The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has cited 12 offshore operators in total for not complying with the Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) requirements of the Workplace Safety Rule established in 2010.
Under the SEMS requirements operators had to set up a company-wide Safety and Environmental Management System by November 15, 2011 and submit an initial audit of that system by November 15, 2013.
One day after the deadline BSEE directed five companies to halt operations altogether because they failed to demonstrate that they even had a SEMS plan. The companies were given three days to reach a safe point in their operations before stopping work.
BSEE said that because most of the companies are conducting plugging and abandonment or other decommissioning activities, the impact of this enforcement on hydrocarbon production is "minuscule".
Seven additional companies submitted plans but failed to complete the audits before the Nov. 15 deadline.
They must immediately provide BSEE with a copy of their SEMS program and have the company CEO certify under oath that their company has implemented it. Their audits must be submitted "without further delay".
Please read on By Rod Sweet at: http://social.decomworld.com/regulation-and-policy/regulator-shuts-down-five-operators-ignoring-safety-audit-deadline