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Australian Government Agencies
Inter-Governmental Initiatives
International Regulators Forum
International Industry Matters & Incidents
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Australian Government
Australian Government Agencies
Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism
Australian Transport Safety Bureau
Australian Maritime Safety Authority
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum
Inter-Governmental Initiatives
The National OHS Strategy 2002-2012, agreed to by all Australian governments, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), provides a basis for developing sustainable, safe and healthy work environments and for reducing the number of people hurt or killed at work.
International Regulators Forum (IRF)
The International Regulators Forum (IRF) is a group of regulators of health and safety in the offshore upstream oil and gas industry. It exists to drive forward improvements in health and safety in the sector through collaboration in joint programmes, and through sharing information. It includes oil and gas regulators from Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Annual International Regulators' Offshore Safety Conferences
The IRF hosts International Regulators Offshore Safety Conferences on a regular basis. The next conference is planned for Canada in 2010. Regulatory officials from all nations with ongoing or proposed offshore oil and gas activity are invited to attend. The purpose of the conference is to share experiences and to compare differences in regulatory approach and safety performance.
Agencia Nacional do Petroleo (ANP) - Brazil
Department of Labour - New Zealand
Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) - Canada
Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) - Canada
Chemical Safety Board (CSB) - United States of America
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) - United Kingdom
Minerals Management Service (MMS) - United States of America
Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) - Norway
State Supervision of Mines - Netherlands
Industry Organisations
International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC)
International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC)
International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OPG)
International Committee on Regulatory Research and Development (ICRARD)
International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA)
International Industry Matters and Incidents
The Piper Alpha disaster of 6 July 1988 was an explosion and fire on the North Sea oil platform that claimed 167 lives. This tragedy would not have happened if proper, safe permit to work systems had been in operation. The public Cullen inquiry found there were "significant flaws in the quality of management of safety... Senior management were too easily satisfied that the permit to work system was being operated correctly, relying on the absence of any feedback of problems as indicating that all was well... They adopted a superficial attitude to the assessment of the risk of major hazard."* The Cullen Piper Alpha Inquiry is a commercially available publication in two volumes (ISBN: 010113102-X), published by TSO (The Stationary Office).
*Reference: Cullen HL (1990). The public inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster, Cmnd 1310, HMSO.
On 23 March 2005 a process accident at the BP Texas City refinery resulted in 15 deaths and more than 170 injuries. The accident was investigated by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSHIB) and the Board's report incorporating a root cause analysis, has been published. The Board's investigation page contains many informative articles, particularly the news release on organisational and safety deficiencies as well as the final report itself.
Following the recommendation of the CSB, BP formed an independent panel to conduct a thorough review of the company's corporate safety culture, safety management systems, and corporate safety oversight at its U.S. refineries. The reported findings and recommendations of the Panel were intended for a broader audience than just BP and can be read in the Report of the BP U.S. Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel, issued in January 2007.
Offshore Petroleum OHS Research
The International Committee on Regulatory Research and Development (ICRARD) is a collaborative effort between organisations involved in offshore petroleum health and safety research. A searchable collection of OHS research is provided at the ICRARD website: http://www.icrard.org/
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