Safety

The OHS regime for offshore petroleum operations is set out by Schedule 3 to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 and its associated regulations for Commonwealth waters. Similar provisions apply in designated coastal waters where States and the Northern Territory have made legislation that mirrors Commonwealth legislation. In general, references to regulatory requirements in the material provided below are in relation to Commonwealth legislation.

The general OHS duty that relates to the operator of a facility is the requirement that the operator must take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that a facility and its activities are safe and without risk to health. Schedule 3 also imposes duties on a range of other parties including employers, manufacturers and members of the workforce. Part 3 of Schedule 3 deals with workplace arrangements, including provisions related to health and safety representatives (HSRs).

A series of leaflets (avaialble in the Quick Links sidebar) provide short summaries of important aspects of the regulation of offshore health and safety in Australian waters. Note that these will be updated soon to incorporate NOPSEMA branding.

Activities and Facilities

NOPSEMA's functions include promotion of occupational health and safety of persons engaged in offshore petroleum operations. These operations are: diving operations or operations at a facility. Certain vessels or structures are defined as facilities (refer to guideline in sidebar). Licensed pipelines are also facilities. The categories of activities that cause relevant vessels or structures to be defined as facilities are:

  1. recovery, processing, storage and offloading of petroleum, or any combination of these activities;
  2. provision of accommodation for persons at another facility, whether or not connected by walkway;
  3. drilling or servicing a petroleum well, or doing any work associated with drilling or servicing;
  4. laying of pipes for petroleum, including any manufacturing of such pipes, or doing work on existing pipes;
  5. erection, dismantling or decommissioning of a vessel or structure of any of the above types; and
  6. any other activity related to offshore petroleum that is prescribed.

The facility definition includes a facility being constructed or installed and an associated offshore place (that being an offshore place near the facility where activities relating to the facility occur).

For detailed facility definitions see the legislation.

Pipelines

As noted above in Commonwealth waters, pipelines are subject to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety) Regulations 2009. It should be noted that a Pipeline Management Plan (PMP) must also be submitted by the licensee to the relevant Designated Authority under the Commonwealth Petroleum (Submerged Lands)(Pipelines) Regulations 2001.

In Designated Coastal Waters, the regulations under the respective WA, Victorian, Tasmanian and Northern Territory Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Acts 1982, require that a PMP be submitted by the licensee to the relevant Minister. Agreement on a scope of validation with the Minister is required prior to submission of the PMP. The Minister must give a copy of the PMP to NOPSEMA in order to assess the safety aspects of the plan.

Vessels in the Offshore Petroleum OHS Regime - guidelines removed

NOPSEMA has received legal advice that its Guidance Notes which excluded certain vessels from being treated as facilities under the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 did not correctly interpret the existing legislation.

These particular Guidance Notes have now been removed from the NOPSEMA website and NOPSEMA advises that Operators of vessels working in the offshore petroleum industry must obtain their own advice as to whether their vessels fall under the category of 'facilities' or 'associated offshore places'

The NOPSEMA Guidance Notes were intended to offer some assistance in determining which vessels fell under particular categories according to the legislation. Vessels which are determined to be 'facilities' do not fall under the marine OHS regime but under the offshore petroleum OHS regime. The requirements of the petroleum regime include having a registered operator, submitting a safety case and paying the safety case levy.

NOPSEMA is concerned about the difficulties of interpreting this aspect of the legislation and is working closely with the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism to change the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety) Regulations 2009 [OPGGS(S)] to specifically exclude vessels performing certain tasks from being 'facilities'. NOPSEMA proposes that where there is such an exclusion, the vessels would not automatically become 'associated offshore places'. Offtake tankers, anchor handlers and supply vessels are already excluded from being 'facilities' and from being 'associated offshore places'.