Following the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988, the British Offshore Oil and Gas Industry has implemented a new framework for offshore risk assessment which had been endorsed by Lord Cullen's enquiry. This paper gives a critical assessment of the developments in offshore safety and risk management over the past decade. It notes that the new approach to offshore safety management has encountered a number of critical problems that have ultimately undermined the efficacy of the new offshore safety regime. These problems include: (a) The exclusive nature of Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA); (b) The rise of multi-skilling; (c) The imprecision of QRA; (d) Implementation and communication problems. The lecture identifies an, albeit tentative, link between these problems and the continuously high rate of offshore accidents.

Keywords:
cullen, health, workforce, offshore, disaster, spe 61161, step change, piper alpha, operator, ukooa
Subjects:
HSSE & Social Responsibility Management, Safety, Risk Management and Decision-Making, Information Management and Systems, HSSE management systems, Contingency planning and emergency response, Safety risk management, Risk, uncertainty, and risk assessment
Copyright 2000, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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