Do oil and gas risk owners understand real-world helicopter winch rescue hazards?

Abstract

Helicopter search and rescue (SAR) for oil and gas operations in the northwest of WA is undertaken by helicopters and crews contracted to support oil and gas operations. The capability of these crews and aircraft varies and is described by helicopter operators as either limited or restricted SAR. This differs to similar oil and gas regions of Australia and globally, where full or dedicated SAR is available to respond to pre-identified rescue events. Key differences between full and restricted SAR equate to WA operations being unable to conduct winch rescue at night from the water, limited capability to winch from vessels and lack or search technology such as night vision and heat signature equipment considered essential elsewhere. The type of oil and gas operations undertaken in the northwest of WA are no different to other parts of the world, especially in terms of identified accident event potential. However, despite the need for full SAR as a preparedness measure for oil and gas emergencies overseas, northwest WA still operates to a lesser capability. There is much discussion as to the rational for this situation, but regardless of opinion logic would suggest, at the very least, opportunity exists to review northwest oil and gas risk management process for this specific field as development of increasingly complex and distant offshore operations continues. Therefore, this report, its supporting training materials and supplementary reports, seek to both clarify and reinforce hazards associated with helicopter SAR to enable more robust risk management going forward.