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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: We welcome Rose Jordan to the role of Project Coordinator with NOPSA. Rose has an extensive background in office administration, and project coordination and management in the offshore oil and gas, consulting engineering and construction industries. NOPSA has advertised a position of Financial Controller in the Australian Public Service Gazette and the West Australian. Details of the position are available from the NOPSA website. INDUSTRY MATTERS: Two cyclones during the past month have highlighted the need for robust emergency response planning. As identified in Part 5 S.45 of the Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities regulations, NOPSA must be notified of “an unplanned event that required the emergency response plan to be implemented”. In particular, NOPSA should be advised of any disconnects or down-manning in advance of cyclones. NOPSA Inspectors recently visited a shipyard in China, to inspect a MODU proposed for use in Australia. NOPSA and industry have found great benefit in early identification of significant issues which might affect the acceptability of safety cases. HEALTH AND SAFETY REPRESENTATIVES HSRs must undertake a course of training relating to occupational health and safety that is accredited by NOPSA. There are currently 4 accredited HSR training course providers identified on the NOPSA website. General guidance for Health and Safety Representatives is available from the NOPSA website. STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS: NOPSA was informed of an occurrence of undermanning and possible excessive fatigue of the crew of a seismic survey vessel in northern waters. The matter was referred to AMSA as it fell within their jurisdiction, and the vessel was visited on its return to port, resulting in the company agreeing to increase the number of crew. A further meeting has been held with IMCA, to discuss ongoing operation of legislation regarding “vessels doing work on pipes”, and the applicability of safety case levies to IMCA members. NOPSA intend to host a workshop on safety case levies for industry in March – further details will be released shortly. A teleconference was held between NOPSA and the Designated Authorities (DA’s) in January. The principal items of discussion were interfaces for technical integrity of pipelines and Well Operations Management Plans (WOMPs). The Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources (DITR) will be hosting a meeting in March with interested parties to discuss these matters further. CONFERENCES: A Health and Safety Representatives’ Forum will be held at the Joondalup Resort, WA on 27-28 February 2006. Use the link to the DITR web-site to obtain more information. 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. NOPSA will be making presentations on its first year of operation and on its National Programmes. Use the above link to the APPEA website to obtain more information. WEBSITE: A new guidance note on reporting incidents near a facility has been added to the website. Guidance on notification and reporting of accidents and dangerous occurrences (incidents) has been revised. The guidance now emphasises the overriding principle that when in doubt, NOPSA should be notified. A feedback page has been added, which identifies the measures NOPSA is taking to obtain feedback from stakeholders, and to respond to comments received. INTERNATIONAL: NOPSA notes the recent Norwegian industry / regulator initiative which resulted in a 50% reduction in gas releases offshore. NOPSA continues to work with the local industry and APPEA to develop an improved gas release reporting scheme. REGULATORY ACTIVITIES January 2006 Quantities may vary as further information becomes available. Safety Case Assessment 10 Safety Cases (SC) and 1 Pipeline Safety Management Plan (PSMP) were assessed, including 1 Diving Safety Management Plan (DSMP). At the end of this period 12 Safety Cases have been carried over which are still being assessed. Inspections There were 4 inspections but no audits undertaken during January. Common elements of inspection scope included PTW systems and Emergency Response preparedness. No common themes have been identified in the findings. Incidents & Complaints: 14 Incidents and 2 Complaints were reported to NOPSA during January. Of the 14 incidents only 2 were injuries, the remainder were dangerous occurrences, with no apparent trends. Two of the occurrences were of complete loss of power at facilities. NOPSA wishes to confirm that notification of this type of incident would normally be expected, as a consequence of the emergency response plan being triggered. Enforcement During this period 1 Prosecution Brief was issued arising from an investigation into overriding of safety critical equipment. QUARTERLY OVERVIEW OF OPERATIONS October to December 2005 Incidents and Complaints During the last quarter of 2005 NOPSA was notified of 40 incidents and 9 complaints. The incidents were comprised of 16 accidents resulting in injury to workers or requiring medical treatment, including 3 cases of electric shock, and 24 dangerous occurrences, including 5 gas releases. Enforcement Five (5) Improvement Notices (INs) and two (2) Prohibition Notices (PNs) were issued from October to December 2005. All of the 5 INs were issued following planned inspections. Two referred to topsides aspects of diving work, one identified the lack of a procedure, and another the lack of training in the use of personnel descent devices. The two PNs concerned personnel hoisting using an unsuitable crane, and failure to demonstrate pressure integrity of a saturation diving system. Both were issued in response to investigating reported complaints. Inspections There were 18 inspections of offshore facilities during the last quarter of 2005. Progress towards Inspection Target Of the 54 attended facilities active within NOPSA’s jurisdiction in 2005, 48 have been inspected, and 10 unattended facilities have also been inspected. A total of 76 inspections were conducted during 2005 due to some facilities being inspected more than once. Safety Case Assessment 29 Safety Cases (SC) and 3 Pipeline Safety Management Plan (PSMP) were assessed during this period, including 2 Diving Safety Management Plans (DSMP). As of the end of December, a further 17 Safety Cases were in progress/being assessed. EMERGING ISSUES: Inspections have encountered several instances of poor implementation of the auditing aspects of operators’ safety management systems. Themes identified in the second half of 2005 arising from incidents, complaints and inspections, were: · Range of emerging health-related issues including poor standards of accommodation, shift patterns and fatigue (a safety alert was published); · 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; · Poor workplace risk assessment; · Inadequate supervision and/or training; · Concerns regarding minimum safe manning levels for emergency response capability; · Incompletely implemented planned maintenance systems and associated maintenance backlogs; · Issues to do with mechanical handling and lifting operations. Several examples demonstrating 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 giving rise to unacceptable risks and project delays; This was particularly of concern with diving projects. Past issues of this newsletter are available from the NOPSA website at: http://www.nopsa.gov.au/CEO_emails/ |
