Employee Health and Safety Management in the Oil and Gas Industry:

Abstract

In South Sudan, work-related injuries continue to be a big problem and the situation in the oil and gas industry is considered one of the most dangerous. It is estimated that over 15% of workers die every year from occupational hazards (Nwanna, 2019). This study was aimed at examining the employee health and safety management in South Sudan oil and gas sector, with Greater Pioneer Operating company as a case. The study employed a cross-sectional design and primary data was collected from a purposive sample of 14 employees of GPOC and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Majority of the respondents for this study were females with 57.1%, and most of the respondents were in the age bracket of 30 to 39 years. Most of the respondents were Bachelor’s degree holders. The most frequently reported health hazard were personal near misses (92.9%), followed by work related injuries and confined space each with (64.3%). This was followed by 50% who reported new machines as a health hazard, and finally, 28.6% identified stress from travelling long distances as a workplace hazard. The study findings revealed that the respondents had a high level of awareness and positive attitudes towards occupational safety and health. However, most of the respondents agreed that their employees showed high commitment levels towards employee safety and health. The researcher recommends that a related study been conducted about the effect of demographic factors, knowledge, and attitudes on the implementation of Occupational safety and health, and appropriate measures be put in place to improve the functioning of the committee responsible for occupational safety and health at GPOC.