Comprehensive HIA of Greenfield Gas Project in Papua New Guinea

The current paper provides a narrative of the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of a greenfield project located in a remote part of Papua New Guinea. HIA, in the context of this project, is presented as one of the processes that a company needs to go through in order to develop a site-specific Health Management System (HMS). The objective of a narrative is to tell a story; in this case the story describes how the HIA was carried out. Many guidelines on HIA exist and HIA reports are available. However, very little information is published and presented about the challenges encountered during the delivery, as well as about the management issues that need to be addressed in order to deliver an HIA in remote regions. Up to now we have focused on creating rules and structures for HIA; however, not enough attention has been given to their implementation, and even less to the consequences for not complying with the recommendations. Furthermore, impact assessments are usually described on their own or within the life cycle of the project. However, there is little information on how this process links with the other ones in the development of a site-specific Health Management System and which kind of choices are made in this regard. Projects always interact with the external environment where they are located. This environment poses health, safety and security risks for the project. At the same time this broadly defined environment, where the project is located, is altered and impacted by the project itself. Therefore, the "project" and "environment/context" are two essential parameters to understand the health challenges that a company need to manage when starting a greenfield project. The paper concludes systemizing the experience of this HIA in key practical tips for people implementing HIA of complex projects in remote locations.