The drilling safety guidelines identify basic elements of a safety programme applicable for exploration, development, or workover operations.

1 Responsibilities

Safety is the responsibility of everyone associated with the drilling operation. In order to conduct safe operations, Contractor and Company personnel must clearly understand and effectively discharge their respective responsibilities.

1.1 Contractor responsibilities

The drilling Contractor is responsible for:

• Implementation of a management policy directed at providing a safe work site.
• Implementing an on-site safety programme
• Safety of Contractor and Subcontractor personnel
• Control of work and health conditions on the rig site
• Training Contractor personnel to ensure safe operations
• Providing personnel with necessary protective/ safety equipment and training in the use of such equipment
• Ensuring that all Contractor equipment is properly maintained to ensure safe operation.
• Emergency contingency plans for major scenarios such as fire/explosion, toxic material release, man-overboard, stability control, and heavy weather that do not require third party personnel or equipment.
• Compliance with operator safety guidelines, policies, procedures.
• Compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

1.2 Company responsibilities

The Company is responsible for:

• Ensuring that Contractor's safety policies, standards, and procedures are acceptable to the Company and conform with applicable laws and regulations.
• Ensuring that Contractor's safety programme is accomplishing the desired safety objectives.
• Reporting any hazards to appropriate Contractor supervisors when situations exists where safety has been compromised; following up to ensure that appropriate action has been taken to correct the situation.
• Instructing Company subcontractor personnel to observe the rig Contractor's safety programme and coordinating activities between rig contractor and company sub-contractor personnel to avoid conflicts.
• Identifying responsibility for third party equipment maintenance and operability.
• Emergency contingency plans requiring coordination of outside third party groups such as oil spill response, rig evacuation, etc.
• Monitoring contractor and company personnel safety performance (lost time accidents, accident frequency rate).

2 Safety management programme

Each Contractor is expected to:

• Have a documented safety programme containing written policies and procedures designed to protect the safety and health of its employees.
• Effectively implement this safety programme in day-to-day operations, and
• Have a procedure for periodically updating the programme, as required.
• Ensure that all personnel are familiar with the content of these documents and have ready access to them at the worksite for day-to-day reference.

This programme should include the following topics:

2.1 Policy statement

Contractor should have a safety policy statement which clearly conveys management support for safe operations and defines responsibility and accountability for Contractor personnel to achieve this goal. This policy statement should be signed by a senior executive and fully disseminated to all employees. In addition, it should be posted in visible locations at the work site.

On locations where English is not the local language, the policy statement should also be posted in the local national language.

2.2 Employee orientation programme

Every contractor should have an employee orientation programme which includes indoctrination of each new rig employee, regardless or prior experience. The new employee should be instructed on work procedures, safe practices, the station bill and any emergency responsibility associated with his/her position on the station bill, and the use and maintenance of personal protective equipment.

Guidelines should be in place for key contractor personnel to observe the new employees's work performance until he/she is satisfied that the employee can fill the position in a safe and effective manner.

The employee orientation programme should also be designed to instruct Company, visitor and third party personnel new to the rig on procedures and safe practices, the station bill and any emergency responsibility associated with his/her position on the station bill, and the use and maintenance of personal protective equipment.

The use of training aids (videos, posters, viewgraphs, etc.) is encouraged.

2.3 Personnel safety training

All contractor personnel at the work site should be fully trained and currently qualified for his/her job in accordance with the following minimum standards:

2.3.1 Well control and blowout prevention

The toolpusher, driller, assistant driller, and subsea engineer should possess a current certificate in well control and blowout prevention issued by an industry recognised training institution.

2.3.2 Fire fighting

All supervisory personnel should receive training in basic fire fighting. In addition, those personnel assigned as members of a fire team should receive formalised fire team training, including instruction on fire team leadership.

2.3.3 Survival at sea

All personnel working on an offshore rig operating in a hostile environment should receive survival at sea training.

2.3.4 First aid

All supervisory personnel should possess a valid first aid certificate.

When drilling operations are to take place in an area where H2S is present or potentially a hazard, all rig personnel should undergo training in the use of breathing apparatus and escape sets. The training should be reinforced by regular drills.

Where local regulatory requirements specify more stringent standard than those outlined above, the drilling contractor will be expected comply with those higher standards.

3 Hazard control system

A system should be in place to identify and quickly correct hazards found at the rig site. This system should address such topics as:

• Hazard warning signs.
• Chemicals, data storage and handling procedure.
• Unsafe work practices.
• Use of personal protective equipment.
• Machinery guarding.
• Lifting equipment and procedures.

4 Safety meeting and documentation requirements

Regularly scheduled safety meetings are required. They should be led by appropriate line supervisors and/or the safety adviser and should be conducted in the language of personnel in attendance. They should encourage worker input and free communication. Safety meetings should include a review of any recent accident and safety procedures implemented to prevent its reoccurrence. Every individual should attend a safety meeting at least once per hitch (work cycle).

Each meeting should be documented, and the minutes should include a listing of those in attendance. topics covered, and any safety concerns raised and follow-up action to be taken. Minutes of each meeting should be copied to the senior Company representative.

In addition, pre-job, or "toolbox" meeting, are recommended for the purpose of discussing safety concerns specific to a particular job. Company personnel should coordinate and ensure third party personnel attendance, particularly for job specific meetings.

Local Contractor management should periodically review the material covered in these meetings and follow-up on safety related issues raised during the meetings.

5 Safety inspection programme

A periodic safety inspection programme should be in place. This programme should consist of:

a. Routine inspections made by experienced and qualified supervisors on site (usually on a weekly or monthly basis). This inspection should be conducted by both Contractor and Company personnel.

Critical equipment to be examined should include:

• Personnel protective equipment
• BOP equipment and controls
• Lifting equipment and hoisting gear
• Walkways, handrails, guards and ladders
• Warnings signs and notices
• First aid and medical facilities
• Communications equipment and capabilities
• Emergency response equipment.

Each inspection report should be reviewed by a senior manager so that appropriate resources can be made available and given the priority required.

b. Periodic visits by Contractor and Company management and Contractor safety specialists. As a minimum, one safety system or drill should be reviewed per visit with any noted deficiencies corrected at the earliest opportunity.

c. Full safety audit (annual inspection) conducted by a team typically consisting of a contractor manager, senior drilling technician, safety specialist, and a Company representative has been found to be effective and should be considered by individual contractors as part of their safety programme. Topics covered during these audits generally include:

• safety management systems;
• conformity with standards and procedures;
• work permit and other safety systems;
• emergency preparedness;
• training material, manuals, and safety literature;
• training effectiveness.

Copies of previous inspection records should be kept on the rig to document findings noted during earlier inspections and follow-up action taken to correct the problem.

6 Accident reporting and investigating system

An accident reporting procedure should be in place.

The completed accident reporting form should include the date of the accident, number of fatalities resulting from the accident, job title of injured personnel, type of accident, medical cause of death (if applicable), a brief narrative of the accident, and recommended corrective action.

Responsibility for follow-up action should be identified. Any changes in procedures, rules, equipment replacement, etc. as a result of the accident should be identified in the follow-up report and should be discussed during appropriate safety meetings.

A list of personnel/offices to receive copies of the accident reports should be included.

In addition, the Contractor must report all lost time accidents sustained by Contractor's or subcontractor's personnel to the Company on the day such accident occur. and the Contractor must provide the Company with a full written report of the investigation of each such accident within seven days after the occurrence of the accident.

In the first work day of each month, the Contractor must provide the Company with a monthly safety report which includes the following information:

• No. of personnel (both rig site and support staff) assigned full time to provide the Contract Services.
• Number of man-hours worked by personnel (both rig site and support staff) assigned full time to provide the Contract Services.
• No. of fatalities.
• No. of lost time accidents (LTA).
• No. of days away from work resulting from LTA's.
• No. of restricted lost time accidents (RLTA's).
• No. of non-lost time accidents.
• No. of near-misses.

The following definitions shall apply:

Reportable accidents

A reportable accident is any injury such as a cut, fracture, sprain, amputation, death, etc., which results from a work related accident or from an exposure involving a single incident in the work environment. Note that the term reportable accident and incident are identical.

Lost time accident (LTA)

Any reportable accident that results in "lost" work days subsequent to the day of injury (i.e. next shift, tour or hitch).

Restricted lost time accident (RLTA)

If the employee is able to return to work on "light duty status" on his/her next regularly scheduled shift following a reportable accident, the accident will be considered a RLTA.

Non-lost time accident (NLTA)

Any act, situation or occurrence which, although it did not cause a serious injury, could have under certain circumstances.

Accident frequency rate (AFR)

Number of lost time accidents including. Fatalities/man-hours worked ´ 1,000,000.

Man-hours

Man-hours for rig site personnel should be based on hours actually worked during a normal tour. Man-hours for shore based personnel should be based on hours actually worked.

Fatalities

The total number of Contractor employees who died as a result of a particular accident should be reported. "Delayed" deaths that occur after the accident are to be included in the year of the accident if the deaths were a direct result of the incident.

7 Rig site safety coordinator

The individual responsible for coordinating safety activities at the drill site should be the senior Contractor (i.e. rig superintendent, senior toolpusher). The senior Contractor representative may assign another individual as the Rig Site Safety Coordinator and delegate responsibility for specific on-site safety activities such as:

• arranging and conducting drills;
• checking safety equipment (fire fighting, life saving, etc.);
• checking alarms (H2S, smoke);
• site inspection;
• documenting safety meetings and any follow-up action;
• assisting in evaluating hazards;
• induction training for new employees.

The senior Contractor representative should have the authority to suspend any work until unsafe or hazardous conditions are corrected.

8 Safety adviser

A shore based safety adviser (employed by the drilling contractor) should maintain regular contact with the rig site Safety Coordinator. The role and responsibilities of the safety adviser should be clearly defined and known to personnel on the rig site.

Duties of a safety adviser typically include:

• Formal safety training (scheduling personnel into fire fighting schools, first aide classes, H2S training, survival at sea, etc.).
• Rig site drill evaluation.
• Follow-up on safety inspection and drill deficiencies (Verification of satisfactory close-out of safety inspection and drill deficiencies).
• Addressing relevant issues involving environment, health and industrial hygiene.

The Contractor will be expected to designate a senior executive with responsibilities for safety management and loss prevention. Safety advisers should report directly to the executive.

9 Emergency response procedures

Emergency procedures for major scenarios such as fire/explosion, toxic material release (H2S) release), man-overboard, well control, medical emergency, stability control, heavy weather, helicopter crash and rig evacuation should be documented and readily accessible at the rig site. The procedures should describe each scenario, response team organisation, response team action, and personnel to be contacted in the event of an emergency.

Any contingency plans adopted from Company, third party contractors, or sub-contractors must be checked for overall compatibility. For each contingency, there should only be one plan.

Each plan should be site-specific and must clearly indicate individual and group roles with details of action to be taken. It is also essential to identify alternative individuals to assume key duties so that redundancy is built into a plan.

Key contact facilities and personnel must be specified with a published roster of all personnel on call in case of an emergency.

Communications priorities are to be clearly specified for each plan and must include the information necessary to communicate. Local emergency contact numbers (police, fire, hospital) must also be known to personnel responsible for initiating the emergency plan.

Periodic drills should be conducted to train all personnel on their duties during emergencies. The frequency of drills, which should at least conform to local regulations or statutory requirements, should be clearly stated, and the date of each drill should be documented.

The emergency response procedures should be readily accessible and known to all supervisors on the rig location.

10 Permit to work system

A permit to work procedures for critical operations such as hot work, lock-out/tag-out, confined space entry, and handling of radioactive materials must be in place. Contractor's procedures should define the individual responsible for the permits, who reviews permits, and who monitors the permit system. The permit should include space for the hazard(s) to be identified and precautions to taken. When a permit is issued, all personnel need to be informed when the work has started and when it is completed.

11 Safety manual

Every Contractor should have a manual which addresses safety procedures and practices. This manual should include:

11.1 Policy statement

The Contractor Safety Policy should be included in the Safety Manual.

11.2 Contractor safety organisation and individual responsibilities

The Contractor safety organisation and individual responsibilities should be clearly identified.

11.3 Basic safety rules

Basic safety rules should be site/rig specific and produced in languages understood by all personnel at the work site. It is also suggested that the basic safety rules and safety practices be readily available to all personnel in handbook form and presented to all employees and visitors new to the rig during the employee orientation programme.

It is essential that the Contractor's policy regarding smoking, horseplay, and the use of drugs, alcohol, and firearms be clearly stated.

11.4 Safe work practices

The section on safe work practices should include:

• Use of personal protective equipment.
• Identification of hazardous areas, use of hazard signs.
• Identification, handling and control of hazardous material.
• Reporting procedures for defective equipment, unsafe acts and injuries.

12 Responsibilities of company rig personnel

12.1 The drilling supervisor

The  Drilling Supervisor is the Company Representative on site. It is his duty to ensure compliance of all contractors with the provisions of their contracts, in particular the scope of work, and to act on behalf of the Company in day-to-day contractual matters. He must keep himself fully informed of the progress of the operations at all times, and ensure that his line supervisors are also kept informed by means of regular reports.

Specifically his responsibilities are to:

• ensure that Company policies and instructions are properly given and to make sure that they are properly understood and implemented;
• acquaint himself with the locality in which he is drilling;
• review the drilling programme in detail;
• advise his supervisors of any aspects of the prognosis or well plan which might cause the loss of well control;
• ensure that a system of well control data sheets are maintained, ready for immediate use if required;
• see to it that units are used consistently throughout the drilling rig and are consistent with the drilling programame;
• check on the adequacy of BOP training of the relevant personnel on the rig floor and supervisory staff on the drilling rig;
• ensure that all operations conducted with equipment associated with pressure control are carried out in a safe and efficient manner;
• be acquainted with the contingency plans relating to fire, blowout, pollution and spillage on or around the drilling unit;
• have a full knowledge of H2S procedures and verify that all contractors on site are suitably equipped and trained.

The responsibilities of the company drilling representative in no way reduce those of the contractor with regard to well control.

12.2 The rig drilling engineer

The rig drilling engineer reports through the Drilling Supervisor, who is the company representative on site, and should assist him, as requested, in the discharge of his duties.

His specific responsibilities include:

• Supervision of the wireline logging contractor in so far as compliance with the logging programme and quality control is concerned. He should also ensure that radio-active sources and explosives are properly handled and stored.
• Liaison with the mud logging contractor to ensure that the company's interests are properly addressed with regard to geological sampling and formation description. He should also assure himself that the interface between the mud loggers and the drillers is managed such that any anomalies in the drilling parameters are promptly reported and that hole volume monitoring during tripping is properly addressed.
• Liaison with the company drilling supervisor, the contractor site manager and the sub-contractor cementer to ensure that cement formulations and volumes are adequate for the job.
• Liaison with the mud engineer to ensure that mud properties are adequate for well control, cuttings removal and formation stability.