The Oil and Gas Industry, the Offshore Installation Manager (OIM), and the management of emergencies – Who is accountable for OIM competence?

Abstract

Within the UK offshore oil and gas industry all installations require to be under the charge of a ‘competent’ installation manager in accordance with the Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations (MAR), 1995. The Offshore Installation Manager (OIM), is responsible for the safety of all persons onboard and within 500 m of an installation, and prevention of pollution to the environment from it. Should an incident arise, the OIM performs one of the most critical roles within the Industry – management of the response to the emergency to mitigate and make safe the installation, including limiting the loss of hydrocarbons to the environment, or organise the safe evacuation of all persons onboard.Research at the University of Aberdeen has identified potential barriers to the effective competence assessment of OIMs in controlling emergencies (Jennings, 2016). These barriers are a consequence of current UK legislation and industry practices in the assessment of OIM competence. The research involved the qualitative analysis of key documentation, including legislation, using a critical hermeneutic approach to identify the potential barriers. Hermeneutics has historically been used to analyse texts within the domains of theology, business and law. The approach, however, also represents a powerful approach to the study of documents within the engineering domain and the offshore oil and gas industry.This paper addresses the specific question – who is accountable for OIM competence? It discusses two of the identified potential barriers which weaken ownership of both the appointment and competence assessment of OIMs. One, resulting from the Duty Holder (OSD Installation) regime that has evolved within the UK; and one resulting from the ever changing and overly complicated distribution of responsibilities across UK Government departments associated with health, safety and the environment. The paper consequently addresses those barriers associated with lack of ownership of duties both within the offshore oil and gas industry and UK Government.The research is important to Duty Holders within the offshore oil and gas industry, safety engineers and UK Government departments with respect to the effectiveness of competence assessment of appointed OIMs. It is also significant to risk engineers when considering the probable competence of an OIM in a given environment at a given point in time.