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What do morning commutes, onshore oil refineries and world championship snooker tournaments all have in common? They’ve all been the subject of a Just Stop Oil protest. 

The group, founded in February 2022, began protesting outside oil terminals in the UK to take a stand against new fossil fuel production – with activists demanding a greater focus on greener energy sources. 

And whilst Just Stop Oil protests are aimed at raising awareness of the environmental impacts of oil and gas extraction, the decision to ‘take action’ can cause safety concerns for both protestors and those in close proximity. 

In this blog, we’ll focus specifically on the oil and gas industry, and talk about how two-way radios can help navigate a protest before it escalates. 

A peaceful protest is still high risk

Recent Just Stop Oil protests may have been more about creating headlines than anything else, but when the environment is an oil refinery (rather than a snooker tournament), things can turn dangerous even when that isn’t the aim or intention. 

Wind the clock back to October 2021 and you’ll find a story where protestors from Extinction Rebellion broke into the UK’s biggest refinery and scaled two 50 feet tall silos. This was an act that is both disruptive and potentially life threatening. 

Just Stop Oil themselves blocked access to three refiners in August 2022, citing more action will be taken in 2023. 

Protesting in numbers can cause major issues for workers on-site, not just when activists have decided to scale a silo. There’s the potential for violence and injury and significant property damage. The property damage in itself can create safety issues down the line. 

Blocking access to site can create hazardous situations for staff, who may be stranded or in need of a medical attention. Causing disruption outside of the site will not only cause delays for the transportation of oil and gas, but it heightens the risk of accidents for oil tankers and other vehicles. 

So, t’s important that organisations take protests very seriously and consider the worst-case scenarios in order to protect their teams. 

The role of the two-way radio

Many businesses in the oil and gas industry use two-way radios for the purposes of worker safety, productivity, and operational efficiency. 

Mobile phones are rarely allowed on-site and instead ATEX radio solutions are put in place. But they’re seldom utilised to counteract the threat of action from the outside world. 

But the daily advantages of having instant communication, multiple safety features, and the ability to use and share data should transfer when it comes to combatting planned protests. 

Benefit of instant communication

Digital two-way radios offer instant, reliable communication. They don’t rely on a ring tone or for someone to pick up the device for the conversation to start. At the push of a button you’re able to relay important updates instantaneously. 

This is a priceless commodity in scenarios where people are caught off-guard by protesters who hadn’t publicly announced they were showing up. 

Safety in numbers, and features

“Safety in numbers” is a saying that correlates well in this scenario. Especially as the industry has a lot of workers operating on their own. If protestors are spread far and wide off-site, or even on-site, then it’s important that workers have the right tools at their disposal. 

Digital ATEX radios have features such as Lone Worker, Man Down, and dedicated panic alarms so the signal can be sounded to the control room if they’re in a high-risk situation. 

And as protestors find more sophisticated ways to stay one step ahead of the oil and gas industry, businesses must assume that their sensitive information could be breached at any point. 

That’s why it’s important for businesses to use digital radios as they have varying levels of encryption on them, making it harder for conversations to be intercepted. 

Smarter data, smarter ways to work

In a modern environment, the use of smart data is as powerful as the use of voice. Digital two-way radios don’t just allow people to have individual or group calls together – they allow end users to gather, analyse and act upon data to make quick decisions. 

Firstly, digital ATEX radios are GPS-enabled, so you can track the location of a radio user in an outdoor space. This means that businesses can strategically place workers before, during, and after protests to keep an eye on their whereabouts in real-time. 

If something doesn’t appear to be right on the map in front of them, control room dispatchers can alert the right people at the right of the next course of action. 

Businesses can also use geofencing around a defined perimeter of their site to make sure only authorised personnel are within a restricted area. If for whatever reason a radio user in an unusual part of the site (outside of the geofence) then the control room will be alerted to the fact. 

This gives businesses greater control of who is coming and going from the site. 

Learn for the future

One of the most underappreciated benefits of a digital ATEX radio is the ability to record conversations in real-time and play them back in MP3 format. If a business becomes the focus of a protest they can use the findings from the event, listen to how it unfolded, and then put the right measures in place to reduce the impact for the next time. 

Should it get to the point where activists are repeatedly targeting the same location. 

In conclusion, digital two-way radios are an effective way to navigate a protest, both from a safety and efficiency perspective. The risks of worker safety is equally matched with the financial risks of a broken supply chain. 

The flexible nature of radios also serves as a great alternative to other communication products out there. In particular mobile phones, which can’t normally be used at an oil and gas refinery.