OMAR operations and guidance

This page includes legal requirements, administrative arrangements, roles and responsibilities within the Offshore Major Accident Regulator (OMAR) delivering the competent authority, inspectors procedures about legal requirements and administrative arrangements.

Guidance on regulations

The following guidance documents on regulations are shared to assist operators and owners in the preparation of safety cases and OPEPs:

General offshore publications

You can find wider guidance in further offshore publications:

Design and relocation notifications

The following framework diagram and guidance describes the process by which OMAR will inspect design and relocation notifications.

Templates have been developed for use by OMAR topic specialists to assist in the inspection of design and relocation notifications.

Dutyholders are requested to complete and send the initial review template with notifications submitted to OMAR.

Management systems and verification will use the same template as Safety Case Assessment.

Safety cases

Competent authority portal (CAP): industry user guidance

EU Directive (2013/30/EU) on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations required Member States to set up a competent authority (CA) to oversee industry compliance with the Directive and to undertake certain related functions such as accepting and/or assessing relevant submissions and inspecting relevant notifications. Since the UK left the EU, the Offshore Major Accident Regulator (OMAR) is the UK’s offshore competent authority and will remain the same.

The CA functions are delivered by the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) and HSE working in partnership. The partnership formed for this purpose by OPRED and HSE is formally known as the Offshore Major Accident Regulator (OMAR). OMAR agreed to develop an online portal for the submission of documents by the industry and for the CA to carry out its functions as required under the Directive.

The following guides provide information for dutyholders:

The following framework diagrams describe the process by which OMAR will assess safety cases:

Templates have been developed for all topic disciplines for use by OMAR topic specialists to assist in the assessment of safety cases.

Dutyholders are asked to complete, as a minimum, the safety case initial review template, which significantly speeds up the assessment process. They are also strongly encouraged to complete other topic discipline templates, as experience has found this speeds up the assessment process further, and improves the quality of regulatory submissions.

Safety case topic specialist assessment templates and guidance

The following assessment templates and guidance will be used by topic specialists for the assessment of safety cases:

Initial review templates

(Revised 2021)

Topic specialist templates and guidance

Dismantlement safety cases

The following assessment template will be used by topic specialists for the assessment of dismantlement safety cases:

Oil pollution emergency plans (OPEPs)

The following framework diagram describes the process by which OMAR will handle and approve OPEPs: OPEP Assessment Framework – Oct 2019 (PDF).

Topic inspection templates have been developed for use by OMAR to assist in the assessment of OPEPs. Dutyholders are requested to complete and submit the relevant template with their submission of the OPEP to OPRED.

Guidance on preparing OPEPs is included in Guidance Notes for Preparing Oil Pollution Emergency Plans on GOV.UK.

Well notifications

The following framework diagram describes the process by which OMAR will inspect well notifications: Framework – Well Notification .

Topic inspection templates have been developed for use by OMAR topic specialists to assist in the inspection of well notifications:

Find out more

There is guidance on Understanding offshore oil and gas wells notifications. It briefs wells inspectors and administrative support staff of the line to take on queries about offshore well notifications and clarifies common misunderstandings concerning notifications on the part of industry:

Combined operations notifications

Dutyholders can find useful guidance: Competent Authority Portal (CAP) Industry User Guidance Combined Operation Notifications.

The following framework diagram describes the process by which OMAR will inspect Combined Operations Notifications (CONs): Framework – Combined Operations .

Topic inspection templates have been developed for use by OMAR topic specialists to assist in the inspection of CONs:

Thorough reviews

The purpose of a thorough review is to provide dutyholders, the workforce, and the competent authority with a level of confidence that the current safety case, which exists for the lifetime of the installation, continues to be fundamentally sound.

Regulation 23(1) of the Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc) Regulations 2015 (SCR2015) requires dutyholders to thoroughly review their safety cases, and submit a summary to the competent authority no more than 5 years after the date on which the safety case was first accepted, or the date of the last thorough review.

This means that the 5-year timescale begins from the date of acceptance following the last full assessment of the safety case, or after each subsequent thorough review. It is not 5 years from when a material change revision is made to a current safety case. HSE assesses and makes a decision as to the acceptance of those parts of the case which cover the material change only.

A summary of the review must be sent to HSE within 28 days of its conclusion.

SCR2015 also gives HSE the powers to direct a thorough review of a current safety case. HSE is most likely to direct such a review if, for example, it is concerned that the case may not reflect the true situation on the installation, or that the management system being operated may not be as described in the safety case.

A thorough review should not be confused with the requirement in regulation 24(1) to revise the case when appropriate, to reflect the current state of the installation and its operations.

The arrangements for thorough review of the safety case should be a part of the safety management system. HSE may inspect to ensure that this is the case, and that the arrangements are up to date and are being implemented effectively.

The arrangements should ensure:

  • those carrying out the review are suitably qualified and experienced
  • a degree of objectivity is achieved, for example by including in the review team staff not involved in operating the installation or maintaining the case for safety
  • the installation safety representatives are consulted
  • full account is taken of any conclusions and recommendations from the review
  • any necessary changes to the safety case identified during the review are implemented, which may involve a revision of the case
  • an accurate summary of the review is sent to HSE, within 28 days of its conclusion
  • the review considers how its demonstrations might be improved, taking account of all relevant changes and new knowledge since acceptance or the last review to ensure that they remain valid

Find out more

Thorough review inspection templates

Thorough review topic inspection reports

Important note:

The regulations referenced here relate to the Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc) Regulations 2015. The Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulations 2005, although still current, now only apply to ‘internal waters’, which means tidal waters and parts of the sea in, or adjacent to, Great Britain up to the landward limits of the territorial sea, for example river estuaries or sea lochs. The guidance and principles to follow will broadly remain the same as that for our arrangements for SCR2015 but regulatory responsibility for the 2005 regulations is with HSE and not OMAR.

Requesting an exemption

The following framework diagram describes the process by which OMAR will consider a request for exemption from any part of the requirements of the Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc) Regulations 2015.

Investigation of reportable incidents and complaints

OMAR will conduct coordinated investigations, with decisions made at an early stage on a case by case basis as to which regulatory partner should lead, with aligned principles of enforcement covering safety and environment. They will use the following criteria:

The following framework diagram describes the process by which OMAR will conduct investigations:

OMAR consultation on licensing and appointment of operators

The following guidance provides an understanding of the requirements regarding licence applications and appointment of operators.

Appendix C has been updated to provide further clarification of expectations based on experience to date in process of these applications.

Any feedback on the updated guidance should be addressed to [email protected].

Inspection

OMAR will proactively inspect to sample compliance in practice with major hazard control arrangements described by safety cases and oil pollution emergency plans (OPEPs).

OMAR will produce a single intervention plan for each dutyholder, on an annual basis, detailing all of OMAR's planned offshore interventions. The following framework diagram describes the process by which OMAR will produce intervention plans:

The following framework diagrams describe the process by which OMAR will conduct offshore inspections:

Inspection guide

Asset transfers

The following guide provides information on using CAP to transfer assets between dutyholders:

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Updated: 2025-08-15