Offshore Construction in Offshore Oil Drilling

Offshore Drilling Units

Mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) are defined as ‘marine vessels that drill holes in the earth to find and produce hydrocarbons’ (Kaiser, Snyder & Pulsipher 2013, p. 1). Offshore drilling takes place worldwide in areas where hydrocarbon possibilities exist (Kaiser, Snyder & Pulsipher 2013, p. 1). From the mid-20th century, wells in excess of 120,000 have been drilled offshore, approximately half of which have occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in the United States (Kaiser, Snyder & Pulsipher 2013, p. 1). In the 10 years leading up to 2013, approximately 3,500 wells had been drilled per year (Kaiser, Snyder & Pulsipher 2013, p. 1). In the year 2010, drilling contractors accumulated revenue of about $45 billion. According to Kaiser, Snyder and Pulsipher (2013, p. 1), ‘MODUs consist of an ocean-going vessel with all of the systems required to support drilling, and are composed of jackups, semisubmersibles, and drillships’. As at 2013, one third of the worldwide production consists of offshore oil (Kaiser, Snyder & Pulsipher 2013, p. 1). Consequently, due to rising significance of offshore oil, MODUs are expected to persist in having a vital role in facilitating market supply (Kaiser, Snyder & Pulsipher 2013, p. 1).

Construction Process and Effect on Health and Safety

Construction Process

When the need for a port is discovered, the obligation to create an initial site study arises (Stogsdill 1972). Such a study is expected to be able to clarify a zone of consideration which will entail having multiple site alternatives (Stogsdill 1972). The premier location will be determined after a comprehensive probe into all alternatives (Stogsdill 1972). The multiple alternatives will be gauged based on the following: ‘Oceanographic data, Meteorological data, Topographic data and Geographic data’ (Stogsdill 1972). The factors that will ascertain the eventual choice of a site include the following: ‘amount of dredging required, most favourable bottom conditions, most suitable area for terminal installation, transportation accessibility, water depth, exposure/orientation’ (Stogsdill 1972). After a specific site has been chosen, comprehensive site information has to be secured before the eventual design phase (Stogsdill 1972). Such information will be inclusive of: ‘hydrographic surveys, soil survey and analysis, tide and current observation, tide and current observation, effect on the surrounding economy’ (Stogsdill 1972).

The optimal structural system for this concept is apparently a coalition of ‘land fill, and pile-supported structures’ (Stogsdill 1972). The ultimate stable structure is a man-made island consisting of land fill (Stogsdill 1972). The caveat, however, is that such a structure needs time for the fill to fully dry so that it can withstand heavy construction (Stogsdill 1972). A method to decrease the delay caused by the settling process is to build a barrier similar to a retaining wall, avoiding the problem of the fill material deviating northwards or southwards (Stogsdill 1972). Such obstacles also produce deep water in line with the land fill region (Stogsdill 1972).

In England, a method of building bulkheads has been created (Stogsdill 1972). It is composed of ‘slip forming concrete underwater’ (Stogsdill 1972). The exercise entails utilising buoyant tanks to ‘continuously pour cylindrical concrete structures in water depths that exceed 100 feet’ (Stogsdill 1972).

At the onset, a construction platform is essential on site (Stogsdill 1972). A concrete manufacturing plant is positioned on the platform along with housing for construction workers (Stogsdill 1972). The project is eventually constructed over a lengthy period of time which consists of five phases (Stogsdill 1972).

Effects on Health and Safety

New alterations in the worldwide construction industry along with increasing challenges caused by the unique methods of offshore operations have stressed the necessity for stakeholders to elevate safety management systems which maximise safety during the completion of their construction projects processes (Zuofa & Ocheing 2017). Consequently, the offshore industry has undergone important alterations that presently prioritise functional safety management, with the obligation placed upon firms to assess the project’s entire life cycle (Zuofa & Ocheing 2017). According to Zuofa and Ocheing (2017), creating functional safety management systems is a vital task encountered by industry stakeholders in order to maximise safety during operations. Zuofa and Ocheing (2017) conclude that based on their research from the Nigerian offshore oil and gas projects, leadership style is vital when applying any functional safety management system in offshore construction.

With regards to the management of offshore oil and gas construction, senior managers and safety leadership have a crucial role. It is contended that functional safety leadership can ‘decrease human errors and incident rate’ (Zuofa & Ocheing 2017). To underpin this concept, ‘United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (1996) recognized the power of leadership and identified management leadership as a key element in safety issues’ (Zuofa & Ocheing 2017). Furthermore, safety leadership should be maintained so long as it inspires colleagues to efficiently improve their work ethic and assume control of their obligations regarding safety performance (Zuofa & Ocheing 2017). In addition, ‘Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in UK articulated that without effective leadership, good safety performance cannot be achieved’ (Zuofa & Ocheing 2017). It can thus be concluded that when safety leadership is promoted, organisation safety effectiveness follows (Zuofa & Ocheing 2017). As a result, creating and maintaining safety leadership is vital to decrease accidents and to encourage safety among workers (Zuofa & Ocheing 2017). Therefore, it is concluded that the next step forward for offshore operations’ safety needs to be triggered by senior managers along with safety leadership, owing to the fact that their decision-making usually has far-reaching consequences on the whole firm and can uplift higher degrees of safety awareness within firms (Zuofa & Ocheing 2017).

Environmental Impact

Environmental factors have to be examined when the concept of an offshore construction project arises (Stogsdill 1972). The effects of such a project on the environment have to be thoroughly reviewed with regards to construction and operation (Stogsdill 1972). The aforementioned considerations consist of the requirement premier precautionary measures to avert inadvertent spills (Stogsdill 1972). Furthermore, containment systems must be faultless to ‘control spit as soon as they occur to prevent damage to the environment’ (Stogsdill 1972).

According to Acheampong and Akumperigya (2018), there is ‘general statutory duty under the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651)’ that applies to all personnel which guarentees that all employees operate ‘under satisfactory, safe and healthy conditions’. Acheampong and Akumperigya (2018) go on further by citing that Act 651 obligates employers to make available and sustain its place of business which is safe and ‘without risk to health’ of workers. Similarly, employers are also obligated to give ‘necessary information, training and supervision of employees with regards to health and safety’ (Acheampong & Akumperigya 2018). The aforementioned act evenly obligates workers the responsibility to utilise safety equipment made available by employers which come with usage instructions which must be followed (Acheampong & Akumperigya 2018).

Prior to the Piper Alpha incident, the UK’s regulatory direction regarding thr offshore oil and gas sector was predicated ‘on a set of prescriptive based rules that were complex in terms of reporting structures and had minimal risk weightings attached to them’ (Acheampong & Akumperigya 2018). In the work environment in the period up to the 1970s, the safety and welfare of personnel was ruled ‘by a plethora of prescriptive rules and regulations based on industry standards, knowledge and experience’ (Acheampong & Akumperigya 2018). Such prescriptive regulations advanced during the initial phases of the North Sea oil and gas functioning in the 1960s, were derived from the ‘Model Licence clauses created on the back of an old onshore regulatory regime for the exploration and production of oil and gas’ which originated from the 1930s (Acheampong & Akumperigya 2018).

In the mid-1960s, the UK’s inaugural offshore drilling rig named the Sea Gem disintegrated leading to thirteen worker fatalities (Acheampong & Akumperigya 2018). The incident opened up Britain’s vulnerabilities pertaining to inexperience and poor preparation when it comes to managing offshore safety issues due to the lack of comprehensive legal provisions and oversight (Acheampong & Akumperigya 2018). The ensuing investigation into the accident solved this problem by creating a ‘set of prescriptive regulatory codes which were not adapted to the technologically intensive and rapidly expanding industry’ (Acheampong & Akumperigya 2018). Such events emphasise the direct relation of an offshore regulatory rule and the likelihood of an offshore incident (Acheampong & Akumperigya 2018).

In light of the aforementioned events, ‘the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971, the major statute dealing specifically with health and safety on offshore installations was enacted’ (Acheampong & Akumperigya 2018). Regarding the offshore sector, the current institutional system instructed and obligated, by law, responsibilities on the concession owner along with the installation owner to designate an offshore installation manager. Such a person carried the overall duties pertaining to ‘safety, health and welfare on the installation and is required to maintain order and discipline on the rig’ (Acheampong & Akumperigya 2018). The Secretary of State had the authority to designate offshore inspectors possessing policing powers and privileges who had the responsibility to supervise and execute compliance checks (Acheampong & Akumperigya 2018).