Department of Interior Issues Final Rule on Workplace Safety Requirements for Offshore Drilling Operations | Practical Law

Department of Interior Issues Final Rule on Workplace Safety Requirements for Offshore Drilling Operations | Practical Law

The Department of the Interior (DOI) has released a final rule providing enhanced workplace safety and health protections for workers on offshore drilling rigs operating on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Department of Interior Issues Final Rule on Workplace Safety Requirements for Offshore Drilling Operations

by PLC Labor & Employment
Published on 08 Apr 2013 • USA (National/Federal)
The Department of the Interior (DOI) has released a final rule providing enhanced workplace safety and health protections for workers on offshore drilling rigs operating on the Outer Continental Shelf.
On April 5, 2013, the Department of the Interior (DOI) published a final rule that establishes workplace safety standards for workers employed in offshore drilling operations effective June 4, 2013. The rule expands DOI regulations that were issued in the aftermath of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The rule requires all operators of offshore rigs on the Outer Continental Shelf to have a Safety and Environment Management System (SEMS) that addresses safety and environmental issues in all existing and future facilities, including mobile offshore drilling units when attached to the seabed and DOI-regulated pipelines.
Under the final rule, every SEMS must include:
  • A job safety analysis that reviews the tasks associated with each job on the rig and provides recommended steps to reduce the identified risks and safety hazards.
  • An employee training program that instructs all employees to work safely and be aware of the potential environmental impact of their actions.
  • A designation of ultimate work authority (UWA). The SEMS must have a process for designating the person with UWA. This person will have authority to take the most effective action necessary to mitigate and abate the conditions leading to an emergency creating an imminent risk or danger of harm.
  • Stop work authority. All personnel on the rig must be given the responsibility and authority, without fear of reprisal, to stop working or decline to perform an assigned task when there exists an imminent risk or danger of death, serious physical harm or significant environmental harm. The person in charge of the conducted work must ensure that the work is stopped in an orderly and safe manner. The work may resume when the person with UWA determines that the imminent risk or danger does not exist or no longer exists.
  • An employee participation plan that discusses, in writing, how the employees will participate in the development and implementation of the SEMS.
  • Procedures that allow employees to report unsafe working conditions. These procedures must be posted in a location on the rig that is frequently visited by personnel.
The rule also provides that each SEMS must be periodically audited by an accredited audit service provider.

Practical Implications

Operators of offshore oil and gas drilling rigs on the Outer Continental Shelf that do not already have a SEMS must institute one, and those that already have one must make sure that it includes the new provisions discussed in this final rule. Of all the new requirements in the rule, stop work authority may have the biggest impact on offshore operations, and operators must take affirmative steps to respond to the DOI's new emphasis on workplace safety and health.