There was a fire at the Saudi Aramco oil facility in Riyadh on the 19th October 2016. The fire injured 17 workers, with three of casualties needing specialized treatment. This is not the first fire accident that the Saudi Aramco oil company has had in the recent past. It was reported that on the 20th September this year, there was a fire at their Gold Coast Tanura facility. This accident injured eight workers at the facility. The two fires show a possibility of neglect of the proper workplace regulations at the company.

The Saudi Aramco oil company is expected to abide by the Occupational Health and Safety regulations (OHS) to avoid accidents in the workplace. According to OHS regulations, hazardous and flammable materials in the workplace should be stored appropriately and away from any other materials. The employees in the workplace should be educated on how to handle these materials. In the case of Saudi Aramco oil company, hazardous materials would be the flammable oil products and electrical connections that would easily cause a fire. Since the company handles a lot of highly flammable products, they should also monitor all mechanical machines to ensure that there are no sparks produced as a result of friction as these sparks would also cause fires. The OHS regulations also insist on proper ventilations and emergency exists to aid in vacating the workplace in case of a disaster such as a fire.

The recent fires at the Saudi Aramco oil company point towards a neglect of the OHS regulations by both the staff and the OHS head office. It is the role of the OHS officers to ensure that the OHS regulations are enforced in workplaces to reduce the chances of disasters. A fire tragedy in the oil company is a direct consequence of the neglect of the OHS regulations. If the flammable materials were properly handled and stored away from any materials that would cause a fire, the accident would have not happened. Also, the number of casualties would have been reduced if the OHS regulations were enforced.