Offshore oil and gas - resources
The following resources will help you find out more about health and safety in the offshore oil and gas industry.
The Piper Alpha Disaster
You can read about The Public Inquiry into the Piper Alpha Disaster.
Audit of safety standards
Statistics
The latest offshore statistics include details of regulatory activity and information about hydrocarbon releases.
General HSE information and guidance
- Operations notices, safety alerts and safety notices
- Offshore information sheets
- Offshore COSHH essentials
- Process Safety Leadership in the UKCS
- Organisational change and major accident hazards
- How offshore helicopter travel is regulated
- Leadership for the major hazard industries
- Play your part: how offshore workers help improve health and safety
- Safety representatives and safety committees on offshore installations
- Safety zones around offshore oil and gas installations in waters around the UK
- Regulating health and safety in the UK offshore oil and gas fields - who does what?
- Underlying causes of offshore incidents
- Planning to do business in the UK offshore oil and gas industry?
HSE research
You can find details in the National Archives of:
Offshore charging information
HSE recovers the cost of work associated with assessment of safety cases under the:
- Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc) Regulations
- Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulations
This is for enforcement of the relevant statutory provisions (health and safety provisions that apply to offshore installations, or to activities on or in connection with them).
There is guidance for owners and operators of offshore installations and others who may be interested in how the cost recovery scheme operates. It provides information on the scope and nature of the activities carried out by HSE for which costs are recovered. It also explains how we calculate the costs recovered.
Key programme final reports
HSE has published final reports that explain the outcomes of the following programmes and initiatives:
- Key Programme 1: Hydrocarbon release campaign
- Key Programme 2: Deck and drilling operations
- Key Programme 3: Asset integrity
- Key Programme 4: Ageing and life extension programme
Ageing and life extension of offshore installations
Competence
- Competence - HSE inspector's toolkit
- Developing and Maintaining Staff Competence (Office of Rail and Road)
- Competence assessment (available in the National Archives)
Composites
Corrosion
Electrical control and instrumentation
- Offshore Information Sheet 4/2009 Guidance on Management of Ageing and Thorough Reviews of Ageing Installations
- Plant Ageing Study, Phase 1, Report, HSE Research Report 823
- Plant Ageing, Management of Equipment Containing Hazardous Fluids or Pressure, HSE Research Report 509
- A Review of Safety Culture and Safety Climate Literature for the Development of the Safety Culture Inspection Toolkit, HSE Research Report 367
- Fatigue Reliability of Old Semi-submersibles, HSE Research Report OTO 2000/052
- Beyond Lifetime Criteria for Offshore Cranes, HSE Research Report OTO 2001/88
- Guidance on the Management of Ageing and Life Extension for UKCS Floating Production Installations
Energy Institute guidance
- A framework for monitoring the management of ageing effects on safety critical elements
- Guidelines for the avoidance of vibration induced fatigue failure in process pipework
- Guidelines for the management of the integrity of bolted joints in pressurised systems
- Guidelines for the design, installation and management of small bore tubing assemblies
Energy Institute Ageing and Life Extension Work Group
The wide scope of the KP4 project required the development of technical guidance and best practice (including key performance indicators (KPIs)) covering all the KP4 topic areas to assist dutyholders with the development of their asset integrity management systems. This work is carried out by the Energy Institute through their Ageing and Life Extension Work Group.
Fire and explosion
Flaw assessment
Human and organisational factors
Inspection
You can find information on HSE’s inspection of offshore installations and operators, which includes details of its inspection guides.
There is also general information on inspection from the American Petroleum Institute.
Managing human failures
Organisational change
- Organisational change and major accident hazards - Chemical Information Sheet CHIS7
- Staffing assessments (available in the National Archives)
- Organisational change - HSE inspector's toolkit
Pipeline integrity
- BS PD 8010 part 2 Subsea Pipelines
- BS PD 8010 part 4 Integrity Management Guidelines
- DNV OS F101 Submarine Pipeline Systems
- HSE Research Report 162 (2003): Assessment of valve failures offshore oil and gas sector
- Energy Institute Research Report: A framework for monitoring the management of ageing effects on safety critical elements Nov 2009
- Guidelines for the management of integrity of subsea facilities
- UK Oil & Gas: OP010 - State of the Art Report on Flexible Pipe Integrity and Guidance Note on Monitoring Methods and Integrity Assurance for Unbonded Flexible Pipes (2010)
- Oil & Gas UK HS071: Guidance on the Conduct and Management of Operational Risk Assessment for UKCS Offshore Oil and Gas Operations Issue 1, January 2012
- Oil & Gas UK HS073: Guidance on the Management of Ageing and Life Extension for UKCS Oil and Gas Installations Issue 1, April 2012
You can find guidance on pipeline integrity via the American Petroleum Institute.
Research reports
Offshore research reports are now published in the main HSE research report (RR) series.
You can find details of previous offshore research reports in the National Archives.
Safety reports
Structures
Temporary equipment
- Temporary equipment offshore
Temporary repairs
Offshore ebulletin
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