Introduction
The oil, gas, and petrochemical sector constitutes the backbone of Iran’s economy and is characterized by large-scale, capital-intensive projects that require rigorous planning, effective management, and systematic safety assurance. Among the most critical phases of such projects is equipment procurement, which plays a decisive role in ensuring operational safety, technical reliability, cost efficiency, and timely project delivery. Due to technical complexity, international sanctions, economic volatility, and the diversity of specialized equipment, inadequately secured procurement processes may lead to financial losses, safety incidents, quality degradation, schedule delays, and disruptions during commissioning and operation.
The Bidboland flare gas recovery project, located in Khuzestan Province and recognized as the largest gas refinery in West Asia, represents a strategic national initiative aimed at capturing flared gas, reducing environmental pollution, and enhancing petrochemical production capacity. Although the refinery has a designed processing capacity of approximately two billion standard cubic feet of gas per day, it currently operates at nearly 40% capacity due to feedstock limitations. The recovery and transmission of associated gas from surrounding oil fields are essential for achieving full operational capacity. Given the strategic importance, scale, and complexity of this project, ensuring a safety-oriented equipment supply chain is crucial, as any disruption in procurement directly affects project cost, schedule, quality, and commissioning safety.
Previous studies emphasize the importance of proactive and structured approaches to securing equipment procurement in large industrial projects. Research has shown that insufficient attention to procurement safety can result in cost overruns, delays, and serious safety incidents (Peck & Kowaruska, 2013; Adafin et al., 2016; El-Redy, 2012). More recent studies highlight procurement challenges related to supplier reliability, equipment authenticity, logistics constraints, sanctions, and financial instability, underscoring the necessity of systematic safety-oriented procurement management in oil and gas megaprojects (Abdulameer & Haron, 2022; Forough et al., 2020; Wang & Liu, 2022; Zein & Hassan, 2022).
Accordingly, the present study aims to identify the key components affecting the safety of the equipment supply chain in the Bidboland flare gas recovery project and to propose practical managerial and preventive strategies for enhancing procurement safety. The study seeks to address two main questions: (1) What are the critical factors influencing safety-oriented equipment procurement in the project? and (2) Which managerial and preventive measures can effectively enhance procurement safety and reliability?

Background
Safety-oriented procurement management refers to a systematic process of identifying, evaluating, and controlling potential disruptions in the equipment supply chain to ensure technical compliance, quality assurance, operational safety, and project continuity (ISO, 2019; Zhang et al., 2021). In large-scale oil and gas projects, equipment procurement is a strategic function due to specialized technical requirements, financial exposure, logistical complexity, and external constraints such as sanctions and market volatility (Farooq et al., 2020; Abdulameer & Haron, 2022).
Ensuring procurement safety involves supplier qualification, verification of technical specifications, quality inspections, logistics supervision, and continuous monitoring of supply chain performance to prevent the use of substandard or non-compliant equipment (Hosseini et al., 2019; Zein & Hassan, 2022). Key dimensions influencing procurement safety include technical and quality aspects, financial and currency conditions, logistics and commercial arrangements, contractual and legal frameworks, political and sanctions-related constraints, and compliance with safety standards. Effective management of these dimensions enhances overall project safety, quality, cost control, and schedule performance (Farooq et al., 2020; Wang & Liu, 2022).
According to PMBOK (2021) and ISO 31000 (2019), systematic identification and evaluation of procurement-related uncertainties—through data collection, environmental analysis, expert consultation, document review, classification, and continuous updating—form the foundation for safety-oriented decision-making in complex projects.

Methodology
This study is applied in purpose and qualitative in methodology. A thematic analysis approach was employed to identify concepts, patterns, and themes related to safety-oriented equipment procurement in the Bidboland flare gas recovery project. Data were collected through document review, analysis of project reports, and semi-structured interviews with project managers, technical supervisors, and procurement specialists selected via purposive sampling. Interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved.
Interview transcripts were analyzed through three stages of coding: open coding to extract initial concepts, axial coding to categorize related concepts, and selective coding to identify core themes associated with procurement safety. Expert judgment was used to assess the probability and impact of identified procurement disruptions using a five-point scale. The resulting priority indices were calculated and used to classify components into low, medium, and high safety-priority levels. The research process was aligned with ISO 31000 guidelines and PMBOK standards to ensure methodological rigor and applicability to industrial oil and gas projects.

Findings
The analysis led to the identification of 35 components affecting the safety of equipment procurement in the flare gas recovery project. These components were structured in cause–effect relationships and evaluated in terms of probability and impact. Based on expert assessment, 23 components were classified as having high safety priority, indicating a critical need for managerial attention and preventive action. For each high-priority component, appropriate safety-oriented strategies were formulated to enhance procurement reliability and project safety.

Results and discussion
The findings demonstrate that safety-oriented management of equipment procurement is strongly influenced by coordination among project stakeholders, quality control mechanisms, supplier reliability, logistical planning, and external economic and regulatory conditions. The proposed strategies—derived from expert experience and best practices in similar industrial projects—emphasize preventive planning, enhanced quality assurance, supplier evaluation, contractual clarity, and continuous monitoring of procurement activities. Implementing these strategies can significantly reduce financial and human losses, improve equipment quality, and prevent schedule delays. Overall, adopting a structured and safety-oriented approach to equipment procurement contributes to improving the safety, efficiency, and timely execution of large-scale flare gas recovery projects.

Conciusion
The results of this study provide a practical and systematic framework for enhancing safety-oriented equipment procurement in oil and gas projects. The identified components and proposed strategies can support managerial decision-making, improve supply chain resilience, and promote sustainable and safe project execution. The framework developed in this research can be applied to similar industrial projects, particularly in the context of flare gas recovery initiatives.