all of you for accomplishing 100 million man-hours without a lost time incident," he told the site workers at the celebration.

"This remarkable safety milestone could not have been achieved without the exceptional teamwork and attention to detail by RasGas, its contractors, and sub-contractors; but most of all, it could not have been achieved without you following the correct safety procedures.  Each of you has worked hard as a single team for this recognition; and you deserve this celebration. I sincerely thank you for making Qatar proud," added H.E. Dr Al Sada.

H.E. Dr. Al Sada stressed that the State of Qatar sees no room for complacency when it comes to the welfare, well-being, and safety of its workers. "What really matters for us at the end of the day is that everybody goes home safe."

His Excellency, The Minister expressed admiration that, in total, more than 30,000 workers from 45 countries have contributed to this historic achievement. He also recognised the efforts of RasGas adding "I also would like to thank RasGas, which is not just a reliable energy supplier, but is also an industry leader in safety and environmental performance".

The 100 million man-hour record is an industry best and reflects RasGas' commitment to creating a safe workplace by setting high safety standards and ensuring operational excellence. "RasGas does not compromise on safety; as a world class global energy supplier, safety governs every aspect of how we do business.  I am very proud of our impressive achievement and  extend  my congratulations to the RasGas Venture Group, project management teams, contractors, subcontractors and site workers for making this incredible milestone possible," said Al Mohannadi.

Tasked with overseeing all RasGas construction projects, the Venture Group is dedicated to implementing and promoting safety across all construction sites. Over two million safety observations and interventions have been conducted during current Venture activities, and programmes such as "Total Safety Task Instruction" have helped raise the safety standard and quality for hazard assessment and work processes in the field. 

"When all project elements are considered - including, having a workforce of more than 30,000 workers from 45 nationalities, a three-square-kilometre complex project site, and working at a rate of over 1.5 million hours per week - successfully managing all these components simultaneously makes reaching this achievement truly remarkable. said Mr. Bseiso.

To demonstrate RasGas' appreciation, contract site workers were invited to a live concert by bands from their home countries followed by a special international lunch.

NOTE TO EDITOR

Below for your use are quotes and reactions from some of the ambassadors who were present at the celebration

H.E. Sanjeev Arora        
Ambassador of India to Qatar   

This has been a very informative, enjoyable and interesting visit; very impressive. We in India have deep admiration for Qatar in their strive to develop in the different spheres and what we saw this morning is living testimony to that. It's very heartening that there are professionals and workers from so many countries.  I was delighted to meet colleagues from RasGas and professionals from various parts of the world.  It seems that the largest numbers are from India. 

The friendship between India and Qatar is time-tested; it is steeped in history and the presence of our large accomplished vibrant and highly regarded community is a demonstration of that friendship and partnership and the growing cooperation we have in different spheres.  I think such partnership between our two countries are natural and add to our mutual benefits.

Mr Ganesh Prasad Dhakal

Chargé d'Affaires

The Embassy of Nepal in Qatar

I would like to congratulate RasGas for the 100 million manhours LTI-free achievement. On this occasion, I would like to congratulate all of the personnel working at the company. It is an amazing company and I have seen so much construction underway. It is a big achievement in the field of management for the gas industry.

RasGas is actually providing a very good opportunity to workers from Nepal. We want to send more Nepali workers in the future to this prestigious company.

H.E. Syed Masud Mahmood Khundoker

Ambassador of The People's Republic of Bangladesh to Qatar

Firstly, I want to congratulate RasGas for successfully competing 100m man hours LTI-free. This is the best celebration.  I am really amazed to see this huge construction project and it is really complex one and you are managing this project and construction work very amazingly.  I am very much happy.

We have a lot of Bangladeshis working in Qatar and about 500 in RasGas. We are very proud to have the opportunity to serve the Qatar economy. We are partners of Qatar's economic activities.  We are really proud of it.  Our workers are happy to work here.

Ms. Nada Al-Nashif

Regional Director

International Labor Organization

I think we were very impressed to be part of this event.  I represent the International Labor Organization and we work across the world to ensure the high international standards including Occupational Safety and Health.  Given the scale of this project and the diversity of workers here, it appears to come together in a seamless fashion to ensure a great record.  So congratulations and we're happy we could be a part of this.

About RasGas

RasGas Company Limited (RasGas) is a Qatari joint stock company established in 2001 by Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil RasGas Inc. RasGas acts as the operating company for and on behalf of the owners of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects RL, RL (II) and RL3 (Project Owners).  With operations facilities based in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar, RasGas' principal activities are to extract, process, liquefy, store and export LNG and its derivatives from Qatar's North Field. RasGas, on behalf of the Project Owners, exports to countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas with a total LNG production capacity of approximately 37 million tonnes per annum.

For pipeline sales gas to the domestic market, RasGas also operates the Al Khaleej Gas Projects, AKG-1 and AKG-2 supplying approximately 2.0 billion standard cubic feet (Bscf) per day. RasGas is currently adding production capacity by building the Barzan Gas Project which when fully operational in 2015, is expected to supply approximately 1.4 Bscf of additional sales gas per day to the Qatari market to meet growing demand for energy at power stations and downstream industries.

RasGas currently operates the Ras Laffan Helium Plant which was established in 2003 and came on stream in 2005. The plant extracts, purifies and liquefies helium from the North Field. The second helium plant entered production in June 2013 bringing the total liquid Helium production capacity to 1.96 Bscf per year. http://www.rasgas.com

SOURCE RasGas Company Limited