Ensuring health and safety in petroleum built environment : the case of Sri Lanka

Abstract

The petroleum-built environment is an important area of concern, which mainly includes refinery and storage facilities. Since its hazardous nature leading unexpected accidents and disasters, the safety of petroleum-built environment has become a vital requirement to eliminate the hazards associated with the petroleum process. However, a comprehensive study on safe handling of petroleum products in Sri Lanka is not reported so far. Hence, this study aimed at enhancing the health and safety in handling process of petroleum products in refinery and storage facilities. A comprehensive literature review was initially conducted on the petroleum products handling process, and national and international safety guidelines. Case study method was used since this study requires an in-depth investigation. Two prominent cases for refinery and storage facilities were studied to collect the data. Content analysis technique was used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that Factories Ordinance, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Guideline, Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) standard, and National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Guideline are commonly considered in ensuring health and safety of petroleum-built environment. Further, the chronic deceases in lungs and heart, cancers, high noise generation, unwillingness to use personal protective equipment (PPE), bowser and wagon accidents, fuel fire risk, pipeline leakages, and water and soil pollution were highlighted as common health and safety issues in refinery and storage. Finally, various strategies were proposed to overcome the identified health and safety issues ensuring the health and safety of petroleum-built environment.