How health and safety in shipping and offshore oil and gas interlink

Health and safety requirements in UK shipping

The main shipping legislation in the UK is the 1995 Merchant Shipping Act (MSA). The Act consolidates, in the one place, the bulk of the shipping law applicable in the UK.

In addition to the MSA, there is the 2003 Marine Safety Act. This is especially relevant to port safety. Under the MSA there are various regulations which are important in relation to dealing with health and safety. Of those, the most important are the Merchant Shipping & Fishing Vessels Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1997. Regulation 7 of the 1997 Regs requires a “suitable and sufficient” assessment to be made of the risks of the health and safety of workers. This is a requirement at the heart of health and safety regime, whether in relation to shipping, onshore, or offshore.

The Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1996 are also important. These are often colloquially known as the “Coll Regs” and apply to collisions between ships. They also apply if, for example, a ship strikes an offshore windfarm or a drilling rig.

Where a ship is registered in the UK, the MSA will apply to that ship wherever it is. If a ship is non-UK registered, the MSA will only apply to it while it is in a UK port or the UK Territorial Sea. If it is a non-UK vessel, however, the MSA will not apply to it if it is beyond the Territorial Sea. In that situation, the international law of the sea will apply even if the ship is in seas above the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

There is a distinction to be drawn between the Territorial Sea and the UKCS that is important to appreciate. The Territorial Sea runs 12 nautical miles from the UK coast. The UKCS runs all the way to the boundaries of the equivalent continental shelfs with other nations. For example, the UKCS in the North Sea runs up to the mid-point boundaries with, respectively, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. As such, the UKCS extends far further from the UK coast than the Territorial Sea.

Health and safety requirements in UK offshore oil and gas

Health and safety obligations in relation to UK offshore oil and gas are not consolidated in a single Act unlike in shipping with the MSA. Instead, a patchwork of legislation has been built up since the early 1970s. This has resulted in a complicated picture and inconsistent definitions of important terms.

Health and safety requirements under the offshore regime apply in the context of offshore installations used in the “exploration and exploitation of offshore natural resources” – a phrase drawn from section 23 of the 1982 Oil & Gas Enterprise Act. There are at least six different terms which describe offshore installations set out in the patchwork of legislation. This undoubtedly causes confusion. Terms used to describe offshore installations include production installation, non-production installation, fixed installation, mobile installation and drilling rig.

Other important terms in the legislation include “duty holder” and “operator”. The duty holder is ordinarily the legal person in whose name the safety case for the installation runs. The operator is ordinarily the party which has the right to operate within the offshore field in which the work is ongoing. It can be easy to confuse the duty holder with the operator.

Important health and safety provisions relevant to offshore oil and gas are also set out in the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (Application Outside Great Britain) Order 2013. This Order extends the application of the health and safety at work legislation to offshore installations. Further provisions which are important are contained in the 1998 Petroleum Act. Section 10 of that Act provides that UK criminal law applies to an installation and everything within 500 metres of it even if it is in transit. The Safety Case Regulations 2005 are also important to health and safety offshore.

Overlapping requirements

Because an offshore installation may be registered as a ship in the UK or elsewhere, or may be classed as a ship in the UK even if not registered, there is clear scope for cross-over between the different health and safety regimes – the oil and gas legislation, the shipping legislation, or both may apply to the installation. Three different regimes could potentially apply at the same time – the merchant shipping legislation, the health and safety at work legislation, and the oil and gas legislation. Each contains criminal sanctions and can also provide for civil duties. It can be very difficult in particular circumstances to work out which laws apply.

When is an offshore installation a ship?

An offshore installation can be both an installation and a ship at the same time. If it falls into both categories, the MSA and the oil and gas legislation will apply to it concurrently. If the oil and gas legislation applies, then the health and safety at work legislation, including related regulations, will also apply.

The MSA defines “ship” as “including every description of vessel used in navigation”. A vessel is simply something which floats and there is case law that confirms a vessel does not need to be able to navigate itself from port to port to fulfil the requirement of a vessel that is “used in navigation”. If it is capable of navigation by propelling itself across the sea, then it is a “ship” in UK law.

An offshore installation within the UKCS is any installation to which a safety case applies under the Safety Case Regulations. If a vessel has a safety case and is capable of navigation, it will be both an offshore installation and a ship at the same time.

There are at least four different categories that an offshore installation could fall into which would dictate whether or not it is also a ship: a fixed installation; a mobile installation which is UK registered as a ship; a mobile installation which is not capable of navigation and therefore isn’t a ship as defined by the MSA; and a mobile installation which is capable of navigation but happens not to be registered at all or at least not registered in the UK.

The MSA won’t apply to a fixed installation because it isn’t capable of navigation. Merchant shipping legislation won’t apply to a mobile installation if it isn’t capable of navigation. If it is a UK registered ship, the MSA applies to it worldwide. If it is a mobile installation which is capable of navigation but happens not to be registered in the UK, the MSA will apply to it but only while it is in the Territorial Sea.