FEATURE: SURVITEC
REACHING BEYOND
Words: Jim Cook, Survitec Group’s Commercial Manager Aviation
he North Sea offshore oil and gas industry is subject to a raft of safety regulations. On the water, life saving appliances are governed by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). These regulations are overseen by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). In the air, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is responsible for all aspects of civil aviation, including the manufacture and service of safety equipment used on fixed and rotor wing commercial aircraft. Oil and gas platforms are also covered by the UK’s health and safety regulations, enforced under the watchful eye of the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).
50 Oil&GasCONNECT
COMPLIANCE T
Adherence to this legislation is essential to improving safety in today’s offshore oil and gas industry. Compliance is non-negotiable. For certain items of equipment this can be a complex process. For example, safety equipment must be compliant with the aviation regulations if used in the air and compliant with the marine regulations when used over water.
Workers travelling to and from offshore installations by air put their trust in specially designed passenger transit survival suits, lifejackets and aviation liferafts that are all designed to increase the chances of survival in the event a helicopter is forced to ditch at sea. This type of equipment is particularly important in the North Sea where prolonged
immersion in cold water is a constant hazard. In 2011 Survitec survival equipment was issued to 37,600 helicopter flights from the UK alone.
People working on platforms, rigs, FPSO vessels, standby vessels and offshore supply boats rely on all manner of marine safety equipment to keep them safe in an emergency, from liferafts, lifejackets and immersion suits through to pyrotechnics, personal locator beacons, lifebuoys and rescue lines.
Clearly, for those who work in this unforgiving environment there is no room for error when it comes to specifying the correct safety equipment. In an emergency, crews might be forced to abandon ship,
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