The U.K. Health & Safety Commission (HSC) has published a consultative document proposing changes to offshore safety rules m line with sweeping changes that followed the 1990 Cullen report.
The latest proposals are designed to clarify responsibility for offshore safety in existing legislation and reduce administration requirements to meet safety rules.
They will affect the Mineral working (Offshore Installations) Act of 1971, which governs management and administration of offshore installations, pipelines and pipeline work, and helicopter operations.
One suggested change is to define the primary duty holder of an offshore installation-the one responsible for the safety case as the operator of a fixed installation or owner of a mobile installation.
Another proposal is that prescriptive rules for recordkeeping will be abandoned in favor of keeping only records required to meet an installation's safety case.
PROPOSALS' INTENT
An HSC official said the proposals were designed to set out responsibilities for safety in line with recent legislation and cut out much unnecessary recording of staff movements under current legislation.
HSC said the proposed changes would save installation operators and owners a total 1.4 million ($2.1 million). The official said it would cost 5,000/installation to update procedure handbooks, after which the industry as a whole would save 160,000/year ($240,000/year) in administration costs.
The consultative document is the second of three planned to update safety regulations. Proposals to change fire and explosion rules were announced last year. HSC is reviewing submissions.
Proposals for regulations on design and construction also are being readied for consultation. Publication is due later this year.
Comments on the proposals are required by the end of May. HSC said draft regulations based on the proposals are expected to come into force at the end of 1994.
The proposals follow implementation of the Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulations of 1992, which arose from the Cullen report into the 1988 Piper Alpha platform blast.
Copyright 1994 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
