There is a very high commitment to HSE in the NDC. NDC Chairman Mr. Abdulla Nasser Al-Suwaidi (Director of Exploration and Production and Deputy CEO of ADNOC) has clearly stated that Safety is of paramount to the success of NDC. He has even gone further and stated that Safety and maintenance / integrity are essential for NDC's continual existence. This is a very strong message to the NDC organization.

The NDC Chief Executive Officer Mr. Abdulla S. Al Suwaidi gives emphasis to HSE every week during Executive Management Team meeting and other occasions when he meets NDC staff during visits. This top level commitment is highlighted to all staff through the NDC motto "HSE is first in NDC"; this means that HSE issues comes first in meetings and should be considered first before all jobs.

National Drilling Company (NDC) owns and operates 11 offshore jack-up drilling rigs and 22 large onshore drilling rigs and a multi purpose barge. In all NDC operations “HSE” take priority. NDC corporate objective is to continuously achieve world class HSE performance. Generally, NDC has all the ingredients and components to excel in HSE.

Management and supervision (at all levels) are being fully committed to HSE policies and objectives by all staff and contractors.  They are to be seen as providing a leading role towards constant improvement through leadership and action planning.  Our dedication to the health and safety of our employees is matched by a commitment to reducing the environmental impact of our operations. This is essential for the long-term sustainability and success of our business.

In NDC, the competency, experience and HSE pro-active systems are in place but we are always looking for the highest level of implementation effectiveness by focusing on quality. NDC management used the Management Visits (MV) & Cross Functional Inspections (CFI) as tools to ensure HSE systems are in place and that the HSE message is clearly cascaded and communicated to all workforces. .

Our HSE strategy is to focus on the following crucial issues:-

The whole action is based on the existing NDC HSE-MS elements.  NDC HSE-MS elements are the mechanism for identifying and paving the way through which NDC meets the requirements of the HSE Policy and demonstrates, in detail, the systems, practices and procedures that deliver against each HSE expectation.

Staff are empowered by the HSE Policy (signed by CEO) to STOP any job, which they feel unsafe. High quality Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) are made available and emphasis the use according to the nature of the job.

All staff attends mandatory HSE Courses and regular refresher courses are conducted on-site by Safety Engineers. Emergency procedures are explained to staff and drills & exercises are carried out regularly to ensure staffs are familiar with the procedures. NDC have made major efforts to obtain enhanced risk awareness through rig site staff involvement. Main three pro-active systems are HSE Observation Reporting, CHECK Cards, and Behavioral Safety Auditing. Further most for the drilling rig HSE Systems includes (Job Safety Analysis, Permit to Work, DROP Checklist, etc.) are in place to identify, eliminate or mitigate the risks.

NDC has implemented a full journey management system called “VMS” (vehicle monitoring system) producing a step change in the behavior of Company authorized Drivers. VMS success is due to comprehensive analysis of VMS data and prompt feedback to drivers. Drivers’ performance is analyzed monthly and published widely across the company.

HSE Division investigates all incidents (HIPOs’ & NMSs’ & recommendations distributed to all sites to avoid recurrence of such events. All NDC recordable accidents, incidents and High potential cases are investigated and Safety Flashes are issued across the company, in addition HSE Division compiles external Safety Alerts from multiple sources and after analysis the application with our operations, are regularly distributed across the company.

HSE Division prepares annual plan for internal & external audits to meet contractual obligation with clients (ADMA & ADCO) and to comply with the ADNOC Code of Practice ( CoP ). Further, after analyzing the previous year accidents and incidents, weakness areas are identified ; specific audits are also carried out to eliminate or reduce the risk levels.

Interface documents with NDC clients are agreed for HSE-MS coverage and Environmental issues plus with shipyards to define level of HSE control.

The policy empowers, under the direct authority of the CEO, all NDC staff to STOP any NDC operation, which they consider unsafe.

Outstanding record of 16 years LTI free operation of ND-17 is one of the notable achievements. Rig ND-17 has successfully worked more than 7 million man-hours without a Lost Time Injury. It is a milestone in the history of our Drilling Business. As per IADC record, only 12 rigs worldwide achieved equal or more than 15 years where NDC achieved 1 in 22 rigs.

As a drilling contractor, NDC is affiliated with International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), the organization based in Texas, USA. They compile world wide drilling safety statistics report through a program called “Accident Statistics Program” and analyze accident trend and feedback to their members. When NDC is benchmarked against worldwide IADC rates, NDC’s performance is commendable compared with other drilling contractors.

The good HSE performance that NDC has experienced over the previous 6 years continued in 2011. In 2011, NDC achieved the lowest LTIF record (0.26).  When NDC benchmarked the HSE Performance against worldwide IADC rates, it was found to be far below the worldwide average. It reflects our implementation of effective risk recognition and reduction techniques, awareness campaigns, extensive training, clear targets, awards, and discussion of recent incidents. We value learning from genuine mistakes, while disciplining willfully wrong doings and negligence.

Out of 33 rigs, 16 rigs have successfully completed more than 4 years of operations without an LTI and this record includes onshore rigs ND-17 with 16 years. Also, another 13 rigs completed more than a full year of operations without LTI.

NDC received a special recognition award in the prestigious 2010 ADNOC Annual HSE Award. The submission titled “A snapshot in Asset Health”.

Protection of the surrounding environment comes on the top of NDC priorities and targets. NDC management believes that achieving drilling and work-over activities can be accomplished in tandem with taking care of the environment.

The “precautionary approach” had always been the NDC choice for protecting the environment. The International Standard ISO14001-2004 was selected to be a framework for managing this approach. One of the recent most important milestones is that NDC was accredited with the ISO14001-2004 surveillance audit without non-conformances. In June 2011, ISO14001-2004 NDC was recertified for another 3 years which reflects the NDC commitment & dedication towards protection of the environment.

The overall aim of Occupational Health Service in NDC is to promote the physical and mental health and social wellbeing of employees and contractors. The service covers,  curative management of sickness and injuries arising in the workplace, specialized and super-specialized modalities of treatment, Pre-employment, periodic and post illness / injury medical examinations to determine medical fitness to work, Preventive health services including health promotion and ill health prevention, Occupational health risk assessments designed to determine potential work-related health problems, establish controls and manage the risk of occupational illnesses.