As the oil and gas industry continues exploration in deeper waters and harsher environments and environmental concerns continue, the demand for Health, Safety and Environmental talent is at an all high time high. Supplemented by the increasingly stringent regulatory framework in the post-Macondo industry, companies are required to certify that their operations are compliant with the regulations defined by the regulatory bodies in their respective regions, thus requiring more manpower. Greater supervision is also required to prevent another environmental crisis.
Maxwell Drummond has seen a rise in the demand for HSE talent globally, though recently more so in the Gulf of Mexico region as offshore activity is beginning to pick up. The Bureau of Offshore Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement’s regulations have increased the need for more processes for inspecting and monitoring operations and equipment and more workers are required in order to properly document these efforts.
Unfortunately, like most other disciplines within the oil and gas industry, there are challenges in recruiting for HSE professionals. There is a missing generation of workers as a gap exists between the baby boomer generation, and the young professionals that are just now entering the workforce. There is also a shortage of professionals that have an operational understanding of the oil and gas industry. Companies must look outside of the industry, and then implement fast-tracked training programs to verse these professionals on oil and gas operations. Specifically in the Houston market, initiatives have been made to recruit engineers from NASA. Ex-NASA aerospace engineers have the relevant, transferrable understanding of health and safety as well as the advanced technical issues that platforms and pipelines face.
Outside the US, the European Commission has enforced laws stating that offshore oil and gas production will respect the world’s highest safety, health and environmental standards everywhere in the EU. Most oil and gas produced in Europe comes from the harsh geographical and geological conditions in the North Sea offshore the UK and Norway, and the increased regulatory demands has caused the risk and safety job market to boom. In July 2012, Oil and Gas UK released its first Health and Safety Report detailing a number of improvements already being made to offshore safety in the UK, proposed regulations and reductions in target hydrocarbon releases. As these proposed regulations come into effect, even more HSE consultants, engineers and managers will be needed in a region that is already facing a severe lack of qualified individuals. The UK must commit to sourcing global talent to meet the demand it is facing.
About the authorJamie Ferguson joined Maxwell Drummond’s Aberdeen team in 2006 and by July 2011 was promoted to Vice President of Global Business Development. Jamie has extensive experience managing executive level searches for clients spanning the oil and gas value chain and has deep industry networks developed from working on assignments in over 20 countries on 6 continents.
Maxwell Drummond International is a world leading retained search consultancy offering professional search services to clients in all sectors of the energy and natural resources industries.
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