Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1995/738 |
| Year | 1995 |
1995 No. 738
HEALTH AND SAFETY
The Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995
Made 21th March 1995
Laid before Parliament 3rd April 1995
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 15(1), (2), (3)(a) and (5)(b), and 82(3)(a) of, and paragraphs 6, 14, 15(1) and 16 of Schedule 3 to, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 19741and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf and for the purpose of giving effect without modifications to proposals submitted to him by the Health and Safety Commission under section 11(2)(d) of the 1974 Act after the carrying out by the said Commission of consultations in accordance with section 50(3) of that Act, hereby makes the following Regulations:
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995 and shall come into force on 20th June 1995, except regulation 23(2), which shall come into force on 20th June 1997.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
“the 1969 Act” means the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 19692;
“the 1971 Act” means the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 19713;
“the 1995 Order” means the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) Order 19954;
“apparatus or works” means—
(a) apparatus or works described in paragraphs (a) to (f); and
(b) a structure described in paragraph (g),
of the definition of “pipeline” in article 6(2) of the 1995 Order;
“associated structure” means, in relation to an offshore installation, a vessel, aircraft or hovercraft attendant on the installation or any floating structure used in connection with the installation;
“concession owner” in relation to an offshore installation means the person who at any time has the right to exploit or explore mineral resources in any area, or to store gas in any area and to recover gas so stored if, at that time, the installation is, or is to be, used in the exercise of that right;
“duty holder” means—
(a) in relation to a fixed installation, the operator; and
(b) in relation to a mobile installation, the owner;
“fixed installation” means an offshore installation other than a mobile installation;
“installation manager” means, in relation to an offshore installation, the person appointed for the purposes of regulation 6(1)(a) who is for the time being in charge of it;
“mobile installation” means an offshore installation (other than a floating production platform) which can be moved from place to place without major dismantling or modification, whether or not it has its own motive power;
“offshore installation” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 3;
“operator” in relation to a fixed installation means the person appointed by a concession owner to execute any function of organising or supervising any operation to be carried out by such installation or, where no such person has been appointed, the concession owner;
“owner” in relation to a mobile installation means the person who controls the operation of the installation;
“pipeline” means a pipeline within the meaning of article 6(2) of the 1995 Order;
“pipeline works” means pipeline works within the meaning of article 6(2) of the 1995 Order;
“relevant employee” means an employee—
(a) who is ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, or
(b) who is not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom but who has been present in the United Kingdom and relevant waters in the course of employment there for a continuous period of not less than 7 days;
“relevant waters” means—
(a) tidal waters and parts of the sea in or adjacent to Great Britain up to the seaward limits of territorial waters; and
(b) any area designated by order under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 19645; and
“vessel” includes a hovercraft and any floating structure which is capable of being staffed.
(2) Any reference in these Regulations to operating an offshore installation is a reference to using the installation for any of the purposes described in regulation 3(1).
(3) For the purpose of these Regulations any structures and devices on top of a well shall be treated as forming part of the well.
(4) Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Regulations to—
(a)
(a) a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation in these Regulations so numbered;
(b)
(b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the regulation in which the reference appears; and
(c)
(c) a numbered Schedule is a reference to the Schedule in these Regulations so numbered.
Meaning of “offshore installation”
3.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this regulation, in these Regulations the expression “offshore installation” means a structure which is, or is to be, or has been used, while standing or stationed in relevant waters, or on the foreshore or other land intermittently covered with water—
(a)
(a) for the exploitation, or exploration with a view to exploitation, of mineral resources by means of a well;
(b)
(b) for the storage of gas in or under the shore or bed of relevant waters or the recovery of gas so stored;
(c)
(c) for the conveyance of things by means of a pipe; or
(d)
(d) mainly for the provision of accommodation for persons who work on or from a structure falling within any of the provisions of this paragraph,
and which is not an excepted structure.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the excepted structures are—
(a)
(a) a structure which is connected with dry land by a permanent structure providing access at all times and for all purposes;
(b)
(b) a well;
(c)
(c) a structure or device which does not project above the sea at any state of the tide;
(d)
(d) a structure which has ceased to be used for any of the purposes specified in paragraph (1), and has since been used for a purpose not so specified;
(e)
(e) a mobile structure which has been taken out of use and is not for the time being intended to be used for any of the purposes specified in paragraph (1); and
(f)
(f) any part of a pipeline.
(3) For the purposes of these Regulations there shall be deemed to be part of an offshore installation—
(a)
(a) any well for the time being connected to it by pipe or cable;
(b)
(b) such part of any pipeline connected to it as is within 500 metres of any part of its main structure;
(c)
(c) any apparatus or works which are situated—
(i) on or affixed to its main structure; or
(ii) wholly or partly within 500 metres of any part of its main structure and associated with a pipe or system of pipes connected to any part of that installation.
(4) Where two or more structures are, or are to be, connected permanently above the sea at high tide they shall for the purposes of these Regulations be deemed to comprise a single offshore installation.
Application
4.—(1) These Regulations shall apply—
(a)
(a) in Great Britain; and
(b)
(b) to and in relation to offshore installations, wells, pipelines and activities outside Great Britain to which sections 1 to 59 and 80 to 82 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 apply by virtue of articles 4(1) and (2)(b), 5 and 6 of the 1995 Order.
(2) Regulations 6 to 21 shall not apply in relation to an offshore installation which is in transit to or from a location; and an offshore installation is not in transit to or from a location while it is being manoeuvred at the location.
(3) Save where otherwise expressly provided, nothing in regulations 6 to 13 or 15 to 18 shall impose a duty in relation to an offshore installation while there are no persons aboard.
Notification concerning offshore installations
5.—(1) The duty holder shall, no later than the date on which an offshore installation is due to enter or leave relevant waters, notify the Executive in writing of the date of its intended entry into or departure from such waters.
(2) Where there is a change of duty holder in relation to an offshore installation, the new duty holder shall ensure that it is not operated until the Executive has been notified in writing of—
(a)
(a) the date of such change;
(b)
(b) the name and address of the new duty holder; and
(c)
(c) where the address furnished pursuant to sub-paragraph (b) is outside Great Britain, an address in Great Britain to which communications to him may be sent.
Managers
6.—(1) The duty holder shall ensure that—
(a)
(a) the offshore installation is at all times under the charge of a competent person appointed by him to manage on his behalf the installation and the persons on it; and a reference to the installation manager is a reference to such person while he is in charge;
(b)
(b) the installation manager is provided with appropriate resources to be able to carry out effectively his function, and the duties he may have to discharge under regulation 8; and
(c)
(c) the identity of the installation manager is known to or readily ascertainable by every person on the installation.
(2) For the purpose of paragraph (1)(a), a person is not in charge of an offshore installation when he is not on it unless he remains in communication with it and, in a case where it might be necessary to exercise his functions, is able to reach it promptly.
Restraint and putting ashore
7.—(1) If an installation manager has reasonable cause to believe that it is necessary or expedient to do so for the purpose of securing the safety of the offshore installation or the safety or health of persons on or near it, he may take such measures against a person on the installation, including—
(a)
(a) restraint of his person; and
(b)
(b) putting him ashore in the United Kingdom as soon as is practicable thereafter,
as are reasonable.
(2) If it appears likely that a...
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