Page 10: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jun/Jul 2013)

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Editor’s Column

ColloquyColloquy

Nina RachNina Rach

Safety frst... in the North Sea eginning this month, we recognize isn’t just history and we still have to responsibility on the Member States to the 25th anniversary of the Piper guard against complacency. The same ensure enforcement of the new safety

B

Alpha disaster. hazards and the same challenges that framework.

The Piper Alpha production plat- existed back then still exist now and Oil & Gas UK, the trade association form was operated by Occidental how we manage them — through of the UK offshore oil and gas indus-

Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd. in the UK strong leadership and through engag- try, welcomes the directive, because it sector of the North Sea, about 120 ing the workforce in safety — is crucial preserves the UK’s goal-based system miles (193 km) northeast of Aberdeen. in preventing a repeat of that tragedy.” operated by the HSE. Robert Paterson,

It caught fre and exploded on 6 July Oil & Gas UK’s health, safety and 1988. There were 225 men aboard employment director, said the directive

HSE: KP4 and OSD but only 59 survived; 165 died on the The Liverpool-based HSE is a non- “will be the best way to achieve the platform, along with two men on the departmental public body responsible objective of raising standards across stand-by vessel Sandhaven. The site of for the encouragement, regulation the EU to the high levels already pres- the wrecked platform is now marked and enforcement of workplace health, ent in the North Sea.” by a buoy. safety and welfare in England, Wales, The Department of Energy and

Two events in Aberdeen this month and Scotland. In 2010, HSE’s Offshore Climate Change (DECC) and HSE will follow on: Safety Division (OSD) launched KP4, transpose the EU directive into UK law. n Piper 25 is an offshore safety confer- an inspection program to improve ence chaired by Oil & Gas UK chief the management of older UK off-

North Sea Safety Awards executive, Malcolm Webb, to refect on shore installations, given the growing The International Association of lessons learned and reinforce industry demands to extend their use beyond Drilling Contractors (IADC) North Sea commitment to continuous improve- the original design life. KP4 will run Chapter announced its annual safety ment [June 18-20, Aberdeen Exhibition until December 2013. awards on 10 May in Aberdeen, mark- & Conference Center]. On 1 April this year, the 22-year-old ing the 40th anniversary of the NSC. n Workforce Involvement Day, a paral- OSD was absorbed into a new HSE unit Chapter co-chair Darren Sutherland lel “fringe” event on June 19, is jointly called the Energy Division. noted that the Piper Alpha tragedy organized by Step Change in Safety “initiated a signifcant overhaul of the and the UK’s Health & Safety Executive North Sea safety regime.”

New Directive (HSE), and sponsored by Apache, A European Union informal trialogue Awards were based on safety perfor-

Baker Hughes, Royal Dutch Shell, and introduced a new directive on offshore mance in 2012, and recognized opera-

Wood Group PSN. safety and environment. tors of jackups: Northern Offshore

This day is designed to engage the Initiated after the Deepwater Horizon and Ensco; semisubmersibles: Noble workforce in safety matters and will catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico in Drilling and Stena Drilling; platforms: include the screening of a 25-min- 2010, the European Commission, in Archer; and drillships: Stena Drilling. ute flm at the AECC that challenges October 2011, proposed a new regula- Kvitebjorn and KCA Deutag received workers to think differently about their tion for offshore oil and gas activities Merit Awards for Outstanding Safety safety. The organizers hope it will be that would establish minimum envi- Performance over eight years.

simultaneously shown to workers on ronmental, health, and safety require- In May, Conductor Installation every offshore installation on the UK ments for all EU Member States. Services, an Acteon company in Great

Continental Shelf. In 2012, after strong lobbying from Yarmouth, was recognized for eight

Step Change in Safety team leader, UK North Sea operators, the European years without a lost-time accident,

Les Linklater, said: “The legacy of Parliament’s ITRE Committee voted to and recieved a Gold Award from the

Piper Alpha affects every offshore change the originally proposed regula- UK Royal Soc. for the Prevention of worker even today... Piper Alpha tion into a directive, which puts more Accidents (ROSPA).

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