The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Shell Egypt have completed a joint safety leadership program that brought together 354 leaders and managers from 46 petroleum companies, according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR).
Across 13 interactive workshops, participants developed a common approach to safety leadership, focusing on how to identify risks early, encourage workers to report hazards, and apply lessons from incidents at operating sites.
The program embodies the importance of partnership and integration between petroleum sector companies and their major international corporate partners, said Salah Abdel Kerim, CEO of EGPC.
It is a shared responsibility that requires setting an example, maintaining commitment, and exerting a positive influence, all of which ensure a safe work environment that encourages participation, the reporting of risks, and the addressing of such risks before accidents occur, Abdel Kerim noted.
For her part, Dalia El Gabry, Vice President and Country Chair of Shell Egypt, noted that this program represents an extension of the constructive partnership between the two sides, reflecting Shell’s commitment to upholding the highest safety standards across its operations, as well as its dedication to transferring expertise and global best practices to the Egyptian petroleum sector.
El Gabry added that the program facilitated the exchange of expertise, the alignment of concepts regarding “safe leadership,” and a heightened awareness of the pivotal role leadership plays in embedding a culture of safety.
At the closing session, EGPC and Shell Egypt leaders discussed how managers’ decisions and priorities affect safety at operating sites. They also examined how to design procedures and safeguards that account for human error, learn from incidents, and give employees the support they need to raise concerns and make safe decisions on the job.
Enppi hosted the program, which was held under the patronage of Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, as part of the ministry’s efforts to strengthen occupational health, safety, and environmental protection (HSE) across the sector.
MoPMR has incorporated HSE training into a broader plan to retrain and redeploy petroleum sector employees. As part of the initiative, 71 Petrotrade employees in Assiut received training in HSE and firefighting ahead of a planned transfer to Assiut Oil Refining Company.
The ministry is also training 59 employees of Egypt Gas with intermediate and above-intermediate qualifications at two training centers operated by Cairo Oil Refining Company.
