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Our Vision Health and safety risks in the Australian offshore petroleum industry are properly controlled. 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: Farewell to Krysten Farrar who left us on 20 December to take up a new role as Safety Health and Environmental Manager in the Private Sector. INDUSTRY MATTERS: · The CEO attended the DuPont Behavioural Safety for Managers (Achieving Safety Excellence) Forum at Northside Gardens in Sydney on the 28th November. · NOPSA Inspectors attended the DrillSafe meeting held in Melbourne 8 December 2005. Sessions of particular interest included presentations on risk based fatigue management, an overview of Esso Operations in Bass Strait, an overview of safety regulation in New Zealand, Casing running tool use in PNG, Cyclone awareness, and the safety management of Imperial Snubbing Services. Two incidents were reviewed, a tow bridle failure and a serious injury to a top drive hand involving amputation of four fingers. · The IADC hosted a workshop in Perth to present their global HSE case guidelines, to be released in 2006. NOPSA supports the use of these guidelines in preparing MODU safety cases. STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS: · NOPSA has commenced a round of annual reviews of activities under the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU’s) with the relevant agencies. · The CEO made a presentation – “Safety. Leadership: the role of the Regulator” at a Petroleum Club monthly dinner on 13th December 2005. · The CEO also made a presentation on the development of a Safety Case regime, and good regulatory practice, to the new task force examining a new regulatory framework for onshore WA mining industry. · Paul Finnigan attended and presented at the inaugural meeting of a DITR sponsored ‘Offshore Facilities Stakeholders’ workgroup, attended by APPEA, operators, other (Environmental and Marine) regulators, the Designated Authorities (DAs), and fishing industry representatives. The working group is looking at developing an Australian Offshore Decommissioning Policy. CONFERENCES: · Paul Finnigan presented at; - A Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) workshop in Perth, focussing on decommissioning of offshore facilities. - A Southeast Asia conference on the Design and Operations of FPSO’s. Paul conducted a three hour workshop on the Safety Case regime, and gave a short presentation on how Safety Case principles can assist in the selection of robust designs for FPSO’s. · A Health and Safety Representatives’ Forum will be held at the Joondalup Resort, WA on 27-28 February 2006. More information (including draft Program, Registration Form) is available from the DITR website · A National Oil and Gas Safety Conference “Engineering Systems, People-Bringing it all together is scheduled to be held 15th – 16th March at the Perth Convention Centre. More information is available regarding the National Oil and Gas Safety Conference at the APPEA website. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE NOPSA, as part of normal business processes, is currently reviewing both it’s own and industry performance for this year and developing business plans for the coming year. As part of this process we will be undertaking annual performance reviews with each operator. INTERNATIONAL: NOPSA facilitated and hosted a visit from two senior officials of the new offshore division of the Malaysian Department of Occupational Safety and Health. The officials were keen to learn of the Australian Safety Case regime, the establishment of NOPSA, and Australian offshore operations. The officials also visited APPEA, Dept of Industry, Tourism & Resources, (DITR), in Canberra, Esso in Melbourne, and WA DoIR, and J P Kenny, a pipeline consultancy, in Perth. Mr Yo Okada of Japan Oil Engineering Company, representing the Japanese Safety and Environment Centre for Petroleum Development visited NOPSA to discuss the goal setting safety regime and how it may apply to their Methane Hydrate Research Project. INCIDENTS, COMPLAINTS, ENFORCEMENT: Quantities may vary as further information becomes available. Safety Case Assessment · Six (6) Safety Cases and one Pipeline Safety Management Plan have been assessed this month, with a remaining sixteen (16) Safety Cases and one (1) Diving Project Plan in progress at the end of this period. We continue to note that some safety cases are not workforce-friendly, and once accepted the case is not in daily use by the workforce. A further concern is the lack of workforce involvement in the preparation of safety cases. The regulations require active participation by the workforce in the preparation and use of a safety case. Inspections · Six (6) offshore inspections were conducted this month. During a recent inspection, NOPSA was very pleased to note modifications made to a MODU that have significantly reduced the amount of man-riding associated with routine activities. Man-riding is a high hazard activity which should be eliminated where possible. NOPSA believe that these upgrades are a clear demonstration of providing safe systems of work to perform these particular tasks. Incidents & Complaints: · Fourteen (14) incidents were reported during December, more than double the November total. Three of the incidents were gas releases, two of which—including a major release—were on one facility. NOPSA is working with APPEA members to develop a voluntary national hydrocarbon release database modelled on UK standards. Four incidents were injuries to personnel including one reported case of electric shock. Only one complaint was reported, regarding insufficient emergency response coverage for the number of crew aboard the platform. Enforcement · One Prohibition Notice and two Improvement Notices were issued relating to loss of integrity on a saturation diving system whilst in use. · Three Improvement Notices were issued in the course of planned inspections, including one as a result of the operator allowing the maximum POB as set out in the facility safety case to be exceeded, and two due to the operator failing to develop procedures and to train personnel in the use of emergency evacuation systems. · NOPSA has received a number of complaints (and has also identified deficiencies during the course of its own planned inspections and safety case assessments) in relation to the level of amenities on not-normally staffed facilities. EMERGING ISSUES: · Personnel fatigue management is emerging as an issue in incidents in the industry. Several potentially serious incidents have occurred where fatigue, resulting from extended periods on duty, (some significantly in excess of 12 hours) was a significant factor. Operators and contractors are reminded of the need to ensure that excessive working hours or conditions do not present a risk to personnel themselves, or the ongoing operation. Refer to the specific legal requirement in the Petroleum (Submerged Land) (OHS) Regulations 1993 Regulation 4A Avoiding Fatigue. A Safety Alert concerning fatigue management is available from the NOPSA website. · NOPSA is concerned at several recent examples which demonstrated a lack of client due diligence in selection and contracting in of support vessels. The absence of robust HSE auditing in the pre-qualification phase gave rise to unacceptable risks and project delays. NOPSA wishes everyone a safe and happy new year. We look forward to our second year of working with industry and workforce to ensure continuous improvement in health and safety in the offshore petroleum industry. Past issues of this newsletter are available from the NOPSA website at: http://www.nopsa.gov.au/CEO_emails/ |
