Chief Dutch regulator calls for 'proactive' regulations, praises IADC HSE Case Guidelines
In his keynote address to the 2009 Drilling HSE Europe Conference & Exhibition on 24 September, Jan de Jong, inspector-general of the State Supervision of Mines in the Netherlands, called for “proactive” regulations that depend on industry to develop ideas and solutions to HSE problems.
Jan de Jong, State Supervision of Mines inspector-general
He expressed his strong preference for enhanced management by operators, drilling contractors, workers and third-party contractors to cooperate in the quest for zero incidents.
Reactive regulations, Mr de Jong indicated, are far less effective in this regard.
“I don’t think that regulations prevent blowouts,” he said.
The IADC HSE Case Guidelines for MODUs, he said, represent the outstanding results that the industry can achieve on its own.
“The IADC HSE Case Guidelines for MODUs is an excellent example of an industry standard that is capable of pulling together the quality issues that I have raised,” Mr de Jong said. “It is a format that has not only been recognized by my organization but also all of the other OCS regulators.”
The IADC HSE Case Guidelines provide a framework for developing an integrated health, safety and environmental management system for use in reducing the risks associated with offshore and onshore drilling activities. Separate guidelines exist for offshore and onshore drilling rigs. The guidelines have become increasingly popular with drilling contractors in many areas around the world.
Several countries have put regulations in place requiring Knowledge of Compliance with the IADC HSE Case, including Australia, Cuba, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. In addition, a number of other countries have regulations pending or require the guidelines as best practice, including Angola, Brazil, India, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, and Trinidad & Tobago.
IADC won an award from the International Regulators Forum for development of its HSE Guidelines.
