hether on the North Slope or a rig in Cook Inlet, working in Alaska’s oil and gas industry is a high-risk endeavor. The state’s largest remote workforce faces dozens of potential dangers every day: explosions and fires, confined spaces, exposure to hazardous chemicals, the potential for slips and falls… the list is long. And compounding these dangers are frigid temperatures, whiteout conditions, daylong darkness, and even the occasional wandering polar bear.

So, it’s not hyperbole to say that one of the oil and gas industry’s top priorities is protecting the health and safety of both its employees and the environment by implementing safety protocols that minimize the risks and help mitigate damage should an incident occur. Engaging the help of health, safety, and environment (HSE) specialists is a critical part of creating and implementing effective safety protocols.

“A health, safety, and environmental professional is a competent person when it comes to industrial health, occupational safety, and environmental compliance,” says Ezequiel Chalbaud, director of QHSE at Fairweather. “HSE professionals look after the health, safety, and well-being of their fellow workers, the HSE management systems that drive regulatory compliance, and best practices within their organization.”

It’s a complex job description that requires a diverse skill set.

“On any given day, an Alaskan oilfield HSE professional could wear many, many hats,” says Carrie Whitfield, project manager with the Alaska Safety Alliance. “They may be performing administrative office tasks and ten minutes later they are across the field taking air samples to ensure workers aren’t entering dangerous spaces.”

Their exact roles and defined responsibilities vary depending on the size and scope of the project, the organization, and the size of the HSE team itself, but all HSE professionals play a crucial role in ensuring the health and safety of Alaska’s oil and gas workers.

“A lot of the HSE professional’s skill set in this industry is gathered over time,” Chalbaud says. “Practical experience in the field, ideally under strong mentorship from senior HSE professionals, is extremely valuable. And when this is complemented with formal education and training, you get the best of both worlds.”

The educational background of HSE professionals can range from single courses on specific subjects and professional certifications to an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate degree.

Although HSE professionals are responsible for implementing policies that promote a workplace culture of health and safety and reduce occupational and environmental risk, the precise role they play within an organization changes depending on specific circumstances.

“The role of an HSE professional is not a one-size-fits-all and varies by company and industry,” says Drew Laughlin, the safety, health and environmental program director for Ahtna Netiye’. “The skills needed by an HSE professional must include good communication, industry-specific qualifications/certifications, a combination of hands-on and formal education, and the ability to solve problems and apply critical thinking.”

“Given that HSE professionals interact with personnel at all levels of the organization, from the laborer to the executive, and have to handle a complex set of tasks and information, they need to be well-rounded individuals that can communicate effectively, both in written and oral form,” Chalbaud says.

HSE workers must also be nimble enough to handle evolving workplace conditions and regulatory requirements, as well as have the ability to earn their colleagues’ respect.

“Regardless of their background, an HSE professional must be a great mentor with unwavering integrity,” Whitfield says. “To have this, you must be honest, detailed, often stubborn yet respectful, patient, always willing to learn, and supportive of new ideas. Continuous improvement is an integral mindset for any safety person, always asking, ‘How do I make the process more efficient and safer?’”

There is no set size for a company’s HSE team: “An HSE department size can vary greatly, depending on the size of a company, project, and company or client needs,” Laughlin says. “Just as an HSE professional is not one-size-fits-all, the HSE department varies depending on need.”

Teams may be comprised of internal hires, outsourced to a subcontractor, or a combination thereof depending on several factors, including the specific project and expertise needed for that project.

“Like many oil field positions, this is determined by the availability of experienced hires, project timelines, and the business model of each company,” Whitfield says. “Whenever possible, most companies prefer to retain and rehire direct employees. However, companies may sub-contract their advisors, especially for short term projects.”

Ideally, that “immune system” begins with organizations taking a proactive approach to safety that looks to prevent incidents from occurring.

“HSE professionals oversee or use a variety of preventative measures… pre-planning the work, with safety being at the forefront,” says Andy Postishek, HSE manager/corporate safety, health and environmental program manager for Ahtna Netiye’ and Ahtna Construction & Primary Products Company. “Most HSE professionals [also] follow the widely used risk elimination, reduction, and/or mitigation strategy.”

Inspection and audit programs and safety observation programs are other typical preventive programs HSE specialists may use in the oil and gas industry.

“[There is] no better prevention effort than being present in the field where the work is actually being done,” Chalbaud says. “Like they say, where the rubber meets the road.”

That means that HSE workers can expect a mix of office and fieldwork.

“Time in the office environment versus the field will vary,” Laughlin says. “Many HSE professionals see a split of their time that is affected by the work season. For example, HSE professionals in Alaska often work over seven months of the year in an office environment on project planning, proposals, and providing training. When the work season begins, they are often in the field working directly with the work crew, as part of their team, ensuring that the work planned is executed and performed safely.”

Every element is important, Whitfield says, and determining the proper balance is similar to maintaining a work/life balance.

“Often you do what demands prioritization at the time,” she says. “The office work, data, and documentation are essential to safety in the field. [But] in the event of an incident, the accident investigation is going to take precedence over something like filing training rosters from your morning training session.”

Collecting and analyzing on-site data is another preventative measure that helps minimize or eliminate risk.

“One of the most effective prevention measures organizations can implement is a safety observation program which engages the worker in identifying hazards and at-risk behaviors in their work area and requires them to help in the solution and mitigate the hazard,” Chalbaud says.

Information from these observations is then fed into a database that lets the organization track trends that give a general direction to risk reduction efforts. For example, if data showed a risk trend regarding confined space entry, the organization would know to focus on risk reduction efforts toward that specific area.

“Alaska has a limited credentialed talent pool in a lot of career fields, including HSE,” Whitfield says. “During large ramp-ups or turn around projects, this often results in recruitment of workers from outside Alaska.”

Also, working in such a remote location can have a detrimental effect on an employee’s physical and mental health.

“Employees on the North Slope are a long way from home—even those that live in Alaska,” Whitfield says. “It can be an ongoing challenge to keep workers focused, physically healthy, and mentally prepared for new work in a potentially hazardous environment.”

Alaska’s terrain is another factor that poses unique health and safety concerns.

“HSE professionals working in the Alaska oil and gas industry should have knowledge and an understanding of the weather extremes and work within them, wildlife concerns, longer work shifts, rotational work schedules, [and] the variety of not only oil and gas industry hazards but also that of construction and general industry hazards,” Postishek says.

Responsible environmental stewardship also takes on heightened importance in Alaska.

“Operating in the Alaskan Arctic requires a high standard of environmental practices and protocols to ensure minimal disturbance to the natural setting,” Chalbaud says. “Respecting the land and the people that depend on it must be a strong value for any oil and gas organization doing business in the region. People have inhabited these lands for thousands of years prior to the discovery of oil and gas, and their traditional subsistence lifestyle lives through tradition, and ensuring the land can sustain future generations of Native Alaskans is of the highest importance.”

Despite the variables among department size, project scope, and defined duties, taking a proactive approach and involving HSE professionals as early as possible is the best way to secure a safe, hazard-free work site.

“The sooner you involve the HSE advisor, the smoother the overall job will go,” Whitfield says. “Detailed pre-planning is one of the most effective ways you can fully utilize advisors and make the greatest impact on preventing incidents, accidents, and/or project delays.”