The Offshore Diving Inspection Guide Open Government Status Fully Open Publication Date 01 December 2024

Review Date 01 December 2027

Review History Date Changes

20/11/2024 Tri-annual review

Target Audience

ED Offshore Inspectors

Contents Summary.................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 2 Relevant Legislation ................................................................................................... 2 Action ......................................................................................................................... 3 Background ................................................................................................................ 3 Organisation............................................................................................................... 4 Targeting ................................................................................................................ 4 Timing..................................................................................................................... 4 Resources .............................................................................................................. 4 Recording and Reporting........................................................................................ 4 Appendix 1 Pre-visit information Request .................................................................. 5 Appendix 2 Offshore Diving Inspection Guidance ...................................................... 7 Appendix 3 Subsea (Diving) Safety Management System Inspection Guidance ....... 8 Appendix 4 Application of Enforcement Management Model and Duty Holder Performance Assessment .......................................................................................... 9

Summary This inspection guide (IG) outlines an approach to the inspection of duty holder’s arrangements with respect to offshore diving and the key areas that inspectors should consider when inspecting this topic. It also sets out the criteria against which duty holder performance will be rated. References are made to technical standards and guidance that inspectors will use to form an opinion of legal compliance.

Introduction The purpose of this IG is to provide information and guidance to OSDR inspectors to support the delivery of consistent and effective inspection of duty holder arrangements to comply with offshore diving legislation and regulation.

This IG is primarily used by Energy Division (ED) diving inspectors who are inspecting a duty holder’s ability to manage their diving projects safely. These inspections may take the form of onshore inspections to verify diving safety management systems in addition to inspections of diving projects offshore.

It also highlights key areas for inspection and provides a framework against which inspectors can judge compliance, assign performance ratings and determine what enforcement action should be taken with respect to legislative breaches that may be found.

This IG is focussed on offshore diving, duty holders undertaking inland/inshore diving will be assessed under the relevant legislation, regulation and guidance document Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) L104 Commercial diving projects inland/inshore.

Relevant Legislation Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 Diving at Work Regulations 1997 (DWR 97) Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc) Regulations 2015 (SCR 2015) Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response on Offshore Installations Regulations 1995 (PFEER)

Relevant Guidance ACoP L103 Commercial diving projects offshore

Action Inspectors should review relevant documentation (see Appendix 1 - Pre-visit Information Request) prior to the inspection visit and verify compliance during the inspection against applicable Legislation and Guidance.

By the conclusion of the inspection it should be possible to 1. assess compliance with relevant legislation 2. promulgate inspection findings and take relevant enforcement action if required 3. determine the appropriate performance rating using the performance descriptors in Appendix 4 4. consider how and when the issues raised during an inspection are to be closed out

Background SCR 2015 Regulation 2 defines diving as a major accident hazard. It identifies the failure of life support systems for diving operations in connection with the installation, the detachment of a diving bell used for such operations or the trapping of a diver in a diving bell or other subsea chamber used for such operations as being major accidents.

The Diving at Work Regulations 1997 and the accompanying ACOP (L103 Commercial Diving Projects Offshore) define legal requirements and provide guidance on compliance respectively.

Regulation 4 of the Diving at Work Regulation 1997 details the duties that clients and others have in ensuring these Regulations are complied with.

Specialist Advice Specialist advice is frequently sought from Marine Engineering, Offshore Decommissioning, Human Factors, Emergency Response, and other specialist disciplines when considering policy or enforcement issues.

Organisation Targeting Inspections should be planned in accordance with the requirements of the ED offshore intervention plans (IPs). Risk ranking will be considered when drafting the offshore diving inspection schedule and will detail intervention frequencies and targeting. Consideration may include such factors as recent change of duty holder, regulatory enforcement or additional issues. Timing Inspectors should undertake inspections as detailed by the offshore diving inspection schedule. In addition, inspections will take place when intelligence indicates intervention is necessary, or as part of an investigation following an incident. Diving inspections are driven by the dates on which diving projects are conducted, often necessitating short lead times and quick notice changes. Resources Resources required to undertake the inspection activity will be detailed by diving group team leaders in consultation with discipline specialist team-leaders and inspection management team-leaders as appropriate. Recording and Reporting The duty holder performance ratings should be entered on the Inspection Rating (IRF) Tab of the relevant installation Intervention Plan Service Order. Findings will be recorded in the post inspection report and letter.

Appendix 1 Pre-visit information Request

Inspectors should engage early with duty holders and associated stakeholders when undertaking either office based offshore duty holder’s diving management reviews (ODDMRs) or offshore inspections. A list of potential documents and material to be considered for review prior to the inspection is

Duty holder

• subsea operations management documentation • project-specific management process including hazard identification and risk assessments (HIRAs) • assurance documentation diving systems • assurance documentation for diving support vessels, marine and Dynamic Positioning • assurance documentation for ROV • competence assurance of personnel • Permit to work (PTW) system management and compliance on the diving support vessel (DSV) • Competency assessment and responsibilities of Client Representatives

Diving contractor

• subsea operations manuals • subsea safety management systems • assurance manuals • diving project plan • diving procedures • emergency procedures • bridging documentation • project procedures • project risk assessments • competence assurance of personnel • logbooks of divers and supervisory staff • diving and sat system logs • Dive system assurance documentation: DESIGN, Class, failure mode, effects & criticality analysis (FMECA), management of assurance non- conformance. • safety meeting records • planned maintenance system (PMS) and records • Management of technical change • hyperbaric evacuation plan • Emergency operating procedures, frequency and recording

Marine

• offshore vessel inspection database (eCMID/OVID) • activity specific operating guidance (ASOG) • dynamic positioning (DP) log and fault log / close-outs • annual DP trial audit report and close-out • field trials • PTW system and records • PMS and records

Appendix 2 Offshore Diving Inspection Guidance

This section of the IG suggests key inspection topics. Inspectors should ensure these are appropriate to the type and scope of the diving project, using their discretion, expertise and time available to maximise effectiveness.

Offshore inspections will usually include the following topics

• duty holder’s management of diving projects • management of diving as a major accident hazard • diving contractor’s management of diving operations • diving plant and equipment • diving personnel • ROV operations • lifting and rigging activities

The ED Offshore Diving Inspection Report template (Diving Group SharePoint site) provides further guidance and a format on which the inspection findings are recorded.

Appendix 3 Subsea (Diving) Safety Management System Inspection Guidance

An offshore duty holder’s diving safety management system is inspected on a 5- yearly basis. The process by which the inspection is undertaken is the offshore duty holder’s diving management review (ODDMR). The ODDMR is a process designed to allow the duty holder to demonstrate to the regulator that they have an effective safety management system in place to meet the requirements of the DWR 1997, SCR 2015, and other relevant guidance and standards pertaining to diving projects.

The ODDMR document outlines eight key requirements duty holders should demonstrate to verify their diving safety management system (summarised below)

1. Diving should be properly addressed in the duty holder’s safety case 2. The duty holder has a responsibility to manage its diving contractors 3. The duty holder should employ sufficient suitably competent people in connection with it’s management of diving operations 4. The duty holder should procure competent and regulatory-compliant diving contractors 5. The duty holder should assure themselves of the fitness for purpose of the diving contractor’s diving system(s) 6. The duty holder should assure themselves of the fitness for purpose of the diving contractor’s diving support vessel 7.1 The duty holder should ensure that diving, as a major accident hazard (MAH), is properly managed (1 - Process) 7.2 The duty holder should ensure that diving, as a MAH, is properly managed (2 - Execution) 8. The duty holder should ensure that installation-based diving is properly managed

The current revision of the ODDMR core document is retained on the Diving Group SharePoint site. Inspectors should use the most current ED templates and letter formats to record findings of ODDMR Inspections.

Appendix 4 Application of Enforcement Management Model and Duty Holder Performance Assessment

When inspecting offshore diving, duty holder compliance is to be assessed against the relevant success criteria. The success criteria have been determined from specific regulatory requirements, defined standards, established standards or interpretative standards.

This assessment will determine the: EMM Risk Gap, the associated topic performance score together with the Initial Enforcement Expectation as shown in the table below.

The actual enforcement may differ from that consistent with the recorded topic score depending on duty holder and strategic factors. However, should this occur then the relevant duty holder and strategic factors should be identified in the inspection report.

The initial enforcement expectation criteria differ slightly from the EMM for a ‘Nominal’ risk gap. This is because in practice ‘30’ scores have been found to cover a wide range of risk gaps and a verbal warning would be an inappropriate enforcement response in many cases.

The Topic Score recorded on COIN must be consistent with the Initial Enforcement Expectation

Further guidance can be found at: Enforcement Management Model - Operational

EMM RISK GAP Extreme Substantial Moderate Nominal None None TOPIC PERFORMANCE SCORE 60 50 40 30 20 10 Unacceptable Very Poor Poor Broadly Fully Exemplary Compliant Compliant Optional IG Specific Performance Score Guidance (delete if not used) Specific IG Specific IG Specific IG Specific IG Specific IG Specific IG Guidance Guidance Guidance Guidance Guidance Guidance EMM Initial Enforcement Expectation Prosecution/ Enforcement Enforcement Letter/Verbal None None Enforcement notice/Letter notice/Letter warning Notice

It should be noted that

• the recorded score should reflect the most significant compliance gap identified relevant to the Inspection Guide.

• the Inspection Guide and hence the allocated scores may not cover all the matters that were considered during the intervention.

• the intervention may not necessarily have used every part of the Inspection Guide – consequently the score only reflects what was inspected. The inspection report should make it clear what aspects of the Inspection Guide the duty holder has been scored against (or it is clearly identifiable by a letter item).

• where the score only relates to limited aspect of the Inspection Guide then consideration should be given to consulting the IG owner before finalising the score.

• proposed inspection scores should be reviewed/discussed by the full inspection team before finalising.

• the impact of cumulative risk should be considered when scoring. For example, two or three substantive scores of ‘30’ will point strongly to an overall score of ‘40’. There is currently no mathematical or other systematic process for doing this and inspectors must therefore use their judgement to allocate an appropriate score that best represents the overall inspection findings against this IG.

• the allocated performance score only reflects regulatory judgements about a duty holder’s degree of compliance at a particular point in time.

Use of performance scores HSE uses the performance scores as one of the many inputs to prioritise and plan future regulatory interventions. Prioritising intervention’s is fundamental to ensuring HSE delivers its major hazards regulatory strategy whilst supporting businesses and

the GB economy. HSE aims to ensure that regulatory activity is proportionate to the risk to people taking account a duty holder’s performance in controlling risks. In general, this means the HSE will inspect major hazard installations and duty holders with relatively poorer risk management performance more frequently and in greater depth than lower hazard installations and duty holders where there is evidence of higher risk management performance.