Offshore research

Introduction

HSE's Offshore Division (OSD) research is undertaken by a mixture of:

Intramural, by the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL)

Extramural, from directly commissioned outside bodies

Extramural, in the form of JIPs. These could be either with HSE funding or with investment of OSD specialist involvement/support only.

OSD's strategy sets out how our research programme is identified and prioritised. The requirements are based on an assessment of OSD's future business needs in relation to offshore health and safety regulation. This is informed by the series of strategies developed for each of the technical topic areas within OSD's responsiblilties.

OSD's Research priorities

Research that can be linked to our four key themes of:
- Leadership
- Asset integrity
- Competency
- Safety culture
Urgent research arising from reactive work such as investigation
In response to new technology
Support for OSD's business development

Current research programme

Details of HSE's current programme of offshore research.

Research reports

All of HSE's Research Reports are published on our website. For ease of reference a full list of offshore specific reports is also available.

International Committee On Regulatory Authority Research And Development (ICRARD)

HSE is a member of ICRARD which is dedicated to disseminating knowledge in the area of health, safety and environment in the petroleum sector. Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, The Netherlands, UK, and the USA are members. ICRARD's web site provides an overview of ongoing research programs and projects in the member countries, and includes links to key contacts, research programs and institutes etc.

Current programme of offshore research

Our current programme includes the following projects:

Dealing with emerging issues offshore
Stress corrosion cracking in stainless steels used offshore
Integrity of passive fire protection condition / response with explosion followed by fire
Thermal cycling of PFP for high pressure/high temperature applications
Vulnerability of oil contaminated fire retardant overalls
Flammability of water/offshore process fluid mixtures
Assessment of the significance of aerosol hazards from multi-component, flammable impinging releases
Testing of fire dampers to draft ISO standards
Technical guidance on use of aluminium offshore
Inspection of ageing offshore installations
In-safe joint industry project (JIP): Improved guidelines for the prediction of geotechnical performance of spudcan foundations during installation
Flashing liquid jets and two-phase dispersion (droplet) phase IV (formation of flammable mists offshore)
Development of guidelines for normally unattended offshore installations
Floating Production System – Mooring integrity – Phase 2
Cooperative research on extreme seas and their impact
Mooring chain out of plane bending – Joint industry project
Offshore working time in relation to performance and health & safety
Evaluation of worldwide practices on the structural integrity management and regulation of ageing installations
Further study of fatigue damage to girth welds from low stresses in the loading spectrum - Joint industry project
Material property requirements for mobile offshore installations
Review of the structural integrity management aspects of Classification Society rules for mobile offshore installations in the context of the UK regulatory regime
Overview of the UK's ageing offshore infrastructure – Structural integrity considerations
Techniques and technology underpinning the management of ageing jacket integrity – Phase 2: Detailed review of key structural integrity issues
Residual stress measurements and modelling for offshore girth welds
Seismic monitoring of the UK Continental Shelf including North West Atlantic
Techniques and technology underpinning the management of ageing jacket integrity – Phase 1
Response to dynamic impact to installations
Framework for structural integrity management of mobile installations
ISO 19905 1 technical development
Review of design methods for wave impact loading on FPSOs and FSUs