2019 Volume 84 Issue 2 Pages 166-177
Japan Oil, Gas, Metals National Corporation （JOGMEC） is a governmental organization chartered for securing a stable supply of oil, natural gas, metals, coal, as well as geothermal power for Japan. As a part of its roles, JOGMEC provides financial support to Japanese companies working on the exploration and development of such natural resources. However, those activities involve within them certain risks for health, safety and environment （HSE） as well as for the social sustainability. JOGMEC states in its HSE policy that it will also try to reduce HSE risks involved in those projects under ?nancial support from JOGMEC. To con?rm that those companies securely make efforts to reduce such HSE risks to the acceptable level, JOGMEC has defined a series of HSE evaluation standards since 2005. Those standards have been de?ned to be conformable to the international standards such as Performance Standards and Environment, Health and Safety （EHS） Guidelines of International Finance Corporation （IFC）.
These years, in response to the recent global trend of HSE and social sustainability, JOGMEC reviewed the HSE evaluation standards, and released the revisions together for the all four business fields （oil & gas, metals, coal, and geothermal）. Especially for the social responsibilities, a clause for the protection of labor rights, and several sub-clauses for detailed requirements against the impacts on livelihood have been added to the latest revision. The importance of monitoring process has been restated in the HSE evaluation standards, and it was decided to add a process for JOGMEC to monitor the HSE performance and progress of the projects.
This paper describes the main part of the revised HSE evaluation standards, detailed background of each item, and the points to be con?rmed during the HSE evaluation by JOGMEC.
