Offshore topics

This page covers the main safety topics in the offshore industry. It includes signposting to guidance for dutyholders and explains how HSE tackles the various health and safety activity required by the industry.

Accommodation

The standards required for accommodation on offshore installations are set out in the Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction etc) Regulations.

The following publications provide detailed information on the standards and HSE’s role in enforcing them:

Ageing and life extension

The maintenance of asset integrity and control of the significant risk to asset integrity presented by ageing processes is a key priority for HSE.

Ageing and Life Extension Programme (KP4)

Between 2011 and 2013 HSE carried out a programme of onshore and offshore inspections of the ageing and life extension (ALE) and asset integrity management (AIM) systems to establish whether the risks were being managed effectively and to encourage improvements.

HSE’s report into the findings of the KP4 programme identified:

  • areas of industry strengths
  • areas for additional focus to deliver improvements for the long-term management and assurance of workforce safety on offshore installations on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) through to ending of production and into decommissioning

Working with industry brought a high level of positive engagement, resulting in the development of industry-leading ALE practices. Further work is required by industry to continue to improve these practices, and hence offshore safety.

Industry engagement

Oil and Gas UK set up an ALE steering group forum to assess the knowledge gaps and create expert groups to develop necessary guidance.

The Energy Institute has created an ALE forum to address a variety of issues.

HSE has a long history of collaboration with Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority and The Netherlands' State Supervision of Mines.

Stakeholder engagement

Engagement with offshore industry stakeholders (dutyholders, contractors, equipment manufacturers, other regulators, industry bodies, technical and standards making bodies and verifiers) is an important KP4 activity. The aim is to promote understanding of the importance of ageing and life extension management, so that appropriate measure are implemented at all levels within organisations, and across all organisations comprising the UK offshore industry, to ensure safety at all times.

KP4/ageing and life extension matters are also to be publicised through:

  • press releases
  • seminars
  • conferences
  • workshops
  • the KP4 Ageing and Life Extension Network

KP4 is aimed at all levels of industry stakeholders, and engagement is a key plank of the KP strategy. Some key stakeholders are:

Find out more

Guidance on Management of Ageing and Thorough Reviews of Ageing Installations (Offshore Information Sheet 4/2009) (available via the National Archives)

You can find more information on ageing and life extension in our offshore oil and gas resources.

Corrosion and materials

HSE’s Corrosion and Materials Specialist Team has responsibility for asset integrity management relating to external and internal corrosion threats to pressure systems which could result in a major accident hazard or personal injury. Their work covers the entire lifecycle of offshore installation from design, operation, inspection and maintenance, to management of change, life extension and decommissioning. Topics covered include:

  • materials selection
  • design of pipework and plant
  • coatings selection
  • risk-based inspection schemes, inspection reporting, audit and review
  • corrosion threats assessment

The team have expertise in metallic and non-metallic materials, weld engineering and non-corrosion failure mechanisms such as fatigue, brittle failure, fretting and erosion.

Corrosion-related safety bulletins

Find out more

HSE were involved in the production of the Energy Institute’s Guidance for corrosion management in oil and gas production and processing, as well as several other topic-specific documents.

Electrical and control systems

Safe electrical equipment and methods of working are important to prevent injuries due to electric shock and burns and explosions. Offshore installations use safety-related control systems to help avert major incidents resulting from loss of containment.

Electrical and control systems safety includes:

  • prevention of electrical shock and injuries due to arcing, fire and explosion caused be electrical equipment and systems
  • electrical generation and distribution
  • safety instrumented systems
  • process control instrumentation and supervisory control and data acquisition
  • machinery control systems (including drill floor machinery)
  • dynamic positioning systems
  • heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) control and monitoring
  • communications (including PA/GA and remote communications)

As well as undertaking inspections, investigations and assessments, HSE contributes to:

  • a wide range of projects and activities within the industry
  • the development and maintenance of offshore oil and gas industry guidance and international standards

Find out more

Evacuation, escape and rescue

The following publications all relate to emergency response on offshore installations and are available in the National Archives.

Fire, explosion and risk assessment

The following publications all relate to fire, explosion and risk assessment on offshore installations:

Health risks

The UK offshore industry employs more than 20,000 people, who are exposed to a range of occupational health risks.

The consequences of ill health can be devastating for the individuals and their families - there is often a long-term impact on quality of life and financial security.

There are 5 main groups of health hazards in the offshore oil and gas industry:

  • musculoskeletal disorders (related to manual handling, ergonomics)
  • hazardous substances, such as asbestos
  • physical hazards, such as noise, vibration and radiation
  • biological hazards (food and water hygiene)
  • psychosocial hazards (stress)

You can find HSE guidance on how to control these occupational health risks offshore. The guidance includes:

  • what the law requires
  • information, instruction and training
  • managing occupational health
  • risk assessment for managing health risks

Human factors

HSE's long-term aim is to improve the safety performance of the UK offshore oil and gas industry through the application of behavioural science knowledge and techniques at the individual, organisational and job levels.

HSE's microsite on human factors provides guidance on a wide range of topics including competence, procedures, supervision, culture, organisational change and managing human failures.

The North Sea Offshore Authorities Forum (NSOAF), of which HSE is a member, produced a multi-national audit Human and organisational factors in well control looking at how offshore operators and drilling contractors in the North Sea addressed human and organisational factors in their well control arrangements.

Find out more

You can find previous HSE guidance in the National Archives:

Hydrocarbon release system

Offshore hydrocarbon releases are currently reported to HSE as dangerous occurrences under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). More recently, the European Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1112/2014 also applies in the UK and creates legal obligations to report certain types of incident to the regulator.

The Hydrocarbon Releases (HCR) System contained detailed supplementary information in addition to that provided under RIDDOR (and previous offshore legislation prior to April 1996), and the dataset contains reports dating from 1 October 1992.

There is some overlap across the hydrocarbon reporting requirements within the UK and European legislation, and the supplementary reporting requirements that implement Recommendation 39 of the Cullen Report into the Piper Alpha Disaster for gathering data on hydrocarbon releases. To minimise the burden on industry a single reporting tool, the Report of an Oil and Gas Incident Form (ROGI), was introduced.

With the introduction of the ROGI and the EU Offshore Safety Directive, new data requirements became necessary. Due to the age of the previous Hydrocarbon Release Database platform, upgrading was not possible and the system was decommissioned. However, exactly the same non-attributable incident details are still available, free of charge, in data from our offshore statistics page.

There is information on reporting incidents to the Offshore Major Accident Regulator.

International liaison

HSE works with a number of international bodies to enable regulators to exchange information about:

  • offshore health and safety trends
  • industry health and safety performance
  • lessons from incidents
  • industry best practice
  • regulatory practice
  • measuring the effectiveness of regulatory activities

We provide a network of offshore petroleum health and safety experts for mutual support and advice when required.

Current international liaison

Current examples of international liaison include:

  • International Regulators' Forum: IRF comprises 10 national regulators from countries that produce offshore oil and gas - USA, Canada, Brazil, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and the UK. IRF shares knowledge and information of safety issues and global company performance. The group meets annually and corresponds throughout the year sharing issues of concern and raising awareness of best practice. IRF also hold biannual conferences for industry and offshore regulators. Further details are available from the IRF website
  • Bilaterals: We have regular bilateral meetings with regulators from major producing neighbours. We have effective links with the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority through the UK/Norwegian Special Working Group. The meetings allow us to exchange information and develop common positions on cross-border issues. We also hold annual meetings with the Danish Energy Authority and the Dutch State Supervision of Mines, to facilitate agreement on cross-border issues
  • North Sea Offshore Authorities Forum (NSOAF): NSOAF has representatives from Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. It meets annually to exchange information and develop common positions and joint initiatives. NSOAF has worked to reduce the difficulties due to differences in regulatory regimes and requirements, for example to make it easier to move rigs between North Sea countries, and to harmonise safety training standards. NSOAF carried out a multi-national audit across the North Sea to look at how offshore operators and drilling contractors are incorporating human and organisational factors into their well control systems, and it is important for the North Sea industry to learn the lessons identified in the Multi-national Audit on Human and Organisational Factors in Well Control. An earlier NSOAF Multi-national Audit on Supervision similarly provides an opportunity for the offshore industry to learn about supervision best practice
  • European Union: Most health and safety legislation has been introduced to implement European directives, mainly to promote minimum standards for health and safety of workers. There is a body of EU health and safety law, the basis of which is the Framework Directive, which established broad obligations for employers to avoid and reduce risks in the workplace. However, a new specific Offshore Directive came into force in July 2015. The UK is also a member of the European Union Offshore Authorities Group (EUOAG).
  • International Committee On Regulatory Authority Research And Development (ICRARD): ICRARD 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. The ICRARD website provides further details

Marine and aviation

The following publications provide information on marine and aviation issues for the offshore industry.

Maritime integrity

Maritime integrity applies to all floating installations, including jack-up drilling units. The maritime hazards are:

  • loss of stability, arising from collision or uncontrolled flooding
  • loss of position, arising from some failure within the mooring system or dynamic positioning (DP) system

The main areas of attention for HSE include:

  • assurance of the integrity of mooring systems for production installations
  • management of offloading operations to the shuttle tanker, including inert gas and hydrocarbon blanket gas systems
  • suitable inspection and repair programs to ensure continued watertight integrity
  • arrangements to ensure the provision of competent, experienced personnel, both offshore and onshore
  • supervision and control of DP operations of the installation, and of vessels in close attendance, including gangway management
  • control and management of work activities inside ballast and cargo tanks

Find out more

Mechanical engineering

HSE has responsibility for:

  • lifting operations
  • pressure systems integrity
  • machinery and rotating equipment

Integrity issues are considered throughout the whole life cycle of the plant including design, procurement, installation, operation, inspection, major repairs and modifications, maintenance, and decommissioning. HSE’s work covers both major accident hazards and hazards giving rise to 'occupational' injuries.

Lifting operations

Crane operation is an inherent part of offshore oil and gas operations, lifting a multitude of supplies and materials to and from offshore facilities. Lifting and mechanical handling operations can pose a major accident hazard if a suspended load or crane boom falls on to processes piping. Injuries and dangerous occurrences arising from lifting operations account for about 20% of the total of those occurring offshore.

Pressure systems integrity

Machinery and rotating equipment

Pipelines

The Pipeline Safety Regulations 1996 (PSR) apply to pipelines in Great Britain and those in territorial waters and the UK Continental Shelf, particularly those known as major accident hazard pipelines.

HSE's pipelines website tells you:

  • what HSE does to tackle pipeline issues
  • more about key pipeline health and safety topics

Process integrity

Process integrity includes:

  • hazard identification, operability study and analysis
  • process parameters for suitable material selection
  • establishing safe operating limits
  • plant layout, and hazardous area classification
  • plant protection systems
  • pressure relief and blowdown
  • safe disposal systems
  • information, instructions and training
  • plant operations
  • process isolation standards
  • safe systems of work
  • commissioning

Find out more

Safety management systems (SMS)

HSE sees safety management systems (SMS) as crucial mechanisms in the delivery of safety. We apply human and organisational techniques to the elements of the SMS to assess effectiveness and determine areas for improvement.

Important SMS elements are:

Find out more

Structural integrity

Dutyholders must comply with the structural integrity requirements of the UK regulations for offshore installations with particular reference to the:

Structural integrity is fundamental to the safety of the workforce. It is assured by inherently safe design based on good practice and must be maintained throughout the installation lifecycle by an appropriate management system of inspection, analysis and repair.

Find out more about structural integrity for offshore installations.

Verification

Dutyholders have a statutory duty to control the risks of a major accident as defined in the:

They must ensure that safety-critical elements and the Offshore Installations (Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response) Regulations 1995 (PFEER) specified plant are initially suitable and remain suitable for the life of the installation.

Dutyholders also have a further duty under SCR2005/SCR2015 to put in place and keep under continual review a verification scheme to gain assurance from an independent competent person (ICP) that safety-critical elements and PFEER specified plant are suitable and remain suitable for the life of the installation.

Find out more

Wells

Oil and gas wells connect offshore installations to the reservoirs below them. Blowout of hydrocarbons from wells is a major accident hazard for an installation or land borehole site, with the potential to result in major fire and explosion.

For HSE's well engineering and operations teams, the main focus is for dutyholders to ensure the safe design and construction of oil and gas wells as well as the safe performance of drilling and well servicing operations.

This includes:

  • monitoring and maintaining of well lifecycle integrity
  • arrangements for examination of well design and construction by independent and competent third parties
  • arrangements for verification of well control safety- critical equipment by independent and competent third parties
  • arrangements for ensuring competence for safe working, particularly for complex well operations such as 'managed-pressure drilling', or in high- pressure high- temperature wells

HSE inspection guides

Other information and guidance

Working time

The Working Time Regulations apply offshore, and cover the organisation of working time, for example fatigue and shift patterns.

There is advice on good practice for managing shift work, and associated risk, in the offshore industry in HSE’s information sheet Managing offshore shift work and fatigue risk (available in the National Archives).

Updated 2025-11-20