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Safety and Health in the Construction of Fixed Offshore Installations in the Petroleum Industry

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Safety and Health in the Construction of Fixed Offshore Installations in the Petroleum Industry ILO Codes of Practice Safety and health in the construction of fixed offshore installations in the petroleum industry International Labour Office Geneva Copyright O International Labour Organisation 1981 Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorisation, on condition that the source is indica- ted. For rights of reproduction of translation, application should be made to the Editorial and Translation Branch, International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. ISBN 92-2-102900-X First published 1981 The designations employed in 1LO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other con- tributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the International Labour Office of the opinions expressed in them. ILO publications can be obtained through major booksellers or ILO local offices in many countries, or direct from ILO Publications, International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. A catalogue or list of new publications will be sent free of charge from the above address. Printed in Switzerland In October 1977 a meeting convened by the ILO on safety problems in the offshore petroleum industry recommended the preparation of a code of practice setting out standards for safety and health during the construction of fixed offshore installations. Such a code, to be prepared by the ILO in co-operation with other bodies, including the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation (IMCO), was to take into consideration existing standards applicable to offshore construction activities and to supplement the ILO codes of practice on safety and health in building and civil engineering work, shipbuilding and ship repair- ing. In accordance with a decision taken by the Governing Body of the ILO at its 211th (November 1979) Session, a meeting of experts from government, employers' and workers' circles, and including other interested international agencies, was convened in Geneva from 1 to 10 December 1980 in order to draw up the pro- posed code.' ' The following experts took part in the meeting: Mr. S. Bye, Deputy Director, Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Stavanger (Norway). Mr. V. Federenko, Secretary, Central Committee, Oil and Gas Workers' Trade Union, Moscow (USSR). Mr. J. E. Howard, Group Safety Adviser, Shell International Petroleum, The Hague (Netherlands). Mr. P. Kutsyn, Chief, Occupational Safety Division, Ministry for the Gas Industry, Moscow (USSR). Mr. M. Marbun, Fire and Safety Co-ordinator, State Oil Company PERTA- MINA, Jakarta (Indonesia). Mr. T. McCalmont, Construction Industry Co-ordinating Officer, Transport and General Workers' Union, Glasgow (United Kingdom). Mr. L. A. Myhre, Chairman, Norwegian Oil and Petrochemical Union, Stavanger (Norway). (foolnore continued overleaf) Safe construction of fixed offshore installations The code, as approved by the meeting of experts and as repro- duced in this volume, seeks to provide guidance on the standards of safety and health to be observed during the construction of fixed offshore installations. As such, it is a corpus of practical advice for the use of all persons, whether in the public or in the private sector, who have responsibility for safety and health dur- ing the construction of fixed offshore installations in the petro- leum industry and who may be framing provisions on the subject. Although couched in the language of a set of rules, this code has no binding force; it is not intended to supersede national laws or regulations or accepted standards but rather to provide guidance for governments, employers and workers. In adopting the code of practice, the experts recognised that its provisions could not be applied as they stood to all countries or regions, and that some provisions would need to be adapted to local conditions. In part, the experts' attention was directed to the harsh environment and complex offshore installations to be found in isolated and deep-water situations. The application of the code's provisions should be determined by the scale of the opera- tion, by local circumstances and by technical possibilities. The text of the code was approved for publication by the Governing Body of the ILO at its 215th (March 1981) Session. Mr. P. Odier, Chief, Department of Environmental Safety, Elf-Aquitaine, Paris (France). Mr. Y. A. Slail, Chief Loss Prevention Engineer, ARAMCO, Dhahran (Saudi Arabia). The following international governmental and non-governmental organisations were represented: Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation. International Organisation of Employers. International Federation of Chemical, Energy and General Workers' Unions. Contents Preface ...................................... 1 . Definitions and application ...................................... 1 1.1. Definitions .............................................. 1 1.2. Applications ............................................. 4 2 . General duties .................................................. 5 2.1. General duties of employers ................................ 5 2.2. Permits to work .......................................... 6 2.3. Training. including retraining .............................. 7 2.4. General duties of workers .................................. 8 2.5. Designation of installation manager ......................... 8 2.6. Duties of installation manager .............................. 9 2.7. Appointment of a safety and health supervisor ................ 10 2.8. Safety committees ........................................ 11 2.9. Employment of young persons under 18 ..................... 13 2.10. Intoxicants ..............................................13 3 . General recommendations on safety and health ...................... 15 General ................................................. 15 Accessandegress ......................................... 15 Lighting ................................................ 15 Housekeeping 16 Manual lifting and carrying ................................ 16 Construction. maintenance and inspection of plant andequipment ............................... Keeping of records ....................................... 17 Placement or removal of the installation ..................... 18 4 . Diving ....................................................... 19 4.1. General ................................................. I9 5 . Safety of workplaces and means of access and egress ................. 21 5.1. General .................................................21 5.2. Scaffolding and staging-general ........................... 21 Safe construction of fixed offshore installations Use of scaffolds and staging ................................ 23 Slung scaffolds .......................................... 23 Suspended scaffolds ...................................... 24 Edge protection of working platforms ....................... 25 Scaffold fastenings ....................................... 26 Mobile scaffolds ......................................... 26 Boatswain's chairs. cages. skips or similar plant or equipment ... 27 Counterweights and outriggers ............................. 29 Inspection of scaffolds .................................... 29 Portable ladders ......................................... 30 Extension ladders ........................................ 31 Portable step-ladders ..................................... 32 Inspection and maintenance of ladders and step-ladders ........ 32 Fixed ladders ............................................ 33 Protection from falling and displaced materials ............... 33 Use and erection of scaffolds and ladders .................... 34 Safety harnestes and lifelines ............................... 35 Safety nets .............................................. 37 Work over the sea ........................................ 37 6 . Toxic and hazardous substances and agents and personal protective equipment ............................... General ................................................. Precautions against oxygen enrichment ...................... Toxic and hazardous substances-storage .................... Toxic and hazardous substances-supervision of use ........... Gas cylinders ............................................ Explosives-storage and use ............................... Lasers .................................................. Precautions against fume. dust. gas and vapour. etc ............ Air-cleaning equipment ................................... Toxic and irritant substances-personal protection ............ Risk of explosion from fume. dust. gas and vapour ............ Asbestos ................................................ Offensive and nuisance substances .......................... Environmental monitoring ................................. Contents 6.15. Disposal of flammable. corrosive. toxic or explosive substances . 49 6.16. lonising radiations ............................... .... .. 49 6.17. Personal protective equipment-general ....................
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