home / about NOPSA
search
vision, mission, objectives
history of NOPSA
corporate
cost recovery
media
feedback
contacts
national programmes
legislation & regulations
for operators
reporting incidents
safety cases
inspections
diving
occ health
alerts
policies
guidelines
forms
presentations
for HSR's
key performance indicators
continuous improvement
employment
NOPSA Board
memoranda of understanding
privacy, copyright, disclaimer, technology
CEO's Newsletter
links

Information for Operators

DISCLAIMER: This information is intended to provide general guidance to the industry as to the approach that NOPSA takes in carrying out its regulatory functions under powers conferred by the Commonwealth Offshore Petroleum Act 2006, State and NT Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Acts and Regulations under those Acts. The contents of this website should not be relied on as advice on the law, nor treated as a substitute for legal advice in any relevant situation.

Introduction to the OHS regime

The OHS regime for offshore petroleum operations is set out by Schedule 3 to the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 and its associated regulations for Commonwealth waters. Similar provisions apply in coastal waters where States/NT have made legislation that mirrors Commonwealth legislation. In general, references to regulatory requirements in the material provided below are in relation to Commonwealth legislation.

The general OHS duty in the regime is that the operator of a facility must take all reasonably praticable steps to ensure that a facility and its activities are safe and without risk to health. This key duty is imposed on the operator of the facility. Schedule 3 also includes duties on employers, manufacturers and members of the workforce. Part 3 of Schedule 3 deals with workplace arrangements, including provisions related to health and safety representatives (HSRs).

While there are many other duties imposed on operators of facilities and others, new entrants to the regime need to be aware of the following key process steps. The provisions of the offshore petroleum operations OHS regulatory regime are set out on the legislation page of the NOPSA website. These provisions have been summarised as an overview of the regime. If in doubt, consult NOPSA early.

Operator Nomination and Registration

For Commonwealth waters, under the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Regulations 1996 (MoSOF), a facility must have a registered operator. Under the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Pipelines) Regulations 2001, a pipeline must have a registered operator. Similar operator nomination, registration and deregistration provisions apply in coastal waters where States/NT have made legislation that mirrors Commonwealth legislation.

The registered operator is the person who has day to day management and control of the facility. For facilities other than pipelines, the facility owner or titleholder may nominate a party to be the operator of the facility. For facilities that are pipelines, the pipeline licensee may nominate a party to be the operator of the pipeline.

Nominations must be submitted on standard nomination forms available from NOPSA for facilities and for pipelines. NOPSA decides on the acceptance or rejection of nominated parties as operators and also maintains the register of operators. NOPSA's decision regarding the operator is made on the basis of published criteria . The standard nomination form must be accompanied by a completed worksheet that provides an opportunity for the nominator to analyse the proposed operator arrangement against the NOPSA operator registration decision criteria.

An owner or titleholder, or the nominated operator of a facility, may notify NOPSA in writing that the registered operator has ceased to be the person who has or will have day to day control of the facility [P(SL)Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities Regulations 1996, Regulation 8(2)]. A pipeline licensee, or the nominated operator of a pipeline, may notify NOPSA in writing that the registered operator has ceased to be the person who has or will have day to day control of the pipeline [P(SL)Pipeline Regulations 2001, Regulation 6D(2)]. On receipt of this notice NOPSA must remove the operators name from the operator register.

At the same time the pipeline licensee or facility owner or titleholder as applicable, must send to NOPSA written notice nominating the replacement operator. This should be via the standard nomination forms (please see the links above). NOPSA will consider the replacement nomination in the same manner as if the nomination was the initial nomination. A letter accepting or rejecting the replacement nomination will be sent to the facility owner or titleholder or licensee as applicable.

top

Activities and Facilities

NOPSA’s functions include promotion of occupational health and safety of persons engaged in offshore petroleum operations. These operations are: diving operations or operations at a facility. Certain vessels or structures are defined as facilities. Licensed pipelines are also facilities. The categories of activities that cause relevant vessels or structures to be defined as facilities are:

  1. recovery, processing, storage and offloading of petroleum, or any combination of these activities;
  2. provision of accommodation for persons at another facility, whether or not connected by walkway;
  3. drilling or servicing a petroleum well, or doing any work associated with drilling or servicing;
  4. laying of pipes for petroleum, including any manufacturing of such pipes, or doing work on existing pipes;
  5. erection, dismantling or decommissioning of a vessel or structure of any of the above types; and
  6. any other activity related to offshore petroleum that is prescribed.

The facility definition includes a facility being constructed or installed and an associated offshore place (that being an offshore place near the facility where activities relating to the facility occur).

For detailed facility definitions see the legislation.

Vessels in the Offshore Petroleum OHS Regime - guidelines removed

NOPSA has received legal advice that its Guidance Notes which excluded certain vessels from being treated as facilities under the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 did not correctly interpret the existing legislation.

These particular Guidance Notes have now been removed from the NOPSA website and NOPSA advises that Operators of vessels working in the offshore petroleum industry must obtain their own advice as to whether their vessels fall under the category of 'facilities' or 'associated offshore places'

The NOPSA Guidance Notes were intended to offer some assistance in determining which vessels fell under particular categories according to the legislation. Vessels which are determined to be 'facilities' do not fall under the marine OHS regime but under the offshore petroleum OHS regime. The requirements of the petroleum regime include having a registered operator, submitting a safety case and paying the safety case levy.

NOPSA is concerned about the difficulties of interpreting this aspect of the legislation and is working closely with the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism to change the Petroleum (Submerged Lands)(Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Regulations 1996 (MoSOF) to specifically exclude vessels performing certain tasks from being 'facilities'. NOPSA proposes that where there is such an exclusion, the vessels would not automatically become 'associated offshore places'. Offtake tankers, anchor handlers and supply vessels are already excluded from being 'facilities' and from being 'associated offshore places'.

top

The Safety Case Requirement

A facility cannot be constructed, installed, operated, modified or decommissioned without a safety case in force for that stage in the life of the facility. The operator of a facility must submit the safety case to NOPSA with a covering letter stating that it is being submitted for assessment. Since it is the operator that must submit the safety case, registration of the operator must be completed prior to safety case submission.

The Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Regulations 1996 (MoSOF) set out the requirements for the contents of safety cases.

One of the main issues identified during the use of NOPSA's Safety Case Assessment Core Process is the level of detail expected in a safety case submission. The attached draft discussion paper provides guidance on the level of detail expected to be included in relation to each of the major aspects of a safety case submission.

The Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Regulations 1996, state that NOPSA may, by notice in writing, require the operator of a proposed facility or an existing facility, to provide a validation in respect of the proposed facility or in respect of a proposed significant change to an existing facility.

In order to deliver a consistent approach to validation of proposed facilities or to significant change to existing facilities, NOPSA has recently reviewed and reinforced its internal processes to ensure that an administrative process is in place that is accurately aligned with the requirements of the legislation. NOPSA has developed a policy on Validation.

Once a validation is requested by NOPSA, an operator may not submit the safety case for a facility before the operator and NOPSA have agreed on the scope of validation for the proposed facility or proposed significant change to an existing facility.

In general, the regulations impose safety case assessment time frames on NOPSA. NOPSA has 90 days in which to complete the assessment of a new safety case, and 30 days for a revised safety case. In all cases NOPSA may extend the assessment period by setting out an alternate timetable for assessment.

If the initially submitted safety case is not acceptable, NOPSA will notify the operator and seek clarification. NOPSA must accept or reject the safety case as set out in legislation.

The arrangement for pipelines is different. The pipeline licensee must submit the Pipeline Management Plan to the Designated Authority. The Designated Authority will then provide NOPSA with a copy of the Pipeline Management Plan (PMP) and NOPSA will decide on acceptance of the safety-related aspects of PMP [known as the Pipeline Safety Management Plan (PSMP)]. The Designated Authority is responsible for deciding on the overall acceptance of the PMP.

top

Granting Exemptions

NOPSA may grant certain exemptions from the requirements of the Schedule 3 to the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 (OPA) and some of the regulations. For details of the areas in which NOPSA, as the Safety Authority, may grant exemptions see the Exemptions Policy.

top

Safety Levies

The Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Amendment Act 2003 amended the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967, creating NOPSA and providing that NOPSA be funded through industry levies. The equivalent provisions can be found in Part 4.8 of the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006. The Offshore Petroleum (Safety Levies) Act 2003 imposes the levies and its Regulations prescribe how the levies are worked out and when they are due and payable. The levies include:

  • safety investigation levy, to be imposed on the operator of a facility in relation to the investigation, by NOPSA, of an accident or dangerous occurrence at that facility, above a set threshold;
  • safety case levy, an annual levy to be imposed in relation to a facility; and
  • pipeline safety management plan levy, an annual levy to be imposed in relation to the pipeline safety management plan that is in force in relation to a pipeline.

Additional guidance on safety case levies is available. The levies and remittal flowcharts provide an overview of the decision making for levies and remittals. There is a standard form for notifying NOPSA of the number of days not operated.

The Offshore Petroleum (Safety Levies) Regulations were amended on 21 September 2006. The amendments improve the coverage of the levies for operators of mobile facilities and introduce a new basis for calculating the Pipeline Safety Management Plan Levy based on the complexity of the pipeline rather than a 'notional length'.

Names of Acts/Regulations and Schedule/Section/Clause/Regulation numbers stated in the guidance document are correct for Commonwealth waters. Different laws apply in State and NT coastal waters, although the practical application of those laws is the same.

top

Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences

Find information on reporting and investigation of incidents on the Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences page.

top

Safety Case Assessment

Information on the Safety Case Approach is available, including background to the use of Safety Cases.

top

Planned Inspection

For information on planned inspections conducted by NOPSA's OHS inspectors please visit the Inspections page.

top

Diving Guidelines

A set of Diving Guidelines offer relevant advice and covers all diving operations in connection with offshore petroleum installations, exploration and pipeline works.

top

Safety Alerts

NOPSA issues occasional safety alert bulletins on issues that affect the industry. An index of alerts is provided.

top

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to offshore operators' common questions are provided in the Operator FAQ document listed on the right of this page.

The questions answered include:

  • Who is the operator for a facility ?
  • What are the duties of the operator of a facility ?
  • How are these roles and responsibilities documented ?

Please view or download the document from the Related Files area.

top

Management of Occupational Health

Offshore operations must address a range of matters affecting occupational health. Guidance on Occupational Health obligations is provided for operators.

top

Compliance and Enforcement

OHS inspectors are guided by NOPSA policy on appropriate choice of regulatory action to obtain an operator's compliance with the legislation. Enforcement action is taken if, in the opinion of the OHS inspector, it is warranted to address breaches of the legislation. NOPSA has developed the Enforcement Management Model (EMM) to assist OHS inspectors in taking into consideration the range of issues in forming their opinion.

top

Appeals

There are certain rights of appeal for enforcement action taken by an OHS inspector. These rights of appeal relate to an OHS inspector’s decision to issue:

  • an improvement notice;
  • a prohibition notice;
  • a direction not to disturb; or
  • a notice to take possession (removal or plant of sample).

Appeals can also be made when an OHS inspector makes a decision in relation to a disputed provisional improvement notice (PIN) issued by a Health and Safety Representative. A Guideline on Enforcement Decision Appeals has been prepared to give an overview of the process.

Appeals are made to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) and must normally be lodged within 14 days of the OHS inspector’s decision. The AIRC has two main functions relative to the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 (OPA) and the relevant State and Territory equivalents:

  • To rule on any disagreements that arise during consultations to form or vary designated work groups (ref: Clause 23 of Schedule 3 to the OPA); and
  • To hear any appeal against an OHS inspector’s decision (ref: Clause 81 of Schedule 3 to the OPA).

      • The AIRC has published rules that set out how it deals with each type of matter that may be referred to it. The AIRC's rules and associated forms can be found on the AIRC website.

      top

      Policies and Guidelines

      Indexes of our policies and guidelines are provided to help you locate these reference documents.

      top

      Cyclone Reporting

      In previous cyclone seasons, operators of manned facilities have provided information to NOPSA on their responses to cyclone threats. This information was provided voluntarily and was used to respond to other agency requests for information. NOPSA has decided to discontinue the cyclone reporting scheme as it is not properly within its remit to maintain oversight of operators' responses to tropical cyclone threats. The cyclone reporting scheme will therefore not be administered by NOPSA for future cyclone seasons.

      top

      Review of Offshore Helicopter Operations

      NOPSA commissioned Hart Aviation to undertake research and prepare a review of offshore helicopter operations in Australia which was presented for a period of public comment, and comment has now closed. Feedback received from stakeholders is now being reviewed and it is expected that an ammended document will form the basis of guidance material for both new and existing facilities.

      top