Offshore Directive - the safety of offshore oil and gas operations

Following the Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, the European Commission (EC) expressed its initial views on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations in its communication 'Facing the challenge of the safety of offshore oil and gas activities' (published on 13 October 2010). The EC communication concluded that the existing divergent and fragmented regulatory framework applying to the safety of offshore oil and gas operations in Europe, along with current industry safety practices, did not provide adequate assurance that risks from offshore accidents were minimised throughout the Union.

On the 28th June 2013, the EC published the Offshore Directive. The aim of this Directive was to reduce as far as possible the occurrence of major accidents related to offshore oil and gas operations and to limit their consequences.

HSE implemented the majority of the health and safety requirements in the Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc.) Regulations 2015 (OSDR). The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) also introduced new regulations to implement environmental and licensing requirements. 

The new regulations[40] came into force on 19 July 2015. HSE has published L154 Guidance on the regulations[41] to assist those with duties under OSDR. 

The Directive also required the creation of an offshore competent authority. In Great Britain the Offshore Major Accident Regulator (OMAR), which comprises of BEIS and HSE working in partnership has been established and further information is available on the OMAR website[42].

Link URLs in this page

  1. Offshore oil and gashttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/index.htm
  2. How we workhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/how.htm
  3. Offshore health and safety lawhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/law.htm
  4. Workforce involvementhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/workinvolvement.htm
  5. Unconventional oil and gas exploration (shale gas)https://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/unconventional-gas.htm
  6. Overview - Offshore topicshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/topics.htm
  7. Accommodationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/accommodation.htm
  8. Ageinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/ageing/index.htm
  9. Corrosion and materialshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/corrosion-and-materials.htm
  10. Offshore divinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/diving.htm
  11. Electrical and control systemshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/controlsystems.htm
  12. Evacuation, escape and rescue (EER)https://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/eer.htm
  13. Fire, explosion and risk assessmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/assessment.htm
  14. Human factorshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/humanfactors.htm
  15. International liaisonhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/liaison.htm
  16. Marine and aviationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/marineaviation.htm
  17. Maritime integrityhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/maritimeintegrity.htm
  18. Mechanical engineeringhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/mechengineering.htm
  19. Occupational healthhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/occupationalhealth.htm
  20. Offshore pipelineshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/pipelines.htm
  21. Process integrityhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/processintegrity.htm
  22. Researchhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/offshoreresearch.htm
  23. Safety caseshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/safetycases.htm
  24. Safety management systemshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/managementsystems.htm
  25. Structural integrityhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/structuralintegrity.htm
  26. Verificationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/verification.htm
  27. Wellshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/wells.htm
  28. Working timehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/workingtime.htm
  29. Overview - Resourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/resources.htm
  30. Overview - Publicationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/publications.htm
  31. Operations noticeshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/notices/index.htm
  32. Safety alerts and noticeshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/notices/index.htm#safety-alerts
  33. Offshore information sheetshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/infosheets/index.htm
  34. Research reportshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/researchreports.htm
  35. Statisticshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/statistics/index.htm
  36. Offshore charging informationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/charging.htm
  37. Key programme final reportshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/programmereports.htm
  38. Offshore Directivehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/directive.htm
  39. Subscribehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/ebulletin/index.htm
  40. regulationshttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/398/contents/made
  41. L154 Guidance on the regulationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l154.htm?ebul=hsegen&cr=14/26-jan-16
  42. OMAR websitehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/omar/index.htm
  43. Directive 2013//30/EU on the safety of offshore oil and gas operationshttp://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:178:0066:0106:EN:PDF
  44. Regulation and licensing of energy industries and infrastructure - DECChttps://www.gov.uk/government/policies/providing-regulation-and-licensing-of-energy-industries-and-infrastructure/supporting-pages/environmental-regulation-of-offshore-oil-gas-and-carbon-dioxide-storage-activities

Glossary of abbreviations/acronyms on this page

DECC
Department for Energy and Climate Change
Updated 2022-05-31