Health & Safety Report 2016

8.2 Ageing and Life Extension Guidelines

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The Oil & Gas UK Ageing and Life Extension (ALE) Steering Group agreed to develop further guidelines as part of the industry’s response to the HSE’s Key Programme 4 initiative on ALE.

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It established three technical work groups to produce guidance on specific aspects of ALE. In 2015, work focused on subsea pipelines and associated systems, incorporating significant input from the independent Pipeline User Group (PLUG). The resulting publication, Guideline on Ageing and Life Extension of Subsea Pipelines and Risers 23 , is intended to offer practical guidance to pipeline/subsea technical authorities, engineering/operations managers, design teams, support functions, subsea intervention teams, inspection contractors and ICPs alike. It adds to the suite of three existing Oil & Gas UK ALE guidelines published in 2014 on offshore structures 24 , electrical, control and instrumentation equipment 25 , and floating production installations 26 . It also supplements Guidance on the Management of Ageing and Life Extension for UKCS Oil and Gas Installations, Issue 1 April 2012 27 . 8.3 HCR Supplementary Guidance The Supplementary Guidance on the Reporting of Hydrocarbon Releases, Issue 3 28 , was published in December 2015 with improvements to ensure ease of use and clarity of content. The document also reflects regulatory changes following implementation of the EU Offshore Safety Directive last year (see section 5.1). The guidance sets out the means by which HCRs must now be assessed under RIDDOR and the new EU Implementing Regulation.

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23 The Guideline on Ageing and Life Extension of Subsea Pipelines and Risers is available to download at http://oilandgasuk.co.uk/product/hs096/ 24 The Guidelines on the Management of ALE of Offshore Structures is available to download at http://bit.ly/ALEoffshoreinstallations 25 The Guidelines on ALE aspects of Electrical, Control and Instrumentation is available to download at http://bit.ly/ALEECI 26 The Guideline for Management of ALE for UKCS Floating Production Installations can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/HS085 27 The Guidance on the Management of Ageing and Life Extension for UKCS Oil and Gas Installations is available to download at http://bit.ly/ALEinstallations 28 The Supplementary Guidance on the Reporting of Hydrocarbon Releases is available to download at http://oilandgasuk.co.uk/product/hs095/

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