Journeying to new levels of road safety

The North Ghawar Producing Department (NGPD) has deployed cutting-edge technology to monitor in-the-field road safety of employees and contractors across its approximately 14,000 km² area of operations.

The newly established NGPD Field Operation Support Center (NGFOSC), operating from its base at Abqaiq’s South Administration Building, is a centralized hub for the coordination and monitoring of all journey management related tasks.

Trip monitoring

The NGFOSC is the latest initiative to further boost field journey safety. Aramco employees and company contractors will benefit from this new trip monitoring function when they are driving in remote areas for field operations.

The center has emerged as a pillar of safety excellence for NGPD, striving to minimize the risks that personnel face when traveling in remote locations.

State-of-the-art features

Among its state-of-the-art features, the center has an integrated dashboard that is overseen by journey management coordinators (JMCs) 24 hours a day, and includes a tracking and monitoring system.

The NGFOSC provides a 24/7 fully manned operation to ensure that all employees and contractors enjoy successful trips while employing state-of-the-art tools and technologies to facilitate their safe dispatch and return.

According to NGPD manager Abdulaziz U. Al Saleh, the new center will further improve journey safety across its area of operations.

“Due to the extent of NGPD’s landscape area, our operations are not just limited to on-site activities. Off-site or remote activities represent a great deal of our daily operations with an average annual driving distance exceeding 3 million kilometers,” Al Saleh said.

Top NGFOSC features include:

• Live Field Maps: The center is equipped with an integrated dashboard displayed on digital monitors, providing a live overview of the Corporate Emergency Response Tool.

• Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL): Dedicated JMCs are assigned to monitor all travelers to ensure everyone returns safely. These JMCs check the location of travelers every three hours and are able to communicate with them by radio or mobile phone via a centralized tracking system.

• Tracking System: The journey management tracking system allows travelers to log their personal information and trip details. Each trip is shown on the dashboard where it is tracked by the JMCs. 

If the trip is not completed (closed) during the intended period, notifications are sent to the travelers’ direct supervisor to take action. 

The department also has a number of vehicles equipped with SOS buttons. When activated, a notification containing the vehicle’s live location and number, as well as the driver’s name is sent to an emergency contact list.

• Contractor awareness: The NGDP has conducted extensive awareness sessions with contractors to include the development of their journey management programs and incorporate their automatic vehicle locator systems into the center.

NGPD has established several initiatives to bridge the gap in traffic safety, traffic violations, and notifications. Since 2017, there has been a significant improvement in driving behavior and a remarkable 93% reduction in violations and notifications.