Environment Report 2015

ENVIRONMENT REPORT 2015

5.7 Accidental Release Mitigation There are several industry initiatives aimed at decreasing accidental release incidences on the UKCS. Oil & Gas UK hosts an Oil Spill Response Forum that was created in 2011 to continue the work of the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Advisory Group (OSPRAG) 49 . This Forum encompasses the following work groups: the Oil Spill Response Technical Group; the Environmental Sensitivities Technical Group and a Modelling Technical Group. The aim is to maintain a robust and sustainable oil spill response capability for upstream operations on the UKCS (see Section 6 for more information on these groups). The Step Change in Safety (SCiS) Asset Integrity Steering Group also governs three work groups that aim to improve hydrocarbon release (HCR) performance. First, the HCR Improvement and Implementation Work Group is using peer assessment to develop and share good practice within the industry. This group asks its member companies qualitative questions about the content and implementation of HCR-reduction plans. By the end of 2015, the group will have assessed 12 operating companies and intends to progress onto major contractor companies and drilling in 2016. Secondly, the Sharing and Learning Work Group focuses on using lessons learnt from past HCR and major accidents to develop more engaging safety moments. Safety moments are opportunities to share experiences, usually at the beginning of meetings, in an effort to highlight an incident that others can learn from. Thirdly, the Major Accident Hazard Understanding Work Group is developing gap analysis tools to identify training needs to enable workers to manage Major Accident Hazards, no matter what their role, onshore and offshore.

A fourth SCiS initiative is the Joined-up Thinking campaign 50 , which provides learning packs about previous HCR incidents in an attempt to prevent future releases.

49 OSPRAG was established to co-ordinate the UK’s response to the issues arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico.

50 More information on the Joined Up Thinking campaign is available at www.stepchangeinsafety.net/safety-resources/joined-up-thinking

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