Be a safety hero: Join the IADC HSE Case rewrite
By Mike Killalea, Editor & Publisher
Even in these uncertain times, safety is the bottom line, and the folks who help us save lives at work, play and home are my safety heroes.
Industry deserves kudos for advancing personal safety, and for the changes in safety culture that have saved life and limb. Check the latest stats from the IADC ISP program. 2015 struck a milestone as the first year with zero US onshore fatalities since the voluntary reporting program kicked off in 1962 (Click here to read the 2015 ISP).
Post-Macondo safety shift
While that’s great news, the post-Macondo industry and regulatory emphasis has been laser-focused on defining and developing safety and environmental management systems. Risk management, accountability and offshore safety are obviously huge parts of this effort.
IADC HSE case guidelines
Enter the IADC Health, Safety and Environmental Case Guidelines for Mobile Offshore Drilling Units. The award-winning IADC HSE Case Guidelines, introduced more or less in its current state during 2006, with subsequent updates, provide a framework for developing an integrated health, safety and environmental management system.
The original IADC Safety Case was introduced in the early 1990s by the IADC North Sea Chapter to help drilling contractors comply with new regulations prompted by the 1988 explosion aboard the Piper Alpha production platform in the UKCS.
The first Safety Case was organized around a series of templates. Ultimately, however, regulators frowned on the template approach. Their view was that the templates suggest that IADC, rather than the rig duty holder, was assessing the risk to the MODU. At a minimum, regulators thought that the IADC templates skewed what should be an internal corporate process.
The 2006 edition represents a voluntary, core set of principles that can be applied to any drilling unit regardless of geographic location. Geographic portability is another advantage of the current IADC HSE Case.
These guidelines have received significant global support and praise from drilling contractors, regulators and clients alike.
“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,” said Jan de Jong, the then-inspector general of the Dutch State Supervision of Mines, the offshore regulator. Mr de Jong spoke at a 2009 IADC conference.
Its user-friendly style and useful outputs have made the document an important reference tool for those developing an HSE Case for MODUs.
“The guidelines have proven to be useful to our members as a demonstration of good practice,” remarked Alan Spackman, IADC Vice President-Policy, Government and Regulatory Affairs (alan.spackman@iadc.org).
The guidelines have won awards from the International Regulators Forum and the Offshore Energy Center.
Ready to step up?
Mr Spackman’s plans to update the guidelines are three-pronged and straightforward. First, we ask offshore drilling contractors, to help us by collecting lessons learned from your experiences with the HSE Case. The second task is to assess and reflect in the HSE Case any changes in referenced standards. Finally, legislative changes since the last edition must be reviewed and included. DC
Be a safety hero. Help with the IADC HSE Case. Email Alan Spackman at alan.spackman@iadc.org.
Email Mike Killalea at mike.killalea@iadc.org.
Click here to view the IADC HSE Case Guidelines.
Click here to purchase the IADC HSE Case Guidelines for MODUs.
