This series of messages is aimed at keeping you informed of the operations of NOPSA. Please let us know if you would like to be added to the distribution list

 

PERSONNEL:

· In early September advertisements for the next round of OHS inspector recruitment will be placed in the Commonwealth Gazette, The West Australian and The Press & Journal in Aberdeen UK.

 

INDUSTRY MATTERS:

· A Training Course for offshore petroleum HSRs prepared by IFAP was formally accredited by NOPSA early in August and the first course has been run.   A total of five other organisations are being considered for accreditation – three of these are located in WA and two in Victoria.  A list of accredited trainers will be maintained on the NOPSA web-site.

 

· NOPSA has commenced a programme of visits and discussions with  key contractors to the offshore industry to explain their duties and obligations, particularly regarding workforce involvement.

 

· Benchmarking – NOPSA hosted a series of presentations on safety culture.  Further research is being undertaken with a view to developing a programme with industry.

 

STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS:

· NOPSA is in liaison with DoIR regarding clarification of regulatory processes for handling Pipeline Management Plans and Well Operation Management Plans.  

 

· NOPSA has held discussions with the Office of Transport Security (OTS) of the Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS) to discuss the development of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between OTS and NOPSA.

 

· NOPSA attended the recent Upstream Petroleum Subcommittee (UPS) meeting.  The remit of the Governmental subcommittee, which has Federal and State (DA) members, is to shape policy on upstream matters.  Topics of interest to NOPSA were —decommissioning; the revocation of parts of the Offshore Schedule of Specific Requirements; Well Operations Management Plans (WOMPS); offshore security; and the interface between NOPSA and the DAs on pipeline issues, and technical integrity management (as it relates to safety).

 

LEGISLATION:

· Some minor amendments to the P(SL) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Regulations 1996 and to the P(SL) (Occupational Health and Safety) Regulations 1993 have been passed by Commonwealth and will take effect on 1 September 2005.  These amendments are to correct some errors and inconsistencies, simplify some administrative processes, and reflect changes to some principal State OHS statutes.

 

· The WA P(SL)A mirror legislation has passed unamended through Parliament and now awaits the Governor's sign-off.

 

VISITS:

· John Clegg and Ray Wells attended, as observers, an ESSO OH&S Committee meeting in Longford, Victoria.   Following that meeting they then met with ESSO senior management  in Melbourne to discuss the future focus of NOPSA’s activities re ESSO facilities.

 

· NOPSA made visits to several mobile facilities in Singapore shipyards prior to mobilising to Australian waters.  This gave NOPSA, and the operators, early visibility of key safety issues, e.g. standards of accommodation and workspaces.  These visits have also allowed NOPSA inspectors to have direct communication with Singapore-based service company personnel.

 

· NOPSA hosted a Thai Delegation from the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC), Thailand.  The purpose of their visit was to meet with representatives from the Federal and State public sector to discuss HR policy, capacity building, organisational renewal and connecting government.

 

· Taf Powell (Head of Offshore Division, UK HSE) visited Perth from the UK and made a presentation to NOPSA on UK Offshore Issues.  Taf also made an offshore visit to Griffin Venture accompanied by John Clegg (NOPSA CEO), Nyuk Tsen (NOPSA inspector), Robin Wright (BHP Billiton HSE Manager) and Phil Coombe (BHP Billiton Operations Team Leader).

 

CONFERENCES:

NOPSA is working with government and industry bodies in order to bring about a series of linked events related to safety in the offshore petroleum industry.  These include the following:

 

· APPEA and NOPSA are organising a 2-day offshore health and safety conference, to be held in Perth, probably in March 2006.

 

· In May 2006 the annual conference of the Safety Institute of Australia “Safety in Action” will be held in Melbourne, and this will include a 1-day stream on the offshore petroleum industry.

 

· DITR and NOPSA are organising a forum for HSRs in the offshore petroleum industry, to be held in Perth, probably during February.

 

· Event details, calls for papers, registration forms etc will be issued in due course by APPEA, SIA and DITR respectively. 

 

· Anyone interested in submitting a paper at either the APPEA or SIA event (or at both) is welcome to contact Ray Wells in the Melbourne office to discuss details.

 

· In relation to the HSR conference, NOPSA is seeking participants from industry and the workforce for the organising committee.  Nominations to Simon Schubach.

 

· NOPSA was one of the sponsors at the recent WA Leadership Convention “Connecting Government” at the Rendezvous Observation City Hotel.  

 

INCIDENTS, COMPLAINTS, ENFORCEMENT:

· An FPSO on the NW shelf experienced a pump room gas release incident.  While inspectors were being dispatched to investigate, a second incident occurred at the facility where a petroleum liquid slug carried over through the flare.  NOPSA is investigating both incidents in the context of its Enforcement Management Model.  Three INs were issued.  Two on unsafe systems of work, and one on inadequate instruction, training, information and supervision.

 

· A recent incident occurred when a crate came apart whilst being lifted dropping a large motor.  Rigging of the crate, a lack of load checking, and other factors contributed to this incident.  Root causes included reduced overall supervision, a lack of checking and inconsistent understanding of correct rigging methods.  The type of lift being performed during this incident will not again be used as the company have purchased a machine to handle the lifting of pallets.

 

SAFETY CASE ASSESSMENT:

· NOPSA wishes to reinforce to operators that timely response to issues raised during assessment, and the quality of submissions and responses, strongly influence the acceptance of a safety case.

 

· Operators are encouraged to consider the safety case guidelines  in preparation of safety cases.

 

NATIONAL PROGRAMMES:

· In collaboration with APPEA, two national programmes were recently agreed:   lifting operations, and plant integrity and maintenance.  NOPSA will be working with industry to develop these programmes.

 

INTERNATIONAL:

· Four people were killed and two injured in an onshore helicopter crash during a pipeline inspection near Nefteyugansk, in Siberia.  No report has yet been made available concerning the causes.  NOPSA regrets the loss of lives in this incident.

 

· NOPSA note a recent further gas release on a North Sea facility, and the down manning of another UK North Sea facility due to problems discovered with lifeboat launch systems.  Both incidents highlight the need for rigorous attention to all technical integrity issues.

 

NOPSA BOARD:

· The NOPSA Board will meet in Perth on 7 and 8 September.  The main items on the Agenda are the CEO’s operational and corporate report, the Board’s communication program, the consideration of NOPSA’s Planned Inspection core process and the developments in the framework and performance indicators for measuring NOPSA and Industry performance.

 

EMERGING ISSUES:

· NOPSA has observed an increase in the “fast tracking” of projects, which in some cases has led to inadequate consideration of safety issues in concept selection, and inadequacies in installation quality assurance.  This is seen as part of a broader pattern where safety input lagged design decisions.

 

· NOPSA encourages proponents to discuss their projects with NOPSA at the earliest appropriate stage in project development.

 

· Operators are reminded of the separate jurisdictions governing Safety Cases and WOMPs.  Safety cases need to cover all activities and risks associated with a facility e.g. well construction activities which need to be addressed in the safety case (which is submitted to NOPSA), and also in the WOMP, guidelines on well management, (which must be submitted to the DA).

 

 

For general enquiries, please email us.  Past issues of this newsletter are available from the NOPSA website at:

http://www.nopsa.gov.au/CEO_emails/