HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, Minister of Energy & Industry and CMD of Qatar Petroleum, honoured six companies from QP’s joint ventures and contractors and three QP business units yesterday with the Qatar Oil and Gas Industry HSE Excellence Awards. The HSE Excellence Awards aim to recognise outstanding health, safety and environment programmes that are being implemented in Qatar’s oil and gas industry and promote continual improvement and the sharing of best practices in the field of HSE. The awards were presented during a ceremony held at the Sheraton Doha. In his keynote address at the ceremony, HE Dr al-Sada said safety, health and environmental protection were more than just valuable attributes of business. “They are also an organisational commitment aligned with the holistic vision of the government under the wise leadership of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. The National Development Strategy under the guidance of HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani provides the driving force to realise this vision,” he explained.The minister also called on everybody concerned to encourage the proactive engagement of all shareholders and stakeholders in the promotion of a deep-rooted safety culture and a safe working environment for all, on location and beyond. “We must increase our efforts to implement higher standards to ensure the safety and security of not just our employees, but also of all contractors, visitors and the communities within which we live and operate. We have to commit all available resources to ensure that human life comes first,” he asserted.Selected unanimously by a panel of judges, the HSE Excellence Awards 2012 in the QP joint ventures category were won by RasGas Company Limited (gold award) for its “Going Beyond: Pacesetting” initiative, Qatargas Operating Company Ltd (silver) for its “Industry-Leading Safety Performance” programme, and Qatar Shell (bronze) for its “Sustaining a World-Class Worker Welfare” programme. In the QP contractors’ category, the winners were Japan Gas Corporation (gold award) for its “SHE&S Excellence and Innovation” programme, Descon Engineering Qatar (silver) for its “HSE - Our Passion” initiative, and Blackcat Engineering and Construction Company (bronze) for its submission on “HSE Initiatives and Best Practices”.In the QP business units category, the Industrial Cities Directorate received the gold award for its “Ras Laffan Road Safety Programme”. The other winners were Refinery Directorate (silver) for its initiative on the “Utilisation of Refining Spent Catalyst” and Offshore Operations (bronze) for its work on “Ecological Improvements of the Marine Environment”.HE Dr al-Sada presented each of the winners with a trophy and a certificate of HSE Excellence and congratulated them on their achievements. He encouraged those who did not win this year to continue working hard to improve their HSE initiatives and also called on all the participants to learn from each other by sharing best practices.With the conclusion of the 2012 programme, nominations for the Qatar Oil and Gas Industry HSE Excellence Awards 2013 are now open for all oil and gas companies in the country. Interested firms can request for a copy of the submission template by sending an e-mail to hse.excellence@qp.com.qa1. HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, dignitaries and officials visiting the exhibition held alongside the awards ceremony.