Health, Safety And Environment Developments In Qatar

As Qatar's infrastructure continues to develop and expand in line with the National Development Strategy published in March 2011, the need for a robust health, safety and environment ("HSE") regime has become increasingly evident. Although existing legislation in Qatar addresses various HSE issues, there is no single comprehensive piece of legislation universally applicable to HSE. Ensuring compliance with the requisite provisions of the various laws and regulations in the absence of such centralised legislation has been a point of considerable concern for many companies, particularly where non-compliance may lead to the imposition of fines or criminal penalties.

However recent developments, particularly the circulation on 5 May 2011 of the "HSE Legal Framework in the Oil & Gas Sector", suggest that a more uniformly structured HSE regime may be on the horizon for Qatar.