Thursday 21 / November / 2024
Muscat: The Manah power plant near Nizwa run by the United Power Company (UPC) and Engie Stomo (Suez-Tractebel Operation and Maintenance Oman) has successfully completed more than 8,000 (22 years) Loss Time Accident-free days.
Three years ago, the plant celebrated 7,000 accident-free days, which was a record in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The recent achievement, which took place on April 26, is in line with its commitment to the highest levels of worker health and safety standards throughout the entire range of activities at the plant, including operations and maintenance.
An event held to celebrate the achievement saw the presence of the directors and senior management of UPC and Stomo. Certificates of appreciation were presented to all the staff at the plant. The celebration was also attended by representatives of the Authority for Electricity Regulation (AER).
Zoher Karachiwala, CEO of UPC, noted, “UPC complies with the highest standards of health and safety, and the result of which is a safe and accident-free environment for all employees and crew. On behalf of UPC, I would like to extend my gratitude to each and every employee, stakeholder, and contractor, without whom this success would not have been possible.”
Luc Dietvorst, COO, Oman & Bahrain, for Engie Stomo, said, “We are extremely honoured to be a part of UPC’s recent success. At Stomo, we constantly establish a firm commitment to the health and safety of our employees and a safe working environment."
"All our managers have completed the IOSH ‘Managing Safely’ training and attended the rigorous Nebosh IGC training programme. Furthermore, all plant workers will be attending the IOSH ‘Working Safely’ course, while Instinct Health and Performance coaching is conducted for each employee, every year,” he added.
Stomo operates the Manah Power Plant and is ISO 14001 certified for Environmental Management and OHSAS 18001 certified for Health and Safety Management across the six plants it operates in the Sultanate. Stomo has instituted an online health and safety monitoring system, Intelex, which enables real time tracking of all safety-related observations and ensures that these are attended to at the earliest. Regular audits by its main shareholder and "fresh eyes" observations by personnel from other plants enhance the quality of safety at the plant, and also reiterate the importance of maintaining safety systems to all the plant employees.
Saif Nasser Al Sinawi, Site Manager at the Manah plant, said, “It is truly an important achievement for our plant crew, as well as our clients to be able to carry out our operations over the years without a Loss Time Accident. Safety in all its forms is one of the key principles that is stressed upon at Manah. Together with the plant’s operator, Stomo, we are extremely grateful and will continue being actively involved in carrying out the required safety protocols at the plant, including safety walks and spreading awareness through safety committee meetings.”
The Manah Power Station, which commenced operations in September 1996, was the first privately owned power generation facility to interconnect with the national power grid. Partnering with the Government of Oman, it has ever since been a benchmark for all other power plants commissioned in the Sultanate.
“We have successfully completed 22 years of safe operations and we will continue to maintain this record, ensuring the highest standards of safety are maintained at all times. I would like to once again thank Stomo, who are in-charge of plant operations and all ongoing maintenance, and I am confident that with their continuous support, we shall see this record rise even further in the future,” added Karachiwala.
