Fire, explosion and risk assessment

• Fire and explosion strategy
  (Issue 1) Presents the strategy development carried out by HSE's Energy Division (ED) to address fire and explosion issues on offshore installations. It reviews the current state of knowledge about fire and explosion hazards, their prevention, control and mitigation. It identifies current areas of uncertainty and describes the strategy areas where areas of significant uncertainty require clarification.
• Warning to offshore industry on possible failure of fire resistant composite deck gratings (Safety Bulletin HID 2-2012)
  This alert warns operators that fire resistant composite materials, especially FRP deck gratings, used offshore may fail, or lose integrity, after exposure to relatively short duration hydrocarbon pool fires.
• Water deluge systems: Testing and performance measurements (Offshore Information Sheet 1/2010)
  This information sheet provides guidance on water deluge systems, their testing requirements, data recording in relation to performance standards, and new knowledge of fire attack scenarios
• Testing regime for offshore TR-HVAC fire tampers and TR pressurisation requirements
  (Offshore Information Sheet 1/2006) Guidance for dutyholders on better practice in testing HVAC fire dampers to achieve a reliability and availability approaching 100%. It also provides guidance on the basis for temporary refuge (TR) pressurisation and to advise on the testing requirements to achieve a positive internal pressure for the specified TR endurance time.
• Guidance on risk assessment for offshore installations
  (Offshore Information Sheet 3/2006) Guidance for asset managers, safety managers and safety engineers in the offshore industry on suitable and sufficient risk assessment, particularly in the context of the Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulations 2005
• Advice on acceptable criteria for damaged passive fire protection (PFP) coatings
  (Offshore Information Sheet 12/2007) Guidance for dutyholders on better practice in understanding how typical anomalies in PFP coatings affect fire resistance performance. Repair of damaged PFP should be based on the assessment of damage in relation to the fire attack conditions.
• Advice on gas detection strategies for HVAC duct inlets
  (Offshore Information Sheet 5/2008) Advice for dutyholders about the detection of flammable gases in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) duct inlets.
• Modelling of pool fires in offshore hazard assessments
  (Offshore Information Sheet 9/2008) Guidance on modelling of pool fires hazards on steel decking. Early experimental work has shown that pool fires not contained by a bund are liable to cause severe deck plate buckling and possible weld shear.
• Fire and explosion hazards in offshore gas turbines
  (Offshore Information Sheet 10/2008) Guidance for dutyholders of offshore installations on identifying fire and explosion hazards in offshore gas turbines. In recent years there has been a marked increase in fires associated with these machines.
• Contaminated lagging and self-heating 
  (Offshore Information Sheet 11/2008) Guidance for dutyholders on oxidative self-heating (OSH) hazards associated with lagging type material contaminated with organic fluids.
• Explosion hazards due to spray releases
  (Offshore Information Sheet 1/2009) This information sheet brings attention to the explosion hazard of spray releases caused by:
  • atomisation on release of fluids under pressure
  • impingement of released fluids on nearby equipment:
  • recondensation after the release of flashing liquids.
• Tumble dryer fires in laundry rooms
  (Offshore Information Sheet 3/2009) Guidance on the actions that should be taken to reduce the risk of tumble dryer fires.
• Testing of HVAC dampers
  (Safety Notice 6/2005) This notice highlights the need for adequate inspection and testing of safety-critical HVAC dampers, at an appropriate frequency, in order to secure confidence in their operation and reliability.
• Explosion protected electrical heaters
  (Safety Notice 1/2009) In a recent incident on an offshore installation, there was an explosion in an open drains tank containing oily water. The tank contained an electric heater which was Ex certified. However, the sheath on the electric heating element had corroded, exposing the conductor. Although the incident is still being investigated, it is thought that this fault led to ignition of flammable material in the tank. The notice provides guidance on inspecting and maintaining electric heaters.
• Riser emergency shut down valve (ESDV) leakage assessment
  Describes how HSE assesses the acceptability of riser emergency shutdown valve (ESDV) leakage rates.