International liaison

HSE works with a number of international bodies to enable regulators to exchange information about:

• offshore health and safety trends
• industry health and safety performance
• lessons from incident
• industry best practice
• regulatory practice
• measuring the effectiveness of regulatory activities

We provide a network of offshore petroleum health and safety experts for mutual support and advice when required.

Current international liaison

Current international liaison includes:

• International Regulators Forum: IRF comprises eight states that produce offshore oil and gas - USA, Canada, Brazil, Netherlands, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. IRF shares knowledge and information of safety issues and global company performance. The group meets annually and corresponds throughout the year sharing issues of concern and raising awareness of best practice. International Regulators Forum
• Bilaterals: We have regular bilaterals with major producing neighbours. We have effective links with the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority through the UK/Norwegian Special Working Group. The meetings allow us to exchange information and develop common positions on cross-border issues. We plan a new UK/Norway Treaty is planned to encourage closer links. We also hold annual meetings with the Danish Energy Authority and the Dutch State Supervision of Mines, to facilitate agreement on cross-border issues.
• North Sea Offshore Authorities Forum (NSOAF): NSOAF has representatives from Denmark, the Faroe Islands, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. It meets annually to exchange information and develop common positions and joint initiatives. NSOAF is working to reduce the difficulties due to differences in regulatory regimes and requirements, for example to make it easier to move rigs between North Sea countries, and to harmonise safety training standards.
• European Union: In recent years most health and safety legislation has been introduced to implement European directives, mainly to promote minimum standards for health and safety of workers, but also to maintain the single market or protect the environment. There is now a body of EU health and safety law, the basis of which is the Framework Directive, which established broad obligations for employers to avoid and reduce risks in the workplace. We will work with other member states to ensure standards are appropriate for the UK and offshore.