From Offshore Platforms to Office Buildings: Making Ozone Protection Everyone's Responsibility

World Ozone Day: a practical workplace perspective

Ozone protection can sound remote from everyday work. Yet cooling equipment sits in accommodation blocks, offices, control buildings, workshops and food-storage areas.

Its environmental performance depends on everyday decisions made by people across the organisation.

The Montreal Protocol addresses ozone-depleting substances. Its Kigali Amendment also addresses HFCs, which do not deplete ozone but can have significant climate impacts. The workplace contribution is practical: understand the substances in use and manage them responsibly.

Give each role a clear contribution

Operators and building users can report deteriorating cooling performance, visible equipment damage or recurring defects through the established system. Their role is to provide useful observations without attempting unauthorised servicing.

Maintenance teams investigate faults, complete appropriate work and retain evidence of refrigerant movements and repairs.

Procurement staff specify suitable equipment, reliable documentation and competent servicing support. Stores personnel maintain identification and stock control.

HSSE teams help connect environmental objectives with risk assessment, contractor expectations and assurance. Managers provide the time, resources and accountability needed to resolve recurring problems.

Make contractor expectations specific

“Service the air conditioners” is an incomplete expectation.

The agreed scope should address technician competence, refrigerant identification, appropriate handling and recovery, defect reporting and the service records to be supplied.

The receiving team should know what evidence is required before accepting the job. This makes environmental performance part of the work order rather than a separate awareness campaign.

Make reporting lead somewhere

Imagine a control-room operator repeatedly reporting poor cooling. The technician restores performance, but no one reviews the recurring fault.

The reporting system has captured the concern; the organisation has not yet resolved it.

Give repeated defects a clear escalation route. Tell the reporting person what was found and what action followed. That feedback helps maintain confidence in speaking up.

Use World Ozone Day to test ownership

Ask five people from different departments: Who owns our refrigerant inventory? Who approves refrigerant changes? Who confirms recovery during equipment removal?

Different answers reveal an opportunity to clarify responsibility.

Choose one joint action for the observance: review contractor service records, inspect the inventory or resolve a recurring defect. Assign an owner and report the outcome to the workforce.

Ozone protection becomes part of work when each person can identify a contribution and see how it connects to the next person's responsibility.

Discussion question: Which refrigerant-management responsibility could fall between our departments?