UKOOA PROPOSES SINGLE REGULATORY ENTITY

U.K. Offshore Operators Association has recommended complete reorganization of the safety regulatory system in the British North Sea.

Ukooa, in its final submission to the Cullen Inquiry into the Piper Alpha platform explosion, called for a single offshore regulatory authority to replace the four bodies that have responsibility.

Ukooa also wants to supplement the current inspection based approach to regulatory policy with a system to audit and verify operators' management and quality methods.

The inquiry heard 260 witnesses during 13 months regarding the July 6, 1988, Piper Alpha disaster in which 167 men died.

The British government is committed to implement any safety recommendations made by the chairman of the inquiry, Lord Cullen, a leading Scottish judge.

SINGLE AUTHORITY

The four U.K. regulatory bodies currently responsible for offshore safety regulation are the Department of Energy, Department of Transport, Civil Aviation Authority, and certification authorities.

Ukooa, which represents 36 U.K. North Sea operators, wants a single authority with wide ranging powers able to order remedial action or shut down an installation.

But Ukooa believes that with 150 platforms in U.K. waters ranging from bridge-linked gas producers in shallow water to integrated drilling, production, and accommodation oil units in deep water, a single set of regulations is inappropriate.

It recommended introduction of formal safety assessments and a requirement that operators satisfy the authority that existing and planned installations are as safe as practical and present no intolerable risk to people on board.

Operators would be required to conduct the formal safety assessment at specified stages during design, development, and life of any installation.

They also would be required to maintain and document a safety management and quality system for each installation.

That system would set out the organization and procedures used to achieve safe design, construction, and operation.

Ukooa said personnel not meeting the requirement of the association's guidelines for offshore emergency safety training should not be permitted to work offshore.

It suggested a central training register, operated by the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Board, that would maintain details of safety training courses attended by workers.

REMEDIAL ACTIONS

Ukooa presented 37 papers and 30 witnesses to testify in the inquiry's second stage, which examined ways to improve offshore safety.

Accident prevention had top priority, and Ukooa said operators have improved oil and gas leak detection coverage by increasing the number and improving the position of detectors.

The evidence contained a review of actions being taken in light of Piper Alpha.

U.K. operators:

Are spending 100 million ($170 million) on installation and repositioning of emergency shutdown valves.
Have introduced improved fire resistant barriers around critical equipment and reduced potential damage from explosions by increasing venting or installing walls to absorb or deflect blasts.
Have upgraded systems to improve the effectiveness of fire water to cool critical sections of plant and pipelines.
Are fitting smoke detectors in the air intake ducts of accommodation modules to ensure that smoke dampers close automatically as soon as smoke is detected. Smoke proved to be a major hazard on Piper Alpha.
Are investigating further improvements to escape routes, including installing heat shielding, improved self-contained lighting, and greater use of photoluminescent strips at floor level.
Are using a range of secondary escape systems, including knotted ropes, ladders, extending steps, nets, and other equipment for personnel who may not be able to get to the helideck or lifeboats.

Ukooa recommended testing new ideas to ensure they do not create new problems.

It has commissioned a joint study at Aberdeen University to produce a standard for offshore smoke hoods. Some companies have provided current smoke hoods as an interim measure.