The Australian legislative framework for occupational health and safety (OHS) in offshore petroleum operations is set in Schedule 3 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGSA 2006). In terms of health and safety, this act is underpinned by the Offshore Petroleum (Safety) Regulations 2009 (OPS) which took effect on the 1st of January 2010 and superseded the previous suite of offshore safety regulations.
The above federal (Commonwealth) regulations apply to offshore petroleum operations in the Commonwealth waters i.e. beyond 3 nautical miles from the shore. Petroleum operations in coastal waters are regulated by the relevant States and Territories of Australia. However, the States and Territories have mirrored the federal regulations in their own laws to deliver a consistent offshore regulatory regime.
In 2005, the national Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) was created to act as the unique Australian regulator for both Commonwealth and State/Territory coastal waters.
The Australian offshore regulatory regime is a goal-setting regime very similar to that of the UK which requires operators to prepare a Safety Case for each facility (including submerged pipelines) to be approved by the Safety Authority. This regime places the duty of managing the risks on operators and via the Safety Case, these have to demonstrate that:
- Hazards have been identified (including those which could lead to a Major Accident Event) and risk assessment carried out
- Measures to eliminate the hazards or otherwise control the risks to a level that is ALARP (As Low As is Reasonably Practicable) are in place
- A comprehensive and integrated system for management of the hazards and risks is implemented
- Monitoring, audit, review and continuous improvement activities are carried out.