NATIONAL OFFSHORE PETROLEUM SAFETY AUTHORITY

DETERMINATION UNDER REGULATION 46(2)(C) OF THE PETROLEUM (SUBMERGED LANDS) (MANAGEMENT OF SAFETY ON OFFSHORE FACILITIES) REGULATIONS 1996

BACKGROUND

Details for reporting of accidents and dangerous occurrences

Accidents and dangerous occurrences must be reported to the Authority in accordance with the regulations (Clause 41 of Schedule 7 of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967).

A dangerous occurrence is defined by Regulation 45 of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Regulations 1996 as an occurrence at a facility that:

(a)   did not cause, but could reasonably have caused:

1. the death of, or serious personal injury to, a person; or
2. a member for the workforce to be incapacitated from performing work for a periods of 3 days; or

(b)   was any of the following:

1. a fire or explosion:
2. a collision of a marine vessel with a facility;
3. an uncontrolled release of hydrocarbon vapours exceeding 1 kg;
4. an uncontrolled release of petroleum liquids exceeding 80 litres;
5. a well kick exceeding 50 barrels;
6. an unplanned event that required the emergency response plan to be implemented;
7. damage to safety-critical equipment; or

(c)   was of another kind that a reasonable operator would consider to require an immediate investigation.

Timing and content of reports

Subregulation 46(2) of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands)  (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Regulations 1996 requires, unless otherwise agreed by the Safety Authority, a written report be provided within 3 days to the Authority of an accident or dangerous occurrence, or its detection.  Subregulation 46(2)(c) provides for the Safety Authority to make a determination as to what details concerning an accident or dangerous occurrence must be included in the written report.  

The Determination

The report to be provided under subregulation 46(2) must contain material details of the types determined as follows.

General

1. The facility name, site name or location where the incident occurred.
2. Name and business address of registered operator or other person who controls the work site.
3. Time and date of incident.
4. Names and contact details of any witnesses.
5. Name/position/telephone number of person submitting these details.
6. Brief description of incident.
7. Work/activity being undertaken at time of incident.
8. Action taken to make the work-site safe including details of any disturbance of the work site.
9. Was an emergency response initiated?

Injuries

10.  Name of employer of deceased/injured person(s) [if any and if different from answer in item 2].

11.  Details of deceased/injured person(s) – including: name, date of birth, sex, residential address and telephone number, occupation/job title and details of injury, details of job being undertaken.

12.  Day of shift and hour of shift (e.g. 5th day of 7, 1st hour of 12).

Fluid Escape

13.  Estimated quantity and composition of fluids that escaped or burned, including known toxicity.

14.  Duration of escape.

15.  Location and weather conditions.

Serious Damage

16.  Identify equipment damaged and to what extent.

17.  Will the equipment or facility be shutdown and for how long?

Immediate Actions

18.  Immediate action taken/intended, if any, to prevent recurrence of incident.

Analysis and Remedial Actions

19.  Immediate cause analysis.

20.  Root cause analysis and full report.

21.  Actions to prevent recurrence of same or similar incident with responsible party and completion date.

John Clegg

Chief Executive Officer

National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority

Dated this……7th……….day of……December………….2004