EU HSE Committee General Info

These pages are being developed to share information on EU HSE matters for committee members and to publish relevant information for all stakeholders.

The Terms of Reference for the committee are posted below.

  • The next IADC EU HSE meeting will be on 27th January 2014 in Aberdeen

Contact us if you are an IADC contractor member and would want to participate in this committee.

Background

In June 2013 a new EU directive on offshore oil and gas operations (2013/30/EU) came into force that states EU member states shall adopt this directive into their legislation over a period of two years. Other ongoing HSE matters in the EU are related to onshore shale gas developments. In September 2013 a new HSE sub-committee was formed under the governance of IADC with the focus on EU regulatory HSE matters.

Objectives

The purpose of this HSE committee is to discuss and coordinate efforts amongst IADC contractor members on EU safety matters, in particular those related to the EU offshore safety directive and onshore developments in the area of shale gas.

Membership and Resources

Membership of the EU HSE committee is for all IADC contractor members with an interest in the EU area. Each IADC contractor member shall nominate one or more committee members to represent their company and who shall endeavor to participate and contribute to the EU HSE Committee. From time to time the committee may invite other IADC members or external parties for specific interest meetings or discussions. IADC will coordinate the activities of the committee through the regional director EU or his stand-in as required.

There will be no dedicated budget to perform the activities of the committee. It is understood that participating companies will be called upon to provide meeting space for any meetings of the Committee that may, from time to time, be held. Time, expenses and travel costs will be for each participating member’s company. If required the committee can propose to raise a specific budget in IADC to perform a dedicated activity it may require. Such a budget shall be prepared, approved and controlled in accordance with IADC’s procedures.

Scope of Work and Ways of Working

At the start the scope of work is defined as:

  • Establish working procedures and communication protocols on information that is to be sent outside the committee, for example any comments or information that is to be sent to regulatory bodies.
  • Review EU directive and prepare a listing of common critical issues that are likely to come out of the EU directive and that may impact on EU member state regulations that can affect IADC’s contractor members
  • Discuss and prepare a response to requests from EUOAG or other regulators, after confirming content and response in accordance with the established IADC approval procedures
  • Coordinate potential responses to regulators on EU offshore safety matters with the various country specific working groups, such as Oil and Gas UK or Norwegian Oil and Gas Industry Association, in which IADC members have an opportunity to participate.
  • Provide feedback and information to committee members from EUOAG meetings though the regional director IADC
  • Review and discuss developments on onshore drilling for shale gas in the EU and coordinate any responses to regulators on this subject with various country specific or industry advocacy groups such as Oil and Gas UK and OGP.
  • The EU HSE committee shall agree any additional scope of work as is deemed necessary

Deliverables of the EU Safety Committee

At the start of the work of this committee the following deliverables are envisaged. Further deliverables can be defined if agreed in the committee

  • Listing of current regulatory requirements on offshore safety IADC members are dealing with when operating in EU waters
  • Listing of common critical issues potentially affecting IADC members coming out of the EU Offshore Safety Directive
  • Gap analysis between the two listings, where additional information or changes to procedures are required, or where ambiguity exists on definitions
  • Comments as required on requests coming from the EUOAG, or EU regulatory bodies, in particular, to start with comments on a common reporting format as per Annex IX of the EU directive
  • Target list from IADC members where common reporting would benefit the operation in EU waters, with option to discuss and introduce into ongoing regulatory developments at EUOAG level or member state regulator level.
  • Inventory of potential onshore shale gas drilling activities for which HSE issues are going to play a key role.
  • Recommendations to IADC and IADC members

Schedule and Target Dates

It was agreed to form this sub-committee on EU offshore safety at the IADC meeting in Amsterdam on 23 September 2013. After review, comments and approval of these Terms of Reference an initial meeting is planned to be held in one of the participating members’ offices in the early part of November. Thereafter it is envisaged the committee will meet every quarter, or as required by the level of activities.

Key dates:

  • Next EUOAG meeting: 21 November 2013
  • Next IADC EU HSE committee meeting: 27th January 2014

Further key dates and target dates for deliverables will be defined in the first and second meeting

Stakeholders, Interfaces and the Management Thereof

The listing below shows the main stakeholders of this HSE committee. It will be updated after the first meeting of the committee. IADC’s regional director EU is tasked to maintain all external stakeholder relationships as related to this committee, in accordance with established IADC procedures. Individual members of this committee can maintain their own company contacts, connections and communications with these stakeholders, but anything related to this HSE committee’s activities, decisions and communications shall be managed and agreed by the IADC regional director EU.

  • IADC Sr. Vice President, Government & Regulatory Affairs
  • IADC Vice President, Offshore Division
  • IADC HSE committee
  • IADC North Sea Chapter
  • OGP
  • National oil and gas industry associations
  • EUOAG

Reference Documents