News

NMDPRA to Sanction Depot Owners For Non compliance with Safety Procedures.

By Fred Shaka-Braimah

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, has threatened to sanction Depot owners and operators who fail to comply with the minimum safety standards in the downstream sector .

This followed incessant fire outbreaks and other incidents associated with movement of petroleum products across the country,

The Regional Coordinator of NMDPRA, South West zone, Mr. Ayo Cardoso made this known at a stakeholders’ engagement with depot owners and operators in Lagos.

Mr. Careloso said the high rate of accidents involving petrol tankers, fire outbreaks and contamination of the environment, due to oil and gas activities, was worrisome and must be cheked in order to bring sanity to the industry.

While blaming most of the problems on human errors, Mr. Careloso, however, urged depot owners and operators to put in place necessary safety measures.

These include regular staff training on minimum industry practices, availability of functional fire extinguishers, prompt reportage of incidents and adequate earthing around oil and gas facilities.

The NMDPRA regional controller explained that the essence of the engagement was to sensitize the operators so that no one would have any excuse when sanctions are being imposed on defaulters.

He said another round of stakeholders’ engagement would soon be organised to also sensitize operators on critical industry requirements such as licensing.

In a paper, the Team Lead, Health and Safety , NMDPRA, Akanbi Rukhayay advised depot owners and operators to ensure effective access control to restrict unauthorized persons into their facilities .

She also advised on the need for the operators to regularly service their fire extinguishers , allow trucks to cool down before dispensing contents, as well as switch off car engines when dispensing petroleum products.

The forum was attended by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps, depot owners and operators and other stakeholders in the downstream sector of the south west zone.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button