Offshore Safety Administration
Safety Case Regime
Safety in the offshore petroleum industry in Australia is regulated under the safety case regime which is underpinned by the objective based Petroleum Submerged Lands (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Regulations 1996. These regulations will be replaced by equivalent regulations under the OPA once it comes into place. Objective based (or goal setting) regimes, including the safety case regime, are based on the principle that the legislation sets the broad safety goals to be attained and the operator of the facility develops the most appropriate methods of achieving those goals. A basic tenet is the premise that the ongoing management of safety is the responsibility of the operator and not the regulator.
Current best practice in offshore safety regulation involves the operator of an offshore facility preparing a plan, in conjunction with the workforce, for managing occupational health and safety at that facility. This plan, known as a Safety Case, describes the facility, the systems employed to maintain health and safety and their performance standards. Similarly, a Pipeline Safety Management Plan (PSMP) is prepared for work done on a pipeline, and a Diving Safety Management System (DSMS) is prepared for diving operations.
Once a safety case has been accepted by the regulator, it forms the “rules” with which the operator must comply in operation of the facility and against which those operations are audited by the regulator. The safety case regime is well established in Australian offshore oil and gas regulation and was introduced following an analysis of the lessons learnt from the UK North Sea Piper Alpha disaster in which 167 men died in July 1988.
National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority
Following a review of safety administration in offshore Australian Government waters, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) was established in January 2005. NOPSA works with the industry, workforce and other authorities to ensure all health and safety risks from offshore petroleum operations are properly managed; administer offshore petroleum safety regulation; and, establish and maintain a legislative framework which encourages continuous improvement in the management of health and safety offshore.
The Authority is accountable to the Australian Government, State and Northern Territory Ministers and aims to improve safety across the offshore petroleum industry and deliver world-best practice safety regulation in Australia.
For further information on offshore safety matters contact:
| Mr John Clegg, Chief Executive Officer National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority GPO Box 2568 PERTH WA 6001 Telephone: +61 8 6461 7001 Facsimile: +61 8 6461 7037 |
General Manager Projects and Taxation Branch Resources Division Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources GPO Box 9839 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Telephone: +61 2 6213 7924 Facsimile: +61 2 6213 7950 Web Page: www.industry.gov.au/offshoresafety |