Guidance Notes For Good Contracting Practice Emergency Response [PDF]

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Guidance Notes for Good Contracting Practice Emergency Response

Offshore Contractors’ Association 58 Queens Road Aberdeen AB15 4YE Telephone: 01224 326070 email: [email protected] www.oca-online.co.uk

CONTENTS 0.0

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

3

1.0

INTRODUCTION

4

2.0

DUTYHOLDERS EXPECTATIONS

4

3.0

THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OFFSHORE LIAISON GROUP 4

4.0

OUT OF HOURS CONTACT

5

4.1

Designated Telephone Number

5

4.2

Duty Person

5

4.3

Actions on Arrival at Company Premises

6

5.0

ATTENDANCE AT DUTYHOLDER’S PREMISES

6

6.0

RELATIVE RESPONSE ORGANISATION

6

6.1

Personnel

7

6.2

Designated Relative Response Room

7

6.3

Recommended Equipment

7

7.0

EXTERNAL REPRESENTATIVES ORGANISATION

8

8.0

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

8

9.0

DEALING WITH THE MEDIA

9

10.0

POST INCIDENT COUNSELLING

9

11.0

RECORDS

9

12.0

REFERENCES

10

Appendix 1

PREPARATION CHECKLIST

11

Appendix 2

TYPICAL RELATIVE RESPONDERS TRAINING AGENDA

13

Appendix 3

EXAMPLE RELATIVE ENQUIRY FORM

15

0.0

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Offshore Contractors’ Association gratefully acknowledges the contribution provided by the following members in the production of this guidance document: John Boyce

Salamis Group Ltd

Susan Elston

Aramark on behalf of COTA

Julia Dryborough

AMEC

Janice Flint

Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) Ltd

Gary Jenkins

Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) Ltd

Mark Levitt

AMEC

Stuart Walker

Petrofac Facilities Management Ltd

1.0

INTRODUCTION

This document has been produced by the Offshore Contractors Association in order to provide guidance to both member and associate companies on the arrangements they need to consider when addressing emergency response. Because of the diversity of size and services provided by member and associate companies this document provides only general guidance. It is recommended that each Company should agree the specific requirements for its response in an emergency situation with individual Clients, using this document as an aide memoir. It is a fact in the offshore industry that whilst there may be clear, accurate information available internally of who is on any given platform at any given time, the next of kin do not always know where their relative is, are spread the length and breadth of the country and are likely to receive first indications of an emergency through the media. In the unlikely event of an emergency the media, in their rush to get information into the public domain, often get names of installations and operators incorrect. This provides an added anxiety to families who are not sure if their relatives are involved. The most likely person they will contact is the Employer. Therefore the accuracy of the information flow is paramount and this can only be achieved if companies have addressed the areas identified in this guidance. A Checklist is provided at Appendix 1 to assist companies in addressing the various requirements recommended in this document. 2.0

DUTYHOLDERS EXPECTATIONS

The primary responsibility for managing any emergency on an offshore installation or drilling rig rests with the dutyholder. He will have prepared and exercised comprehensive plans for managing both the offshore and onshore aspects of such an emergency. Contractors personnel offshore will be integrated into the installation emergency response organisation and will have been provided with the requisite training by the dutyholder. Onshore the dutyholder will have arrangements to respond to any offshore emergency and once alerted will set up an Incident Response Room. From there he will establish communications with, amongst others, the installation, emergency services, regulatory authorities and contractors. From each of these organisations he will expect a level of support depending upon the extent and severity of the emergency. With regard to contracting companies the dutyholder is likely to expect assistance in all aspects of support to the contractor’s employees offshore and their next of kin. He will expect the contractor to mobilise trained personnel to assist in handling telephone calls from families and, if an evacuation occurs, to provide personnel to meet evacuees on their return to onshore. To aid communications he is likely to request a representative to attend his Incident Response Room to ensure that the latest information and particularly media information is enpassed to the contractor. He may also require the contractor to provide a representative at any press briefings. Details of all these arrangements should be contained in the SMS Interface Document developed between the dutyholder and contractor. 3.0

THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OFFSHORE LIAISON GROUP

Since the tragedy of Piper Alpha all parties involved in the offshore industry have been working together in order to improve and harmonise their processes and documentation. In an attempt to achieve this harmonisation in the area of emergency response the Emergency

Preparedness Offshore Liaison Group (EPOL), consisting of representatives from all sectors of the industry together with Grampian Police and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency was established.

The primary role of EPOL has been to develop common systems across the industry for the onshore support of an offshore emergency, particularly in areas such as relative response, reception centres and hospitals. They have also been instrumental in creating a ‘mutual help’ system where the dutyholder who has the emergency can call on assistance from other companies to support their own organisation. Details of the work that EPOL have been involved in can be viewed on the ‘Networks’ section of the Step Change in Safety web site (www.stepchangeinsafety.net) 4.0

OUT OF HOURS CONTACT

The offshore oil and gas industry is a 24 hours a day 365 days a year operation. As a result it is possible that an emergency may occur out of normal office hours. It is important, therefore, that all companies who have personnel working offshore have a system for being contacted outside normal working hours. The definition for ‘Out of Hours’ contact can vary throughout industry. Therefore for the purpose of this guidance we will use a rule of thumb by specifying the hours out-with normal business hours being ‘Out of Hours’. Normal business hours should be defined, e.g. 0830hrs – 1700hrs Monday to Friday. 4.1 Designated Telephone Number The designated telephone number for an emergency should be provided to all clients and employees. This guidance recommends your company’s main telephone number be used. To ensure this number is maintained on a 24 hour basis there may be the need to either have the telephone line redirected by the line provider or employ an external agency to monitor calls during your ‘Out of Hours’ period. 4.2 Duty Person It is the responsibility of every Company to have a nominated person or persons available to respond to an out of hours contact. Once notified of an emergency this Duty Person should establish contact with the Client to determine the nature and extent of the emergency and seek guidance on what action is required. For larger companies it is likely that the Duty Person will have access to a team of trained personnel to undertake emergency response duties. Whereas smaller companies and SMEs may have to rely on their Client to undertake some of these roles. It is recommended that specific roles and responsibilities be agreed with individual Clients at the onset of a contract. The Duty Person should have access to key telephone numbers for each Client and for internal support personnel. Typically support personnel may be needed for: • • •

attendance at the dutyholder's premises, to provide a relative response cell, and to provide support at an evacuees reception centre and/or hospital.

4.3 Action on Arrival at Company Premises For organisations that have trained emergency response personnel consideration should be given to setting up an Emergency Response Room(s). Whoever arrives at the Company premises first will collect the Emergency Response File from its designated location. This file may include but is not limited to: The alarm system instructions • Emergency Response Process Flow Chart • Emergency Response Procedure • Employee Contact List • Sub-contractor and Suppliers List • Client Telephone Numbers • Police Protocol Information • Blank Record Forms from the ER procedure • Contract / Project / Site information sheets • Ideally two rooms are required. One for managing the company’s response to the emergency and a second for dealing with calls from relatives. The first room should be equipped with a direct dial telephone and have access to a facsimile machine and photocopier. Once this room is set up contact with the Client, using the telephone number supplied on the initial call should be established and the Client notified of the direct telephone number and fax number. All telephone calls should be directed through this room until the Relative Response Team has been set up at which time the Receptionist / Switchboard Operator should be advised. 5.0

ATTENDANCE AT DUTYHOLDER’S PREMISES

If there is a request by the Client to provide a Company Representative as a focal point between Company and Client, then the most appropriate person available should be nominated. To ensure good communication is maintained the Company Representative should be provided with a fully charged mobile phone plus charger or spare battery. (Note: It is possible that in a major incident mobile phone systems may fail due to the volume of traffic, alternative communications methods should, therefore, be considered). These communications links should be tested at regular intervals. 6.0

RELATIVE RESPONSE ORGANISATION

Communications between offshore employees and their families onshore is difficult at the best of time due to the limited telephone facilities available. In an emergency situation this is going to be even more difficult as the dutyholder will require all available communications systems to manage the emergency. It is imperative, therefore, that all organisations that have personnel working offshore have the ability to provide accurate information to the families of their employees during an emergency situation. The following paragraphs provide guidance on how this can be achieved. However it is recognised that some smaller companies may not have the resources to provide their own response so should seek agreement with their Clients for them to provide the response on their behalf.

6.1 Personnel Training for this role is imperative and the need cannot be stressed strongly enough. This is a very stressful role and requires a great deal of compassion as well as focus. Employees that take up these positions are placed in a taxing position and need to be rotated by other similarly trained personnel. Appendix 2 provides an example of a typical training agenda for relative responders. The team size will depend upon the scale of the emergency and the number of employees offshore.

6.2 Designated Relative Response Room Not all companies have the luxury of surplus office space to have a Relative Response room set up on a full time basis. For those that can accommodate this practice, this provides a less stressful beginning and a more efficient start to a possibly challenging task. For those companies that convert on office or meeting room into their Relative Response room for the purpose of an emergency; designated telephone points need to be easily identified for quick and efficient connection. These need to be tested at regular intervals: good practice would suggest weekly. The room needs to be sufficiently large for the Responders and Co-ordinator to have a suitable working area, and be able to conduct telephone conversations without distraction from others. A digital clock should be positioned in the room where it can be easily observed. This provides a standardised time for the Responders and Co-ordinator to use when recording actions and follow-up tasks. The use of a NOBO board or something of similar size should be available for the Coordinator. This is used to highlight any pertinent information that needs to be shared with all of the Relative Response team. To ensure there is minimal delay in responding to telephone calls an automatic hunt system that, using a single number seeks out an available extension is considered to be good practice. This allows calls to be answered by any of the Responders that are not dealing with relatives’ inquiries.

6.2 Recommended Equipment There should be sufficient telephone lines for incoming calls and one for external calls; this can also be used for inter-office communication. The Responders should be provided with telephones that have the capability of placing a call on hold, that can divert calls and have a socket to accept headsets. Consideration should be given to providing headsets as this assists in reducing distraction. A full array of stationary equipment should be provided to each Relative Response station, which should consist of: note paper, pens, post-it pads, filing tray and blank Relative Enquiry Forms. An example Enquiry Form is provided at Appendix 3.

There should be a Relative Enquiry Form filing system located in a central area of the room that all Responders and Co-ordinator should have access to.

7.0

EXTERNAL REPRESENTATIVES ORGANISATION

In a major emergency on an installation offshore it is probable that some degree of down manning of personnel may be required. Initially this may be to an adjacent installation as a precaution but in the long term it could be back to the beach. Depending upon the magnitude and speed of escalation of the incident it is possible that those returning to the beach will be traumatised, confused and generally in an agitated state. The dutyholder, in conjunction with the local police, will co-ordinate the setting up of an Evacuee Reception Centre. Individual contract companies may need to provide trained personnel at this Reception Centre to assist in registering incoming evacuees, seeing to their wellbeing, de-briefing them as necessary and arranging onward movement if required. SMEs should ensure that they have agreements in place with their Clients for them to provide this assistance, particularly early on in an emergency. There is a likelihood that relatives will congregate at the Reception Centre. They should be briefed on the situation and consideration given to providing basic facilities for them. In parallel with this evacuation it is possible that casualties will be flown direct to hospital for treatment. A similar, smaller reception facility will be provided at the hospital. The number of personnel required would be dependent upon the number of personnel being evacuated and the level of support required for these personnel and their families. The following roles may be required: • • • • • •

Company Representative (Evacuees) Company Representative (Relatives) Company Representative (Hospital) Record Keeper (Evacuees) Record Keeper (Relatives) Record Keeper (Hospital)

All communications systems allocated for use by External Representatives should be tested at regular intervals. 8.0

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

More and more frequently these days, contracting companies are being asked to support the dutyholder’s engineering and structural integrity processes, either through computer simulation models, master engineering drawings or records of integrity inspections. This means that should an emergency occur offshore that involves these processes the dutyholder will very quickly be looking for technical support from these contractors. As part of their emergency arrangements companies that provide such technical services should ensure that they have a methodology for providing the necessary expertise to deal with requests for technical support.

9.0

DEALING WITH THE MEDIA

Experience has shown that the media will go to great lengths to ‘get a story’ and whilst in the main they follow a code of conduct there are those who will bend these rules to get the information. The primary responsibility, in an offshore emergency, for providing information to the media rests with the dutyholder and he will engage the services of a professional organisation to assist in preparing appropriate statements. Many large contractors have similar arrangements.

Any enquiries should be referred to the dutyholder’s media information cell. However, once the media become aware that a contractor or SME has personnel on the affected installation they are very likely to approach that company direct for information. It is recommended, therefore, that all companies involved in the offshore oil and gas industry prepare Media Holding Statements There have been instances of journalists turning up at companies’ premises and refusing to leave until they have their story. In most cases, unless they have made a forced entry or disturbed the peace the police are powerless to do anything. Consideration should be given, therefore, to ensuring that premises can be secured and entry provided only to identified personnel. 10.0

POST INCIDENT COUNSELLING

When developing an onshore emergency response organisation consideration must be given to providing all those who become involved with the opportunity to receive trauma or stress counselling once the incident has been concluded. Here again the dutyholders and larger contracting companies are likely to have access to trained counsellors through their occupational health provider. It is possible that this service may be extended to Sub-contractors and SMEs through specific agreements with individual Clients. 11.0

RECORDS

It is important that a written log of events is maintained by any organisation that is involved in an offshore emergency, no matter how small that involvement may be. Following any offshore emergency there is likely to be an enquiry. The level of this enquiry will be dependent upon the nature and scale of the incident and could range from an internal enquiry by the dutyholder, a formal investigation by the regulator or a full fatal accident enquiry. Regardless of the scale of the enquiry it is likely that all organisations involved will be required to submit records of the information they received and actions they undertook during the emergency.

2.0

REFERENCES

BS EN ISO 13702:1999Petroleum and natural gas industries. Control and mitigation of fires and explosions on offshore production installations. Requirements and guidance. BS ISO 15544:2000 Petroleum and natural gas industries. Offshore production installations. Requirements and guidelines for emergency response UKOOA

Industry Guidelines for the Management of Emergency Response for Offshore Installations Issue No 2. May 2002

UKOOA

Guidance for Health and Safety Management Systems Interfacing.

EPOL

Evacuee Reception Centre Guidelines

EPOL

Personnel Transfer Fax Notification of Fatality/ Sudden Death Offshore Fax

(Note: Copies of the last three can be downloaded from the ‘Networks’ section of the Step Change in Safety Website – www.stepchangeinsafety.net),

APPENDIX 1

PREPARATION CHECKLIST

ITEM

REQUIREMENT

1.

Provide out of hours contact telephone number to all Clients/ Customers.

2.

Organise rota of out of hours duty personnel.

3.

Identify suitable office space for emergency response teams.

4.

Provide extra telephones for relative responders.

5.

Can dedicated telephone and facsimile numbers and equipment be provided for emergencies?

6.

Provide mobile telephone, spare battery/ charger for persons going to client’s premises and/ or evacuation centres. Identify and train personnel to act as Relative Responders.

7.

8.

Identify and train personnel to act as Evacuation Centre/ Hospital Company Representatives.

9.

Provide blank relative response forms, pens, paper, etc. in room to be used for relative response.

10.

Carry out internal table top exercises to familiarise people with their roles.

11.

Participate in Client run exercises as often as possible.

12.

Identify senior manager who will deal with any media enquiries.

13.

Identify back-up personnel, particularly for relative response role.

YES

NO

APPENDIX 2

TYPICAL RELATIVE RESPONDERS TRAINING AGENDA

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

INTRODUCTION TO EMERGENCY RESPONSE 1.1

What is an Emergency?

1.2

Nature and Types of Emergency

1.3

Company’s Emergency Response Organisation

RELATIVES RESPONSE TEAM 2.1

Aims and Objectives of a Relative Response

2.2

Duties of a Relatives Response Team

RELATIVES ENQUIRIES 3.1

Who Will Call?

3.2

What Are the Callers’ Needs?

3.3

Meeting Callers’ Needs

3.4

Who is Entitled to Information?

3.5

Types of Enquiries

TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS 4.1

Receiving Incoming Calls

4.2

Closing the Call

4.3

Dealing with Callers

4.4

Essential Do’s and Don’ts

APPENDIX 3

EXAMPLE RELATIVE ENQUIRY FORM

RELATIVE ENQUIRY FORM SURNAME

INSTALLATION

FULL NAME

NEXT OF KIN DETAILS

DATE OF BIRTH

NEXT OF KIN

COMPANY

RELATIONSHIP

JOB TITLE

TELEPHONE

ADDRESS

ADDRESS


ON BOARD


NOT ON BOARD

VERIFIER SIGNATURE:

CALLS RECEIVED TIME

NAME OF CALLER

RELATION -SHIP

INFORMATION GIVEN/RECEIVED

LOCATION/TEL NO. OF CALLER

INITIALS

LOCATION/TEL NO. OF CALLER

INITIALS

CALLS MADE TIME

PERSON CALLED

RELATION -SHIP

INFORMATION GIVEN/RECEIVED