Workforce health
Our commitment to excellence in the workplace is a core value - one that shapes decision making at every level. We work to provide programs and services to help our workforce live healthier lives. A healthy workforce benefits us as a business and in turn benefits the broader community.
Through our Health Assessment Program initiatives we are educating the workforce, their families and the wider community on the importance of health and encouraging them to embrace a healthy lifestyle at work and at home.
Health Assessment Programs
Vector control
The risk of malaria, dengue and other vector borne diseases in areas of PNG is very high. As a result, we conduct regular surveillance of all accommodation, worksites and recreational facilities. Surveillance involves monitoring adult mosquito populations, larval populations and incidence across all operating sites. With this data, we build mosquito risk maps and educate workers about where and when they should take any additional precautions.
We understand the impact of malaria on individuals and communities and are working to minimise the effects on those with the disease, as well as reducing the incidence of new cases. Malaria diagnostics and the ABCD program (Awareness, Bite prevention, Chemoprophylaxis, Diagnosis early) of malaria control have been implemented at all facilities and worksites to monitor malaria control standards. To help prevent the risk of malaria, we distributed bed nets to our Papua New Guinean workforce.
Tuberculosis control
Tuberculosis control is managed in a number of ways to reduce the prevalence of tuberculosis amongst our workforce. An awareness program has been implemented to educate the workforce and their families on symptoms and actions for tuberculosis. A pre-employment and annual screening test is also carried out on all individuals working for ExxonMobil PNG to ensure no workplace transmission. To assist with tuberculosis control, we have made a significant investment in clinical management of patients and close contact tracing. The standardisation of clinical diagnosis has helped us make significant improvements in tuberculosis management.
Food safety
Food hygiene standards in all kitchens across our operating sites are monitored on a quarterly basis. Key focus areas include personal hygiene, temperature control, food handler skills and training, and kitchen cleanliness.
Water safety
Water safety is considered a critical component of our health assessment program. We work with contractors and subcontractors to rapidly identify and address water-related concerns and monitor potable water standards across all our operating sites.
Camp hygiene and safety
Sanitation and hygiene standards in all our camps are audited on a quarterly basis to reduce the risk of infectious disease outbreaks and to address areas such as cleaning and disinfection procedures of rooms, toilets and common areas, laundry procedures, fire safety, hazardous materials and ventilation.
Clinical operations
Our clinics, at Hides/Moro and the LNG Plant offer both Primary and Occupational Health services. Clinics are staffed by International SOS (ISOS) who can deliver a wide range of health services, including x-ray, ultrasound and laboratory and are fully equipped with emergency response and resuscitation capability. An ISOS clinical educator ensures staff maintain clinical competency. Our Medicine and Occupational Health team provide advice and guidance to the clinics on a regular basis.
Industrial hygiene
One of the key focus areas of the industrial hygiene program is exposure monitoring of potential high risk tasks. By working with stakeholders, we have evaluated ways to either eliminate the hazard and/or manage risks. An example of this is the condensate loading arms connect and disconnect task at the marine terminal. Through appropriate analysis, the occupational health risk to benzene was credibly assessed and reliance on Personal Protective Equipment was significantly reduced. We continue to contribute to the development of our Papua New Guinean workforce by elevating health awareness on critical activity tasks that may be relatively new to them such as welding, catalyst handling and naturally occurring radioactive material surveying.