Author unit / section:

HID HQ 1A

Target audience:

All HID Staff involved in Assessment of Safety Cases/Safety Reports

Purpose

1  This SLC details the requirements for recording Safety Cases/Safety Reports (SCs/SRs) to enable accurate monitoring and reporting on the timely assessment of SCs/SRs.

Action required

2  The following actions should be taken:

Individuals who record Safety Case/Safety Report assessment:

1. Check that existing Service Order (SO) lines for issue of the safety report conclusions letter have appropriate target dates (as specified in paragraph 9) and amend if necessary. This needs to be completed before the end of May 2008 to enable reporting from the end of Quarter 1.
2. Ensure the entry of appropriate target dates (as detailed in paragraph 9) for future SO lines.
3. Ensure that any changes to target dates are fully recorded as described in paragraph 10.
4. Ensure that the SO is updated i.e. marked as ‘complete’ as soon as the acceptance decision/conclusions letter has been issued.
   
   Managers:
5. Managers should note the need to monitor closure of Cases (see paragraph 5).
   
   Divisions:
6. Divisions will be required to supply data quarterly to HID HQ1A (see paragraphs 12-16).

Background

3  Performance on assessment of SCs/SRs is expressed as an output performance measure (OPM) A and is reported via HSE’s Balanced Scorecard to HSE’s Senior Management Team and the Minister for Health and Safety.

4  From April 2008, OPM A is defined as ‘The number of Safety Cases/ Safety Reports completed to time and quality standards during the period, as a proportion of those due for completion’. The target is 100%.

5  OPM A cannot be monitored from closure of the assessment Case on COIN (there is no facility to assign a target date to the Case). It is important, however, that Cases should be closed when assessment records are complete. Managers should be aware that there will be a need to monitor closure of Cases.

6  From April 2008, HMB has agreed that OPM A will be measured from the COIN Service Order (SO) line recording the issue of the safety report assessment conclusions letter/safety case acceptance decision.

7  There are a number of COIN reports that Managers can use to find details of the status of Cases and Service Orders. These include – Case Management (3), SO Activity Status (13), SO Activity/Milestones (14) & Management Perspective of Tasks (21).

Guidance and instructions

8  For a SC/SR to be regarded as completed to time the relevant SO line must be marked ‘Complete’ on or before the appropriate target date (see paragraph 9). It is therefore critical to ensure both:

1. Entry of the appropriate target date for issue of the conclusions letter/acceptance decision; and
2. Prompt updating of the SO line when the conclusions letter is issued/acceptance decision made.

Assigning a target date

9  Target dates should be assigned as detailed below. Permanent guidance (see links below) will be amended to reflect these requirements:

1. For COMAH reports (SRAM):
   • Single full report - 364 days from the date of receipt.
   • Single full report received in batches - 364 days from the date of receipt of the last batch.
   • Pre-construction report - 3 months from the date of receipt.
   • Pre-construction report (received in instalments) - 3 months from date of receipt of the most recent instalment. The target date should be updated as each instalment is received, and a note attached to confirm why, when and by whom the target date for the report has been changed.
   • Pre-operation report - 6 months from the date of receipt.
   • Pre-operation report (received in instalments) - 6 months from date of receipt of the most recent instalment. As in the case of pre-construction reports, the target date should be updated as each instalment is received, and a note attached to confirm why, when and by whom the target date for the report has been changed.
2. For OSD (SCHAM):
   • Safety cases should be entered according to the appropriate 6 week, 3 month or 6 month timescale 
   • Design notifications and Thorough Review Summaries should be allocated 3 months
   • Combined Operations Notifications will not have service orders and do not count towards the OPM
3. For GSMR (GASSCHAM)
   • Material revision – generally one month but, if complex, by a date agreed with the conveyor but not more than 6 months from receipt
   • New safety case – generally 3 months but if complex, by a date agreed with the conveyor but not more than 6 months from receipt

Extending a target date

10  For all Divisions, where there is a justifiable reason to extend the target date, a note should be added to the SO and related to the relevant SO line. This should provide details of why, when, and by whom, changes to the target date were made.

Quality standards

11  Judging whether an assessment has been completed to quality standards is part of the final stages of the assessment process, and is confirmed by the decision to issue the acceptance decision/conclusions letter.

Reporting on OPM A

12  Reporting to HID HQ will be required quarterly, as below:

1. COMAH Safety Reports: CI/SI units assessing SRs should submit to CI4 the cumulative number and percentage of safety reports assessed to time and quality standards each quarter, together with any narrative.
2. OSD Safety Cases: Units should submit to OSD1.5 the cumulative number and percentage of safety cases assessed to time and quality standards each quarter, together with any narrative.
3. GSMR Safety Cases: SI3 Sheffield Office will determine the cumulative number and percentage of GSMR safety cases assessed to time and quality standards each quarter.
4. Divisional returns should then be sent to HID HQ by the tenth working day of the following quarter. If performance standards have not been met then a narrative detailing the reasons for this should also be included.

13  Divisions can obtain this information by running a Service Order Activity Milestone Report (14) directly from COIN. The date range for running report 14 will be the first date of the work year (7th April for 2008/09) to the end of the relevant quarter. A cumulative total will be reported throughout the work year. NB to return all the relevant information, the tick in the ‘Missed Milestones Detail Only’ check box should be removed.

14  Information required to run the report includes the relevant end date and the activity code:

CI:       code HSE1246 “conclusions letter sent”
SI:       code HSE1246 “conclusions letter sent” or code HSE1178 “acceptance decision”
OSD:  code HSE1178 “acceptance decision” or code HSE1498 “operations manager’s approval"

15  HID HQ will work with Heads of Unit to help produce reports until such time as necessary, to ensure reporting is straightforward.

16  A further measure will be to highlight any assessments that are substantially late, (i.e. having been late during one period, are still late at the end of the next, and any subsequent, period. They will be more than 3 months overdue). This refinement will be for HID internal use only. Again, Divisional contacts should supply this data quarterly to HID HQ. An earlier range of end dates for running Report 14 may be needed to identify substantially late assessments.

17  Information should be presented in the following format:

No of safety reports/case assessments due for completion to the end of quarter
No. of assessments completed on time
No. of substantially late assessments (see paragraph 16)

18  Guidance on the completion of Safety Cases can be found here:

GSMR

• Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996 Safety Case Assessment Manual

Further information

Contacts:

General issues:
Ruth Franklin, HID HQ1A, Ext. 3096
Simon Reynolds, HID HQ1A Ext. 3174

For COMAH Safety Reports:
Tim Beals, CI4A Ext. 4885

For Offshore Safety Cases:
Laurence Poulter, OSD3/4 Ext. 3119

For GSMR Safety Cases:
Steve Chatfield, SI3D Ext. 2911