PNOC EC Leads 2012 SHAPES Awardees

7 December 2012, Traders Hotel – PNOC Exploration Corporation continued its strong finishing kick for the year as it led a plethora of companies honored during the 2012 Safety and Health Association of the Philippine Energy Sector (SHAPES) Awards in Pasay City.

The SHAPES awarding ceremonies were held during the eighth Energy Safety and Health Conference. It was held in conjunction with the ongoing National Energy Consciousness Month (NECM 2012) under the auspices of the Department of Energy.

PNOC EC Officers led by Restituto G Taganas, Manager of the Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) Office received four major awards during the mid-morning ceremonies.

Four out of the five PNOC EC field operation units received awards: the Energy Supply Base in Mabini, Batangas, the Batangas Coal Terminal in Bauan, Batangas, the Naga Coal Terminal in Naga, Cebu, and the Tondo Coal Terminal in Tondo, Manila. These four units were given the Corporate Safety Excellence Award for three years of continuous operation without any Lost Time Accident, covering the period of 1 November 2009 to 31 October 2012.

Receiving the awards on behalf of these units were Taganas, Allan Caringal, manager of the Energy Supply Base, Bien Marasigan of the Batangas Coal Terminal, and Dr Ana Santos MD, PNOC EC medical officer.

PNOC EC earned the awards after the SHAPES selection committee evaluated and verified the monthly safety statistics and other safety reports by respective field units through the HSSE Office. “It is a testament to the commitment of safety and health, and the culture of safety that your company (PNOC EC) was able to win these awards,” said Director Mario C Marasigan of the Department of Energy, Chairman of SHAPES Inc and overall Chair for the SHAPES awarding committee.

SHAPES as an organization started several years ago as an initiative of the DOE to foster greater and more professionalized safety and health programs and policies for the Philippine energy sector. “It started out as sort of a small committee on safety in the Energy Department and then grew to include the entire energy industry,” explained Taganas, one of the original progenitors of SHAPES.

The SHAPES organization aims to promote highly professionalized Safety and Health programs in the energy sector and give due recognition to best practices in this field. “Safety should not just be a slogan but a culture, and every one in every company, especially those in hazardous fields should imbibe a culture of safety,” explained Jimmy Reyes, the primary conference resource person and a safety engineer and consultant. “Safety is everybody’s concern, and not just the safety officer’s. That is why giving awards and citations like the ones you received are also important so that such efforts are recognized and made as examples,” he added.

Herbert E Funelas, the PNOC EC representative to the SHAPES Board of Directors was very upbeat about the company continuing its commitment to safety and health. “I hope we can continue all of our operations without any lost time accidents. And it is not just for the awards; of course we want to provide safe working conditions for all of our personnel,” he said. PNOC EC was already cited by the DOE for accruing over two million man hours without lost time accidents in its Malangas Coal Project operations earlier this year.

Other awardees this year included the Korean Electric Power Company (KEPCO), the Energy Development Corporation (EDC), Chevron and Sea Oil.