OIL & GAS UK
From Mick Borwell, Health, Safety and Environment Policy Director
T
he business environment continues to challenge the
UK oil and gas sector forcing companies to make
difficult decisions and causing uncertainty for many
employed in our industry - both on and offshore.
It is a climate that that has also prompted questions
from some stakeholders over safety in the wake of changes
made by industry to adapt to, and compete, in a lower oil
price world.
However, I would hope that concerns can be allayed,
with publication earlier this year of Oil & Gas UK’s 2016
Health & Safety Report.
This annual compilation of statistics to the end of 2015
– mainly gathered by our regulator the Health and Safety
Executive – indicates how our sector is performing in key
areas such as personal and process safety.
While there is never room for complacency surrounding
the safety of our sector - a major hazard industry - I
believe our report indicates a generally positive picture of
performance during 2015.
There were no reported fatalities on the UK Continental
Shelf (UKCS) and reportable injury rates are lower than
other sectors such as manufacturing and construction.
The lost time injury frequency rate on the UKCS is below
the European average and lower than Norway, Denmark
and Ireland.
The overarching category of dangerous occurrences
– including hydrocarbon releases, fires or explosions,
dropped objects and weather damage – was down overall,
recording almost a 30% fall between 2013 and 2015.
Within that category, the total number of oil and gas
releases increased slightly by 9% - the majority of these
were minor releases, while major releases stayed the same.
The fact that the majority were largely minor reflects the
many control measures employed by companies to respond
to – and limit – the effect of releases.
In the second half of 2015, new European legislation
– the EU Implementing Regulation – introduced new
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reporting criteria which may have contributed very slightly
to the rise in minor releases, not deemed reportable under
previous legislation.
Regardless of statistics, oil and gas releases will always
be a focus for industry. Since a peak in 2004 to 2015, there
has been a sharp decline of almost 70% in the total number
of oil and gas leaks.
However, we will look to gather more information about
incidents detailed in our report so that we can target the
causes and continue to drive releases down.
Industry has also worked hard to reverse the increase in
safety-critical maintenance backlog shown in our previous
Health & Safety Report for 2014. A reduction is now being
reported across all three categories of planned, corrective
and deferred backlog.
Safety-critical maintenance has been a bigger focus for
us since our previous annual report came out.
We collated a much more comprehensive dataset
from more operators and installations to get the most
representative picture possible.
Operators also carried out structured reviews of
maintenance practice to improve equipment reliability and
help bring backlog down.
We also formed an industry work group bringing
together technical specialists in maintenance and asset
integrity to share experience and learnings on maintenance
optimisation.
These are contained in the document – Maintenance
Optimisation Reviews – Sharing Experience and Learning –
recently published by Oil & Gas UK.
Oil & Gas UK has also just published its annual report
containing data showing the sector’s environmental
performance to the end of 2015.
Discharges to sea and emissions to the air by industry
have been on an overall downward trend over the last 15
years. This echoes the decline of UK oil and gas production