412 people killed as Nigeria’s oil sector struggles with safety

About 412 people have been killed in the last four years in Nigeria due to negligence in the storage and distribution value chain of the country’s petroleum industry.

The fatality, which occurred from 2018 to 2022, yesterday, raised fresh concerns about the state of health, safety and environment practices in the country’s downstream petroleum sector as fire incidents in fuel retail stations and tanker accidents top the reasons for loss of lives and property.

Stakeholders in the petroleum products transportation industry, who gathered at a meeting hosted by the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in Abuja, noted that the development remained unacceptable.

While accusing fingers were pointed at the recklessness of operators, Petroleum Tanker Drivers, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Nigerian Association of Transport Owners (NARTO) raised concerns about the continuous sale of substandard vehicle parts in the country, bad roads and poor infrastructure to support haulage of white products.

Coming amid alleged drug abuse by truck drivers, lack of training and others, NMDPRA blamed operators for not allowing the trucks to settle at retail stations before beginning to discharge as well as failure to ground the truck, discharging during high temperatures, maintenance works on the truck while discharging, discharging and dispensing simultaneously and leakages on the truck.

North Central Regional Coordinator, NMDPRA, Maijiddah Abdulkadir, who spoke at the event, said operators must prioritise the need to fully comply with relevant Health, Safety and Environment laws and Regulations as stipulated in the PIA.\

She insisted that collaboration is critical to forestall the dangers/risks posed by unwholesome practices and noncompliance to statutory provisions with respect to safety in the transportation of petroleum products including gas.

“The NMDPRA has planned to recommence the Health Safety and Environment (HSE) technical audits; of which the outcome will be used in liaison with other Directorates, in the issuance of various licenses. The HSE technical audit will evaluate the adequacy of the HSE requirements, competency and training of staff engaged by the operators.

“This will no longer be business as usual, it is now safety first, and the NMDPRA would ensure that the aspirations of the Federal Government by passing the PIA is achieved. The law has provided in clear terms, that in the case of negligence by any operator, such operator would be sanctioned accordingly,” Abdulkadir said.

According to her, the aim is not to sanction the operators but to ensure that operations are run in a safe manner to protect people, assets and the environment is the reason for today’s engagement.

Addressing the safety concerns in the industry would enable the sector to attract growth, reduce insurance premiums and protect the public, she noted.

Going by the rate of safety issues in the industry, as of 2021, an average of one death is being recorded every four days in the sector as incidents recorded already in 2023 show that the year could become worse for such development.

To reduce the incidents, NMDPRA insisted that truck and every station must have adequate earthing cables and hoses of various sizes for discharge and coupling

The regulator also noted that truck inspection must be carried out before loading and unloading, adding that drivers must be trained.