Main Findings

• In recent years, Vietnam oil and gas industry had developed many jobs; create new occupational conditions, new level of hard work and toxicity. Therefore, conduction of researches, surveys and assessment on the situation of occupational condition; classification of occupational conditions; compilation of list of Hard, Hazardous and Dangerous occupations were required. The list of occupation was the important ground for the standardization of occupation’s names; the basis for the initial formulation of social insurance policies; working-resting schedule of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group.
• Occupational conditions in oil and gas projects were hard, toxic and involved potential high risk of insecurity, especially in marine works and in the northeast winds season.
• The nature of complex technical work and specific nature of marine oil and gas project imposed a typical occupational burden for labor. Occupational conditions of oil and gas industry had temporary and long-term influence on exhausted status of workers. Almost all of the respondents suffered from exhausted status such as physical strength, hearing, sight and nervous exhaustion, physical ache: muscle ache, backache, etc.
• The decreasing level of working ability of working crew at marine areas was relatively high. The typical working conditions at marine projects resulted to the incomplete resilience and the fatigue accumulation during the working shift, which leaded to the fact that the level of working ability reduction and the fatigue in the dying days was 10% higher than in the beginning days of the shift. Chronic effects leaded to the high level of working ability reduction in the whole life (25-31%). Health of the workers had the tendency to deteriorate based on the years of working and fell rapidly after 20 years of working.
• Occupational conditions also had impacts on mental health of workforce at the marine gas and oil projects. The result of interview showed that majority of respondents reflected a status of excessive stress and it is noticeable that the group of 30-to-40-year-old young workers suffered from unstable mental status, which might lead to mental disorder.
• Health-Safety-Environment of the Group and grassroots units was implemented effectively, management apparatus of the Health-Safety-Environment was established and consolidated; management system of Health-Safety-Environment was gradually updated, completed and developed.
• Based on the identified influences of occupational conditions at oil and gas projects, the research team compiled the list of Hard, Hazardous, Dangerous and Extremely Hard, Hazardous, Dangerous Occupations of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group.

Solutions

• To submit to the State management agency on labor to issue the list of Hard, Hazardous, Dangerous and Extremely Hard, Hazardous, Dangerous Occupations in Oil and Gas industry.
• Impose regime for working and resting time; regime for fostering in kind; wage regime, healthcare; pension regime for Extremely Hard, Hazardous, Dangerous Occupations and typical occupations, etc… under the provisions of Law on Labor 2012.
• Continue to improve occupational conditions, promote solutions using robots to replace humans in extremely dangerous areas.
• In industry-scale, apply the integrated system of Safety-Health-Environment management, implement effectively work analyzing report, Stop-card, etc…
• Develop culture of occupational safety – culture of prevention at workplace. Preserve and develop Conference on Health and Safety and Contest for Occupational Safety and Health Officer.

2013 – M.A Nguyen Van Du