BOEMRE Gulf Region Observes 20th
Anniversary of Spill Drill Program
(07/23/2009)
►
2007 Oil Spill Drill Video
Safety-Related
Information
Preventing offshore accidents is a paramount goal of both
the BOEMRE and OCS operators. Information is critical to making solid business and regulatory
decisions to help us achieve this goal. We hope this page will help by providing an
overview of offshore safety efforts and enabling quicker dissemination of important
safety-related information.
Changes of Regulations for Reporting Incidents
BOEMRE
Finalizes Changes to Incident Reporting Regulations
On April 17,
2006, BOEMRE published a Notice of Final Rule Making (73 FR 19640) that revised
incident reporting requirements. These revised requirements became effective
on July 17, 2008. The new requirements
clarify what incidents are to be reported by providing more precise injury
and other incident definitions and incident reporting timeframes. These
changes will result in a more consistent incident reporting program with the
collection of more reliable incident information. BOEMRE uses incident data in
a variety of ways:
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To examine the need for
regulatory changes; |
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To determine research
study needs; |
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To identify unsafe work
procedures; |
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To compile accident
statistics and develop trend analyses; |
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To decide which
incidents are serious enough to warrant the formation an accident
investigation panel; |
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To prepare operator
performance statistics; |
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To evaluate Safety
Award for Excellence (SAFE) candidates; |
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To work with industry
to develop technical and operating standards; and, |
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To inform the public by
publishing summaries of OCS incidents on the BOEMRE webpage. |
To learn
more about OCS incidents that are reported to the BOEMRE, please visit our
OCS Events and
Offshore Stats & Facts pages.
BOEMRE Proposes Safety
and Environmental Management Regulations
On June 17, 2009, BOEMRE
published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (74 FR 28639) that would require
operators to develop and implement a Safety and Environmental Management
System for their oil and gas operations on the OCS (Outer Continental
Shelf). The Safety and Environmental Management System would consist of four
elements—Hazards Analysis, Management of Change, Operating Procedures, and
Mechanical Integrity— that, until now, have not been covered in our
regulations.
BOEMRE accident and
inspection data show that the root cause of most safety and environmental
accidents and incidents is one or more of these four elements. The BOEMRE
believes that requiring operators to implement a Safety and Environmental
Management System will reduce the number of accidents, injuries, and spills
that occur during BOEMRE-regulated OCS activities. Comments on the proposed
rule are due by September 17, 2009. For more information see a copy
of the
Federal Register Notice for the Proposed Rule. |