CaribPR Wire

HOUSTON, 29 October 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Following the successful launch of the strategic partnership between Petrotechnics and the University of Trinidad & Tobago (UTT) in late 2012, the partnership has successfully certified its first graduates in the Hazard Identification and Task Risk Assessment courses. The courses were designed to help develop locally supported high quality critical hazard awareness and risk assessment capabilities for the oil and gas workforce in the region.

The initiative prompted by bp Trinidad and Tobago recognised the need for locally provided consistent and ongoing training for its offshore workers as well as to develop local capability in this space. Bp’s strong ongoing connection to both Petrotechnics and UTT offered a powerful self-sustaining business model using Petrotechnics’ world renowned training consultants to deliver its unparalleled ‘train the trainer’ courses within a highly respected academic institution.

After a year, this ground-breaking programme has produced the first series of fully certified trainers. The first crop of graduates have been assessed in a broad range of Control of Work competencies including Hazard Identification & Risk Assessment (HITRA) and Sentinel PRO® Level 1 and 2 training courses.

Petrotechnics’ senior training consultant, Mike Bowie, spent over a week supervising the final assessments for the candidates. To make sure that the programme produced more than conceptual understanding, the candidates were put through intensive and comprehensive observation of their learning and technical application by real life bp delegates.

Following the successful field assessment as part of this certification of these first candidates, they are now able to provide hazard awareness and CoW training for local workers without supervision.

Speaking of the partnership and progress, Iain Mackay, Executive Vice President of Petrotechnics stated “It’s a major milestone for all parties, Petrotechnics, bp , the University and most of all for the successful candidates. Petrotechnics has always been a firm believer in empowering individuals and local communities. Especially when it comes to ensuring safer, more effective risk management in our industry. With our track record of delivering safety education and industry leading work management software solutions including our new Operational Performance & Predictive Risk platform, Proscient; the support of UTT and the growth of the local industry cultivating self sustaining local safety capabilities was the most logical and rewarding thing to do. We hope these first few candidates will be the start of a significant wave of local safety talent within the region. ”

Zameer Mohammed, Assistant Vice President of the UTT’s Profession Education Unit commented on the successful engagement among the stakeholders: “The initiative was one of the better examples of an entrepreneurial engagement among industry, academia, and community. This triple helix engagement was an approach consistent with the University’s mission. The result of this inevitably can produce a cadre of Trinidad and Tobago nationals fully equipped with the competency set to sustain the requirements of industry.”

Petrotechnics and UTT have plans to build in the partnership, adding annual re-accreditation and expanding the coverage of the courses to include Isolations Management and Safety Leadership.

For more information on these and other programmes, look at http://www.petrotechnics.com/services-and-training/our-courses

About Petrotechnics
Petrotechnics was founded with a vision to keep more people safe in hazardous industries.  Our award winning solutions have been helping customers transform their frontline operations for over the past 15 years.

Petrotechnics as an organization knows first-hand the challenges your organization faces.  We have been helping companies improve their production efficiency and lower operational risk for almost 15 years.  Our software systems have served as the cornerstone for more than 22 companies across 385 sites on 6 continents and more than 50,000 users to optimize how they manage workload against risk according to policy.

Our customers see tangible hard ROI in the form of fewer unplanned shutdowns, faster turnarounds, reduced maintenance backlog, reduction in permit & contractor wait time and of course improved management of operational risk.  Our background, track record and passion about keeping people safe can help you be more successful whether it’s a single plant or a global implementation.

Petrotechnics is based in Aberdeen, UK and offices in Houston, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore.   www.petrotechnics.com