A new atomic energy-style international body could be set up to oversee standards in the oil and gas industry, following calls for a common approach from a number of sources.
Hilary Ross, a partner at national law firm, Bond Pearce, recently urged the establishment of an international safety standard for oil and gas in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, and recommended using the UK and Norwegian safety regimes as models for other countries to follow.
Health and safety examinations body NEBOSH backed her suggestion, saying it is time to consider whether the worldwide oil and gas industry ought to be governed by a regime similar to that operated by the UN-backed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which covers nuclear safety. €ﾨ €ﾨ
Teresa Budworth, chief executive of NEBOSH, which recently launched its new International Technical Certificate in Oil and Gas Operational Safety, commented: “The stakes are too high in oil and gas to depend on inconsistent and varying safety standards. The Deepwater Horizon incident cost the lives of 11 workers, and the full extent of the subsequent environmental disaster remains unknown. Only time will reveal the true impact of the biggest oil spill ever to have hit the US.” €ﾨ
€ﾨShe continued: “A global benchmark for safety should also be set for the oil and gas industry, to be followed wherever it operates. There needs to be a debate about who does this, and how, but the UN’s IAEA model is perhaps something that should be looked at for oil and gas.”
Delegates at the International Regulators’ Forum 2010 conference in Canada in October also discussed the way ahead for improving safety standards in the oil and gas industry. Currently, the various safety regulatory authorities apply differing standards to drilling and well work-over activities.
Oil & Gas UK’s director of HS&E issues, Robert Paterson, who attended the conference, said: “The regulatory authorities present recognised their role in the identification of gaps in best practice and standards, but were encouraged by the industry participants at the conference to work towards a common approach to identification and use best international standards to what is, after all, an international industry, which is a position Oil & Gas UK would strongly support.”
