INDG219 - How offshore helicopter travel is regulated

1 Title/runningheadHealthandSafetyExecutiv eHowoffshorehelicoptertravelisregulatedH ow of fsho re he li copter tra ve l is re gulat ed2 How off sh ore helico pte r travelis regulated3 Safety - thetoppriorityTh e hel ico pt er is knownas the wor kho rseof the UK of fs hor e oil an d gas in dus trybec aus e it is the pr imarymea ns oftran sp ortin g wor kers to an d fr ominst all at io io ns of fl ight s havetakenplacesincethe 1960s. The saf et y recordis goo d, butac cid en ts and fat al ities have er e can neve r be roomfo r co mplacencywit h off sho re hel ico pt er safet y, par ticularlyin the har sh en vironmentin whichhel ico pters ope rat e.

2 That is why thearr an gements to en sur e the sa fety ofoff sho re hel ico pte r operation s ar e soimp ortan t. This leaf let describes thosearr an gements , and ho w th ey ar e responsi bleforsafety?Whi le the Healt h an d SafetyExecutive(HSE) and the Ci vil Avi atio n Au thor ity(CAA)are re sp ons ible for regulating safety,the act ualach ievementof safetyis theres pons ibil it y of all of th os e on whomthelaw plac es a du ty , inclu ding: heli cop te r ope rato rs ; fligh t cr ews; in stallat ion ope rat or s; offs hor e wor kfo rc lic opter op er atorsmustsat isf y CAAthatthe y con tinueto meet the requirementsfo rsafe publ ic tr ans port y de monstr ate this by ho ldingan AirOpe rat or s Cer tif icate(AOC), whichrequiresope rat or s to pub lish detailedoperationalpro ce du re s in the company ey ar e also responsiblefor thesafe ty br ie fing of passengersand, inconjunctio n wit h offshoredutyholders,forpro vidingcer tain personalsafetyequ ipmentaboard the air craf lic opte r op er ato rs havea dut y undertheAir NavigationOrder(ANO)

3 To only per mitflightsto su lide ck Ce rtific at ion Agency(HCA)act son be half of the helicopteroperatorsforins pe ct ion of all helidecksoperat ing in theUK CS and, toge ther withthem,ensurestheapplicatio n of ope rat ionallimitations and/orre str ict ions wh er e wsar e regulatedby CAAin variousaspe cts inc ludinglicensing,trainingandte sti ng requir eme nt s, and flightand duty-time li tallation ope ratorsare responsiblefor thesafe ty of the en tir e installation, includingthehe lide ck and he lideckoperations. Theyarere qui re d to en su re that th e helideckope rat ing envir on mentis suchthat helicopterope rat or s can dis charge of fsho re he li copter tra ve l is re gulat ed4 Inst al lat io n oper ato rs have co ntr ol over thephys ical char act eri sti cs of the helideck.

4 Thelevelsan d manning of the rescueand fire-fig ht ing fac il itie s an d ey ar e requir ed to en sur e that competentper sonn el are ass ignedto all activitiesonthe hel id eck du ring hel ico pt er ey must als o havea weat her policyinplace for passe nge r saf et y on the helideckand for pas se nge r su rvivaland res cue in th eev en t of an inc ide nt occurrin is ver y im po rtan t that ind ividuals act in ares pons ible way and com ply wit hreq uir em ent s sp ec ifi ed by heli copteroper at or s an d in st allati on oper ato rs .Whore gulatesthesy ste m?

5 CAAregulate s aviat ion lat es he alt h and saf et y law. They worktoget her, with ind ust ry and ot her s, to makesur e that provis ion s for safetyar e ascom pati bl e and comp lete as pos sib le. AMemo randu m of Understan di ng (MOU)exi st s bet we en HSEand CAAto ens urethey wor k to get he r eff is a st atutory corporation and consistsof se ve ral gr oup s. The SafetyRegulationGr oup is resp ons ible for regulating theair wor thine ss an d operationalsafetyof anair cr aft , inc lud ing its r th e CivilAviationAct 1982,CAAisre spon sib le for the operationof the is gove rns the airworthinessofhe lic opte rs and the technicalan dope rationalreq uir ementsthat mustbe also lays do wn the requirementsfor theis sue of an AOC that helicopteroperatorsmus t holdif the y are to tran sp ort membersof the has no du ty underthe Air NavigationOr de r to lic ens e r.

6 To ass is t helicopteroperat ors andthe HC A to dis chargetheir dutyund er theANO,CAA pr ovides goodpract ice guidance (kno wn as CAP437).Thisinc lude s crite ria he lidecks shouldmeetan dothe r infor mation en ablingoperatorstocomplywiththe ir ce pt s that confo rmancewithCAP437de monstr ate s comp liancewiththeirapplicabl e off sh or e off sh ore helico pte r travelis regulated5 HSETh e Healthand Safetyat Wo rk etc Act197 4 is the mainlegi slat ion pr oviding fo rthe heal th and safetyof wo rk ers offs als o bri ngs int o it s scop e ear lierlegis lat io n de vel opedby th e Dep art men t ofEnergy wit h spe cif ic requi re ments relatingto heli decks on offsho re ins ta

7 Llationsandhel ico pter oper atio e Offsho re Ins tall atio ns (SafetyCase)Regu lat io ns 199 2, am ong other things,req uir e ins tal latio n oper ato rs to id en tify allhazar ds wh ic h couldcau se a majorac cid en t, inc lud ing heli cop ter accidents,andto tak e me as ure s to redu ce th e ris ks to aslow as is re aso es e Regulation s ar e supp ortedby thefoll owin g goal- set ti ng of fsh or e legis lationwhich in clu de s re qu irementson the saf et yof heli decks and hel ideckop erati ons : Offs hor e Ins tallat ion s (Pr evention ofFir e an d Ex plo sio n, and EmergencyResponse) Re gul atio ns 1995 ; Offs hor e Ins tallat ion s and PipelineWo rks (Managemen t andAd mi nis tr atio n) Regulat ions 19 95.

8 Offs hor e Ins tallat ion s and Wells(Des ign and Con st ru cti on, etc)Regul ation s 19 pec tor s vis it offshoreinstallationson a regularbas is to inspectall asp ects ofhe alth and saf et y, includinghelid ecks andhe lide ck ope rat pe ct or s dis cu ss safetywithap pointedsaf et y repre sentatives and individuals whomay wi sh to raise the eve nt of an incidentinvolvingahe lic opte r the re may be additionalage nciesinvolved. Se ar ch an d rescu e facilitiesaremain ly the respons ibilityof the Departmentfor Tr ans por t and its executiveagencytheMaritime and Coa st guardAgency(MCA).

9 HSE s public ationDealingwithoffshoreemergencies(s eeFurtherreading) set s outthe respe ctivero les of the vario usgove rn men t dep artmentsand agenciesthatmay bec om e involved .How of fsho re he li copter tra ve l is re gulat ed6 Working togetherIn ad di tio n to co-o perating withot hergovernmen t agen cies wi th a ro le to play inoff sho re safe ty , CAAan d HSEwor ktoget her clos el y on off sho re helicopterissues . The se inc lu de: po li cy de vel opm ent; op er atio nal matt er s; res ear ch; deve lo pmen t of guid an ce for ind ust ry; accident inves tigat io n (in co njunctionwit h the Air Acc id en ts InvestigationBranchof the De part mentforTransport ).

10 In ad di tio n to re gul ar po licy andoper at io nal con tactsat vari ous levels,HSEand CAA me et se veraltimeseachyear todiscu ss majo r of fs hor e heli co pter safetyissu es . The tw o or ganis atio ns als o cometoget her in th e twice-year ly meetingsof theOf fsho re Indu st ry Advisory CommitteeHeli cop ter Liais on Group (OI AC HLG).Indus try em ployer organi sati ons an d trad eunio ns are al so memb er s of this co er e ar e a number of examplesofpr act ic al co-ope rat ionbetweenHSEandCAA , and withind ustrybodies,including: the industr y and tradeunionsarecons ulte d on pr oposalsfor newregu lationsand guidanceaffectingoff sho re he licopter travel .