National Ocean Industries Association Annual Meeting James A. Watson, Director April 19, 2013
Overview • Recent Regulations • Regulatory Priorities • Strategic Goals • Offshore Activity • Safety at all levels – at all times – Safety Culture Policy – SEMS – The Way Ahead
Recent Regulations • Enhanced Drilling Safety – Drilling Safety Rule – Subsea containment – New standards for well design, casing, & cementing
Photo Credit BSEE Alaska Region
• Enhanced Workplace Safety – Performance-based standards – Safety & Environmental Management Systems
Regulatory Priorities • SEMS II published April 5 • Next-generation blowout preventers • Production safety systems/ lifecycle analysis
Strategic Goals • Regulate, enforce, and respond to OCS development using the full range of authorities, policies, and tools to compel safety, emergency preparedness and environmental responsibility and appropriate development and conservation of the offshore oil and natural gas resources.
Strategic Goals • Build and sustain the organizational, technical, and intellectual capacity within and across BSEE’s key functions – capacity that keeps pace with OCS industry technological improvements, innovates in regulation and enforcement, and reduces risk through systemic assessment and regulatory and enforcement actions.
Offshore Activity • Permitting has increased significantly in past two years. • 112 Deepwater New Well Permits issued in 2012; most in over seven years. • 49 deepwater GOM rigs vs. 38 in 2009
Safety Culture Policy • Draft policy statement published in the Federal Register on December 20, 2012 • Comment period closed March 20, 2013 • Modeled after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s safety culture policy statement
Safety Culture Policy • Nine characteristics of a robust safety culture: – Leadership safety values and actions – Problem identification and resolution – Personal accountability – Work processes – Continuous learning – Environment for raising concerns – Effective safety communication – Respectful work environment – Inquiring attitude
SEMS Implementation • Moving beyond compliance to improve the safety culture of industry – Focusing on implementation of effective safety management programs. – Operator-driven performance-focused safety program with BSEE oversight
The Way Ahead