Non-accidental deaths (NAD) represent an increasingly important yet insufficiently visible fatality challenge across the energy industry. Cardiac events, undiagnosed or poorly controlled medical conditions, chronic disease, mental-health-related factors, substance misuse, and other natural causes may culminate in sudden deaths across operating sites, projects, remote locations, and workforce accommodation. While these events are commonly classified separately from occupational accidents, their occurrence can expose underlying vulnerabilities in workforce health, working and living conditions, fatigue management, medical surveillance, access to care and organizational leadership. The industry has developed mature governance systems, performance indicators, and executive accountability for preventing accidental fatalities. Yet a fundamental question remains: should a potentially preventable non-accidental death receive less leadership attention simply because it is not classified as an occupational accident?

This session will move the NAD conversation beyond reactive case management and individual medical fitness. It will examine whether the energy industry needs a more integrated approach that treats workforce health as an enterprise risk and a leadership responsibility supported by stronger data, earlier intervention, clearer accountability, and meaningful performance indicators. The discussion will explore emerging patterns in NAD, including the interaction between cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases, undiagnosed health conditions, fatigue, mental health and psychosocial factors, workforce demographics, remote and rotational work, contractor vulnerabilities, and the wider conditions in which people work and live. It will consider how predictive health screening, risk stratification and timely clinical intervention can be combined with broader worker health and welfare measures to strengthen prevention.

The session will also challenge leaders to examine whether current HSE dashboards tell the full story. Should organizations establish a NAD rate, a potentially preventable NAD indicator, or a broader Worker Health and Welfare Index? What leading indicators could provide earlier warning screening coverage, control of critical health risks, fatigue exposure, access to care, mental health support, accommodation and welfare conditions, or closure of high-risk health interventions? And who should ultimately own the outcome: Occupational Health, HSE, Human Capital, contractors, or business leadership?

Aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goal 3.4, which calls for a one-third reduction in premature mortality from major non-communicable diseases by 2030 and the promotion of mental health and well-being, the session will explore how the energy industry can translate a global health ambition into measurable workplace action. The ambition is to move from counting deaths after they occur to identifying vulnerability before it becomes fatal—and from viewing NAD as an individual health issue to recognizing it as a shared leadership challenge. The session will seek to define what good governance looks like, what should be measured, and whether the industry is ready to give workforce health the same visibility, discipline, and accountability that it applies to process and personal safety.