Developed by global oil and gas training standards body OPITO International and delivered in partnership with Atlas via approved test centres, IMIST brings a standardised level of basic safety training to an estimated 1.5 million oil and gas workers worldwide for the first time. The training assesses basic safety knowledge in nine subject areas including risk assessment, asset integrity process safety, the use of hazardous substances, working at height, and mechanical lifting, among other subjects.

Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. (Sakhalin Energy) is the operator of the Sakhalin-2 project under a production-sharing agreement with the Russian Federation. It is committed to being a premier energy supplier, recognised for its operational excellence, reliability, and safety.

Richard Evans, HSE General Manager of Sakhalin Energy said, "IMIST fits well with the business principles of Sakhalin Energy to support our operations and the people working within to achieve our “Goal Zero”: No harm to people and no leaks. Our HSE management approach is based on both strict observance of Russian rules and regulations and compliance with international HSE standards. We continue to invest in the safety of our people, to help them avoid risk."

John Rowley, CEO Atlas added, "We are delighted that Sakhalin Energy has adopted IMIST for the Sakhalin-2 project, affirming their commitment to safety. Sakhalin Energy is providing IMIST across the project’s partnership organisations, demonstrating the importance to the company of all personnel being trained to a consistent level of safety awareness.

"Now that IMIST is being rolled out across many oil and gas regions, industry is starting to see the benefit of this safety certificate to address the challenge of inconsistency of training across countries and projects and multiple HSE standards within operating and service companies. With all personnel trained to the same standard in HSE, IMIST helps set a consistent level of safety practice across global operations,” he concludes.

Atlas has recently translated IMIST into Russian to support the roll out of this eLearning programme on the Sakhalin-2 project. It can be tailored to meet each region's language needs and is currently available in eleven languages including Arabic, American and UK English, Hindi, Bahasa Malaysian, Bahasa Indonesian, French, Thai, Vietnamese, and Russian;  Kazak will be available soon.