WIRELINE ISSUE 33 AUTUMN 2015

NEWS ROUND-UP

OIL & GAS UK

4. OIL & GAS UK MEMBERS HELP FUND PIPER ALPHA MEMORIAL GARDEN MAINTENANCE Funds raised by members of Oil & Gas UK will help pay for the ongoing maintenance of the North Sea Memorial Garden in Hazelhead Park in Aberdeen – a tribute to the 167 men who lost their lives in the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster. Deirdre Michie, chief executive of Oil & Gas UK, says: “We were delighted that the initial funds contributed towards the garden’s first stage of restoration and its interpretation board designed by local artist Nicola Cruickshank. Now, we’ve given just over £185,000 – the remaining sum – which we hope helps ensure this tranquil spot continues to flourish for many years to come.” More information about the Pound for Piper Memorial Trust is available at www.poundforpiper.co.uk.

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Interpretation Board in the North Sea Memorial Garden

5. THE EU OFFSHORE SAFETY DIRECTIVE BECOMES UK LAW The single biggest change to affect domestic offshore health, safety and environmental management in many years came into force on 19 July as the EU Offshore Safety Directive became UK law. The second version of the safety case submission guidance, in compliance with the Directive, is available online (see link below) for a short introductory period to identify any further amendments required. The final document is scheduled to be published towards the end of the year. Meanwhile, the Offshore Safety Directive Regulator is developing a single tool for reporting UK offshore oil and gas incidents. The new tool aims to make it simpler to report incidents, reducing the regulatory complexity when combining the Directive and the resulting EU Implementation Regulation with pre-existing provisions. For more information, visit www.hse.gov.uk/osdr.

5. Image © iStock.com/sinonimas

6. ANNUAL HEALTH AND SAFETY REPORT CAPTURES KEY DEVELOPMENTS Oil & Gas UK’s Health & Safety Report 2015 captures key developments across the health and safety arena over the past year, such as the EUOffshore Safety Directive, improvements in aviation safety and the industry move to secure continued effective search and rescue helicopter cover for central North Sea workers. Based on incidents reported to the Health and Safety Executive, the publication reveals that the total number of hydrocarbon releases has fallen to its lowest level ever, that offshore oil and gas has a lower personal injury rate than many other sectors, and that the non-fatal injury rate for offshore workers continues to decline. The report also finds a growing backlog of safety-critical maintenance on offshore installations. The full report is available to download at www.oilandgasuk.co.uk/healthandsafetyreport.

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Oonagh Werngren, Oil & Gas UK’s operations director, collected the IOM3 Award of Excellence on behalf of the association

6. Image © iStock.com/mikeuk

7. GUIDELINES CELEBRATED BY NATIONAL ENGINEERING INSTITUTE Oil & Gas UK’s commitment with its members to continually review and improve the performance of all aspects of offshore operations through good practice guidelines has been recognised by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3). IOM3 has presented the Premier Award Medal for Excellence to Oil & Gas UK in recognition of its efforts to improve safety and efficiency by publishing more than 30 peer-reviewed guidelines. Oil &Gas UK guidelines are available at www.oilandgasuk.co.uk/publications.

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T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E U K O F F S H O R E O I L A N D G A S I N D U S T R Y