OFFSHORE SAFETY

Safety first in the offshore platform game.

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Offshore Safety is the serious game that let you learn by playing the many aspects that must be evaluated to guarantee the safety in the offshore platforms for hydrocarbon production.

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The goal of the game is to maintain the offshore safety, managing the production activities, by prevention actions and appropriate actions in response to possible threats that can affect your set of platforms.

Some information sheets are included in the game in order to provide the Gamer with correct and reliable contents about the different safety aspects in offshore operations for the hydrocarbon production.

Please look at General Information notes to learn more about hydrocarbon reservoirs and offshore safety.

In Offshore Safety , game dynamics exemplifying actual operations are included but of course, they are adapted to the game purposes.

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OFFSHORE SAFETY
PREVENCTION ACTIONS

In order to guarantee workers' safety, as well as safety of environment and plants, some prevention action are required.

The emergency response plans are aimed at guaranteeing a prompt and effective reaction in case of emergency. In order to instruct the personnel about the plans, a periodic training is carried out with the purpose to reduce the number and severity of injuries and accidents.
Worker safety is crucial on platforms. The Companies must guarantee workers' safaty also by prevention actions. So the Company provides the personnel with Personal Protective Equipment needed to protect from inherent risks of job. The workers are required to participate training courses in order to learn how to properly use and maintain their own equipment.
The Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) are submarine remotely operated, used to check the seabed. So they allow the Authority or the Company to periodically verify the integrity of subsea structure like sealines or the underwater part of plants.
All the metal components of a platform are subjected to different corrosion phenomena. Prevent these occurrences is crucial for safety both of plants and personnel operating on board. The corrosion can be due to the produced fluids composition or to the sea water or weather conditions. Several devices or solutions have been studied in order to avoid or reduce as much as possible such phenomena, like sacrificial anodes. For further information see on the website of National Association of Corrosion Engineers International Institute (NACE).
The Operator carries out some not scheduled checks on platforms in order to verify the proper use of personal protective equipment by personnel and the correct functioning of electrical and mechanical components of the plants.
General maintenance involves mechanical and electrical components of the plant. It aims to ensure wholeness and safety of devices and components and, as a consequence, the safety of workers, environment and plant itself.
Le sealine sono le condotte sottomarine destinate alla produzione e al The sealines are subsea pipes built for production and transport of hydrocarbons. They also require periodical check and maintenance and, hence, it is required to know their position on the seabed. With this purpose, MiSE launched a project aimed to realize a GIS database for the infrastructures related to hydrocarbon production in the Italian offshore.
The Owner of plants must provide the platforms with proper optical and acoustic system in order to inform about the presence and size of platform in the sea. Operators must guarantee the functioning of these systems, and also of the one used specifically when foggy weather conditions are there.
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OFFSHORE SAFETY
REPAIR ACTIONS

If a potential threats for safety occurs, it is required to promptly operate in order to avoid major damages to people, environment and platforms themselves. Here below a brief description of possible repair actions.

If the platform is manned, a local team is able to promptly work for solving electrical, mechanical or stractural mild issues.If the platform is not manned or if the severity of problem is more serious, some intervention team from land are called to wwork for it.
In case of emergency and if the platform is manned, the evacuation is ordered for all the personnel on board. Lifeboats are available at the platform otherwise some ships are sent from land.
The biggest platforms are usually manned and provided with a heliport. In case an accident occours causing one or more injuries, a helicopter is sent in order to provide the rescue for injured people and to move them inland.
When potentially dengerous conditions occur, the platform closedown is require in order to stop activities to avoid possible further accidents. In these cases, the activity recovery is onerous both from economical and time point of view.
If severe liquid hydrocarbon spills occour in the water column, it is required to position different tipe of capping and recovery devices to avoid environmental damages. Some of these devises must be immediatly positioned, others must be allowed by competent authorities.
It is an action that can be undertaken in order to allow carrying out the required manutenction operations for the proper functioning of the plants.
When a leakage of hydrocarbon occours from a section of a sealine fpr the transport of the hydrocarbon itself to an inland treatment plant, it is needed to identify and reapir the pipe segment, also supplying to the recovery of liquid hydrocarbon, eventually released.

OFFSHORE SAFETY
POSSIBLE EVENTS

Here below a list of possible threats that can interest the offshore platforms and their emplyees is mentioned.

The Ministry of Economic Development handles the collection of data and information in Italy about accidents at work in the different phases of offshore activities (exploration, production , storage of hydrocarbons). Every year the Ministry produces a report with statistics about injuries at work related to hydrocarbons offshore activities. Injuries are classified according to their severity as mild (causing less than 30 days of lost work), severe (causing more than 30 days of lost work) and fatal. In Italy, only injuries causing more than 3 days of lost work are considered for statistical purposes.
Mechanical failures can occur for a number of reasons. Among these, we can mention corrosion, ageing, or for the effect of permanent, variable, and environmental as well as accidental loads.
Electrical failures refer to damages at the power and control system of the platform. They can be cuased by a short-circuit, a failure of the electrogen groups, or a breakdown of component of the elctrical system.
If a structural failure occurs at the platform, a competent organisation must verify that works to restore the integrity are carried out and that its present conditions are suitable for the restart of the production.
On offshore platforms, small quantity of hazardous substances are present; for instance, few cubic meters of diesel for electrogen groups and emergency motors are stored in appropriate tanks.
In Italy, offshore platforms for oil extraction represent a small percentage of the total number. Moreover, the Italian oil is rather dense and this fact makes the potential impact of an oil spill less severe. In the case, the interested platform and the connected sealine are promptly isolated and then restoration operations are carried out.
A gas leak may be faced through flaring (the combustion of the leaked gas at the outlet of smokestack). This procedure can assure that workers in the platform and the plant will not suffer any damage.
The appropriate measures (fire/smoke resistance doors, blast walls) are put in operation automatically if the fire harms the most sensitive parts of the platform, avoiding major accidents .
Among the possible threats that can occur at the offshore platforms, it is possible to mention collisions by ships. In order to make the platform position well signaled, each platform is equipped with outline marker lights, signalling the presence of the platform and its overall dimensions. In addition, audible warning devices are also present.
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GENERAL INFORMATION

Here below you can find some information about offshore safety and general contents on O&G activity.


OFFSHORE SAFETY: WHAT ABOUT IT?

The increasing attention towards the safety of offshore energy activities was grown after the catastrophic accident occurred in the Gulf of Mexico (Macondo well) in April 2010 . In response to this increased awareness, the European Union started a deep analysis of the regulatory framework in the Member States with the aim to ensure the safety standards. In 2013 the European Union issued the Directive on safety of offshore oil and gas operations (Directive 2013/30/EU). The Directive was enforced in Italy through the Legislative Decree 145/2015. Among the several actions, in the Decree set the National Committee for the safety of offshore operations.

OFFSHORE PRODUCTION PLATFORMS: WHAT ARE THEY?

Offshore O&G platforms are plants built in the offshore for the exploitation of hydrocarbon reservoirs. Each platform can have one or more wells drilled to the reservoir. Their size is very widespread: from 15 sq. meters to more than 5000 sq. meters. Platforms are planned in order to resist aginst bad sea and weather conditions, over time. For further details about italian offshore platforms, click here.

HYDROCARBON RESERVOIRS: WHAT ARE THEY AND HOW to MENAGE THEM?

Hydrocarbon reservoirs are mineral deposits of organic compounds, naturally present in the underground, that are part of the unavailable assets of the State. Hydrocarbons (specifically, natural gas and oil) are used mainly for energy production. The competent Authority for the management of underground resources, hydrocarbons included, is the Ministry of Economic Development (MiSE). MiSE licenses the O&G Companies for the reservoir exploitation, providing rules for environmental protections. MiSE is also responsible for the monitoring and control activities, carried out by UNMIG Sections.

Go to the FAQ section in the UNMIG website for further details.