Safety and Environmental Management System for Offshore Operations and Assets

API RECOMMENDED PRACTICE 75 FOURTH EDITION, DECEMBER 2019

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Copyright © 2019 American Petroleum Institute

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Foreword

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Shall: As used in a standard, “shall” denotes a minimum requirement to conform to the standard.

Should: As used in a standard, “should” denotes a recommendation or that which is advised but not required to conform to the standard.

May: As used in a standard, “may” denotes a course of action permissible within the limits of a standard. Can: As used in a standard, “can” denotes a statement of possibility or capability.

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Suggested revisions are invited and should be submitted to the Standards Department, API, 200 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20001, standards@api.org.

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Contents

Page

1. Scope 1

2. Normative References 1

3. Terms, Definitions, and Abbreviations 1

   1. Terms and Definitions 1

   2. Abbreviations 3

4. Safety and Environmental Management System Application and Principles 4

   1. Application 4

   2. Principles 4

5. Safety and Environmental Management System Elements 5

   1. General 5

   2. Leadership 6

   3. SEMS Interface Management 7

   4. Risk Assessment and Risk Controls 10

   5. Procedures 11

   6. Safe Work Management and Safe Work Practices 12

   7. Knowledge and Skills 13

   8. Asset Design and Integrity 14

   9. Management of Change 15

   10. Pre-startup Review 16

   11. Emergency Preparedness and Response 17

   12. Investigating and Learning from Incidents 18

   13. Evaluation and Improvement of SEMS 19

   14. SEMS Information 20

Bibliography 22

Figures

1. SEMS Interface Example Case 1 8

2. SEMS Interface Example Case 2 8

3. SEMS Interface Example Case 3 9

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Introduction

This document describes the elements of a Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS) for offshore operations, focusing on the purpose and minimum expectations for each element. In reviewing this document, the focus should be on assuring that the applicable elements and their expectations are addressed rather than the formatting, organization, or order of the elements and expectations.

This document is not intended to be prescriptive or limiting on the expectations of each element; rather, it allows flexibility appropriate to the size, scope, and risk of a Company’s assets and operations. It is advised that users of this document review and comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements and conform with applicable industry codes and standards.

Once the SEMS is established and implemented, it should be maintained and periodically reviewed to facilitate continual improvement. For the purposes of simplicity and clarity, in this document the word “safety” or “safely” refers to the management of safety and the environment. Consideration may be given to using this document to help systematically manage other aspects of operations, such as security and health.

Improvements and Changes in the 4th Edition

API RP 75 was first published in May 1993 to provide consistent guidance to the oil and gas industry on how to develop management programs that were designed to “promote safety and environmental protection” during operations. However, over the past 25 years, the industry has evolved, technology has advanced, operations have changed, and understanding of management systems and human performance has progressed, all of which has an impact on how the industry understands and manages safety and environmental performance. This edition of RP 75 incorporates these advances to improve the systematic management of safety and environmental performance.

Starting with the foundation of the established RP 75, this edition includes the following enhancements.

• Performance-driven expectations: This edition provides guidance for the systematic and thoughtful evaluation of assets and operations to better identify and manage risks. It is written to account for evolutions in technology, operations, and knowledge to promote continual improvement and active management of risks. It is not intended to be prescriptive in how to satisfy the expectations.

  
  

• Global applicability: This edition is applicable globally for offshore operations and is not limited to a particular region or regulatory regime.

  
  

• Relevant to all companies and personnel: This edition applies to operators, contractors, and others performing work within the scope of this recommended practice.

  
  

• Interface management: This edition enhances the guidance on managing the interfaces and related risks among other entities performing work offshore.

  
  

• Full scope of operations: This edition expands applicability to all offshore operations.

  
  

• Human performance: This edition enhances the previous edition’s general consideration of human factors by integrating more detailed human performance expectations throughout the document.

  
  

• Structure and consistency: This edition has a standardized format for all elements and provides clear and consistent expectations.

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Safety and Environmental Management System for Offshore Operations and Assets

1. Scope

   
   

   This recommended practice provides companies engaged in offshore operations with a framework for the establishment, implementation, and maintenance of a Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS) to manage and reduce risks associated with safety and the environment to prevent incidents and events.

   
   

   This recommended practice applies, in part or whole, to companies engaged in offshore operations, from lease evaluation through decommissioning.

   
   

   For the purpose of simplicity and clarity in this recommended practice, the word “safety” or “safely” can refer to the management of safety and environmental risks.

   
   

   NOTE Although this recommended practice is written for offshore operations, its principles can be applied to other offshore industries after performing an engineering and management analysis.

   
   

2. Normative References

There are no normative references in this document.

3 Terms, Definitions, and Abbreviations

3.1 Terms and Definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following definitions apply.

3.1.1

adequate

Sufficient for a specific need or requirement.

3.1.2

administrative change

A change to processes, practices, policies, procedures, standards, or controlled documents.

3.1.3

asset

The equipment (individual items or integrated systems) or software used offshore.

3.1.4

Company

An operator, contractor, or partnership engaged in offshore operations.

3.1.5

contractor

The individual, partnership, firm, or corporation retained by the Company to perform work or provide an asset, supplies, or information.

3.1.6

convention

The format, writing style, and pictorial style to be used in the preparation of a document.

1