The Efficacy of the Regulatory System in Uganda’s Health and Safety Programme in the Oil and Gas Sector

Abstract

The Piper Alpha oil blow out disaster in the North Sea in the United Kingdom in 1988, the Gulf of Alaska blow out in 1989, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the Niger Delta Oil Spills in Nigeria in the 1990s all provide lessons concerning high end risks associated with oil and gas extractive activities. The finds, in Uganda, of commercial quantities of oil in 2006 renew the inevitable debate of whether Uganda, a new entrant into the global oil producing club, is ready to face the challenges of hazardous risks prevalent in the oil and gas industry. This research study interrogates the efficacy of the environmental management, Occupational Health and Safety in Uganda’s Health and Safety programme in the Oil and Gas Sector. The study makes a case for review of the existing regulatory approaches, elimination of regulatory gaps/overlaps, and adoption of a risk management model. The study makes recommendation for adoption of a combination of prescriptive, performance- based and safety case regulatory approaches.