|
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: Advertised Positions – NOPSA is advertising two vacant OHS Inspector positions; one generalised and one specialising in well operations. It was decided to advertise as widely as possible thus the positions are to be advertised in the following publications: SPE Journal, World Oil, Aberdeen Press & Journal, The Australian, The West Australian, Government Gazette, and Seek. Fire Safety Engineering Expert Graham Dalzell hosted a series of training workshops for NOPSA personnel. INDUSTRY MATTERS: OHS inspectors from NOPSA attended a recent Fatigue Management Workshop, facilitated by Inpex Browse Ltd, to present an overview of offshore OH&S legislation pertinent to fatigue management. The workshop was also attended by other titleholders, drilling contractors and offshore service contractors in preparation for a number of planned exploration drilling campaigns in Australian waters. The facilitators acknowledged fatigue as an industry-wide OH&S concern and expressed a notable commitment to better understand the risks of fatigue and to improve upon the management of these risks in the future. NOPSA extends its thanks to Inpex for the opportunity to be involved in this commendable industry initiative. On 14 November the CEO attended the Official Opening of the National Measurement Institute Perth facility by the Hon. Bob Baldwin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Hon Ian Macfarlane, Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources. Mr Baldwin also met with CEOs and senior staff of various oil and gas companies to discuss sharing of best practice and the need for industry to demonstrate leadership in this area. The Dept of Industry and Resources (DoIR), Petroleum and Royalties Division, will be conducting a workshop on Thursday, 30 November 2006 at Gloucester Park to discuss the draft Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities regulations (MoSOF) and Pipeline Regulation for the WA Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982. Details and RSVP to Kaye Smith on (08) 9222 3273. IADC secretariat hosted a meeting in Perth to roll out their revised HSC/Safety Case Guidelines. The project to update the NOPSA Safety Case Guidelines has continued during the month. Key activities have included consultation with industry groups, individual operating companies and other stakeholders, including IMCA, IADC, APPEA and NOGSAC. The project is on schedule to deliver the updated guidelines in early 2007. We note the release of the US Chemical Safety Board’s news statement on the BP Texas City refinery incident which led to 15 deaths in March 2005. The statement describes this event as “a perfect storm, in which ageing infrastructure, overzealous cost-cutting, inadequate design and risk blindness all converged”. STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS: Ongoing meetings are being held with the Upstream Petroleum sub-committee working groups on regulation of technical integrity of pipelines and well operations. WORKFORCE: NOPSA has accredited an HSR training course developed by SEATS (South East Australia Training Services) in collaboration with the AWU. Contact details for SEATS will be provided on the NOPSA web-site. CONFERENCES: Team Leader Ray Wells attended a workshop organised by the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) on Managing Major Incident Risk (http://www.ogp.org.uk/Events/Present/MMIR/MMIRFlyer.pdf). He also attended the follow-up meeting of the associated task force. The workshop discussed current approaches to managing major incident risk, and identified areas where there was a common perception of a need for improvement. He also met with FABIG (the Fire and Blast Information Group) to discuss their activities and the possibility of a combined membership for NOPSA and all Australia’s onshore major hazards regulators. NOPSA Corporate General Manager, Phil Palmer, delivered a paper on the Authority’s operations and its cost recovery model at Accounting Conference “CPA Week”. Team Leader Ted Kirkbride attended the API Hurricane Readiness Conference 2006 in New Orleans at which a number of new API standards were discussed. NOPSA will be sharing information with the local industry on matters that are applicable to Australian operations. While in Louisiana, Ted met with officials of MMS (Minerals Management Service), the US Offshore Regulator and discussed areas of mutual interest. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: The NOPSA Board held its tenth meeting in Melbourne on 22-23 November. In addition to the CEO's operational and corporate reports, the Board considered an update of the NOPSA Annual Business Plan. Whilst in Melbourne members of the Board took the opportunity to meet with The Hon Bob Baldwin and representatives from Esso and Origin Energy. The next Board meeting is to be held in Perth on 31 January – 1 February 2007. Ernst and Young delivered draft documentation for NOPSA’s Quality Management System, comprising a comprehensive Risk Management Plan and Corporate Governance Framework, including a Balanced Scorecard for measuring corporate performance. WEBSITE: 13th November 2006 - New Guideline on Asbestos Management (Rev 0) 10th November 2006 - Safety Alert - Shut Down Valve Failure 20th November 2006 – Uploaded former DoIR Safety Alerts. http://www.nopsa.gov.au/alert_resources.asp http://www.nopsa.gov.au/alert/WA_DoIR/ INTERNATIONAL: NOPSA notes with sadness that an oil worker who had been injured in an accident in the North Sea has died almost two weeks after the incident. An enquiry is in progress. NOPSA notes with sadness the death of the four crew members of the fishing vessel Meridian from Fife in Scotland. The vessel was lost during a storm whilst guarding a pipeline construction project in the North Sea. Off-take Tanker Collision - Norwegian oil company Norsk Hydro ASA reported on Tuesday 14 November that the shuttle tanker Navion Hispania hit its Njord B storage ship during a loading operation on the Monday evening in the Njord field. Norsk Hydro said production at its Njord A facility has been temporarily stopped because of the accident. The accident damaged a lifeboat, a winch and caused minor damages to the Njord B's hull, but said the tanker moved away to a safe distance soon after. Helicopter Crashes NOPSA draws your attention to the occurrence of several accidents involving helicopters: · A Super Puma helicopter has ditched in the North Sea off the coast of the Netherlands, but all 17 people on board have been pulled safely from the water. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6171518.stm · On 5 November, a Super Puma helicopter crash-landed off Terengganu, Malaysia. The helicopter was carrying 21 people - 19 oil-rig workers of ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., a pilot and co-pilot. 20 people, including the co-pilot, had been rescued, but sadly, the Pilot has since been confirmed to have died. · PHI, Inc. reported the loss of a Sikorsky S76 aircraft in the Gulf of Mexico at approximately 7:40 a.m. Sunday, 22 October 2006. Injuries to the two occupants were minor. REGULATORY ACTIVITIES in November 2006: The following activity occurred during November. Activity and incident quantities identified here may vary as further information becomes available. · Safety Case Assessment 24 revised Safety Cases and four new Pipeline Safety Management Plans were assessed during November; there were no Diving Project Plans. As at 23rd November, 19 Safety Cases (including two PSMP’s) are still under assessment. · Inspections Seven Inspections were conducted, generating 69 recommendations to Operators. Issues included the lack of defined systems for tracking the competency of crane drivers and dogmen; manning levels; and outdated signage and critical drawings. · Incidents & Complaints: Six dangerous occurrences were reported. There were no complaints reported. Of the reported incidents, one was a gas release, two incidents required immediate investigation by the operator and three personal injuries. · Enforcement Two Improvement Notices were issued in November; both relating to noise management. Past issues of this newsletter are available from the NOPSA website at: http://www.nopsa.gov.au/CEO_emails/ |
