From Russia's Rosneft to airports, cos queue up to train personnel at ONGC institute


PTI | New Delhi | Updated: 19-09-2021 13:24 IST | Created: 19-09-2021 13:12 IST
From Russia's Rosneft to airports, cos queue up to train personnel at ONGC institute
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From Russian and French energy giants to airport operators in India, companies are queuing up to train personnel in fire safety and disaster management at state-owned ONGC's premier training institute.

Russia's Rosneft, Total of France, domestic energy majors IOC, GAIL, HPCL and OIL, private firms like Cairn, airport operators GMR and Airports Authority of India (AAI) are among a long list of clients that have at some point time trained their personnel at the Institute of Petroleum Safety, Health and Environment Management (IPSHEM), its head and ONGC Executive Director Atul Garg said.

The Institute, which shut its physical training module after the outbreak of the pandemic, is this month resuming physical training after a gap of one-and-a-half years.

''We have a backlog of in-house personnel who need to be trained in aspects such as sea survival to fire safety. And so to begin with we will impart training to ONGC personnel and later look at meeting industry demand,'' he said.

From basic fire fighting training and environment management to blowout control and disaster management, the institute offers a wide range of courses.

Its vast campus in Goa houses a hostel and real-life equipment. ''The Institute is equipped with simulators that are used to recreate real-life like events such as a fire at oil and gas pipelines, depots and tankers, wellhead blowout, and fire on helicopters. Personnel is trained in controlling fire as well as a rescue at various installations in a refinery, oilfield, pipeline, and fuel storage depot,'' he said.

From fire safety management to investigating incidents and accidents, from breathing apparatus courses for fire personnel to conducting search and rescue in smoke-filled rooms, from helicopter landing assistance to survival at sea, the Institute offers comprehensive training.

Specialized courses such as crane operators safety, incident investigation, and oil spill management are also offered, he said adding the institute is accredited to leading global bodies.

Started two decades back intending to provide Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) personnel with statutory disaster management training, IPSHEM has gained popularity not just among energy peers but also in an industry where fire training is a must.

''AAI and other airport operators such as one at Mumbai have sent their personnel to train in fire safety. We have requested from a lot of others but because of the pandemic, we couldn't train. Now that the Institute is reopening, we will first clear the backlog of ONGC personnel and thereafter intake outside personnel,'' Garg said.

The Institute earned close to Rs 1 crore in 2019-20 in fee from training outside personnel.

ONGC personnel deployed at oil and gas field operations are required to undergo safety training once every four years. For them, the Institute offers survival at sea and undersea rescue and relief.

The institute has so far trained over 78,000 personnel.

Garg said the institute is also doing work on offshore environmental monitoring including analysis of seawater and sediments.

The Institute has drawn a Rs 120 crore expansion plan to create a new hostel with 72 rooms and develop new fire safety modules, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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