Operating Context
In 2018, a leadership team in the Democratic Republic of Congo was preparing to commission the country’s first LPG bottling and distribution operation. The project involved importing LPG by sea, transferring product inland over long distances, bottling at a dedicated facility, and distributing cylinders to the market.
The operation carried significant public safety, regulatory, and reputational consequences. Any failure would not only affect the business, but also shape national confidence in LPG as an energy source.
The Situation
As the project approached go-live, leadership recognised a critical gap. While significant effort had gone into engineering, procurement, and operational readiness, the health, safety, environment, and operational risk aspects had not been addressed in a structured way.
There was no local LPG expertise available in-country. The team had experience with liquid petroleum products such as diesel and petrol, but LPG introduced fundamentally different hazards, escalation paths, and failure modes.
With only months remaining before commissioning, leadership faced a high-risk situation with limited local support and no established framework to govern safe operations.
Why Conventional Approaches Were Not Working
This was not a situation that could be resolved through checklists, audits, or the appointment of a single HSE resource.
There were no existing processes, standards, or systems locally that addressed LPG-specific risks. Applying approaches used for liquid fuels would have left critical hazards unmanaged. Certification-driven or audit-led approaches were not viable, as there was no underlying system to audit against.
The situation required integrated expertise across safety management systems, process safety, dangerous goods transport, occupational health, engineering, maintenance, and contractor management. Most importantly, it required a system designed for the local context rather than copied from elsewhere.
CONSULTPLUS Engagement
CONSULTPLUS was engaged through referral and began with a rapid, senior-led assessment of the entire operating chain.
This assessment identified all critical operations, including ship unloading, bulk road transfer from port to terminal, safe LPG storage, long-distance bulk transport to the bottling plant, contractor and driver management, bottling operations, and cylinder distribution.
A comprehensive risk register was developed and prioritised to focus effort on the highest-consequence risks before go-live. Governance and control processes were designed to cover general operations, contractor management, inspection and testing of safety critical equipment, and emergency preparedness.
CONSULTPLUS worked alongside the leadership team and operational staff during the commissioning phase. This included targeted training to build LPG-specific understanding, close engagement with transport contractors who had no prior LPG experience, and real-time troubleshooting during early operations. Processes and procedures were refined based on observed conditions to ensure they were practical and repeatable.
What Changed
Following intervention, leadership had a clear and structured framework governing all phases of operation, including start-up, normal operations, shutdown, and abnormal conditions.
Operational teams were trained and empowered to understand LPG-specific risks and the rationale behind control measures. Responsibilities were clear, processes were documented, and safety was embedded as a leadership priority rather than a compliance requirement.
Since commissioning, the operation has continued under the same management system, with no reported major incidents.
Service Alignment
This engagement combined elements of Executive Diagnostic, Risk and Control Framework Redesign, and Embedded Execution Support, with full handover to the client once operations were stabilised.
Closing Reflection
Operational control was achieved by aligning leadership commitment, fit-for-context governance, and practical execution in a high-consequence operating environment.