Helicopter guidelines for land seismic & helirig operations - OGP

Helicopter guidelines for land seismic & helirig operations
2 Health, safety & environmental management
systems (HSE-MS)
2.1 Introduction
2.1.1 OGP (then E&P Forum) adopted HSE-MS as its recommended practice publishing Report
210 Guidelines for the development and application of HSE-MS in July 1994. For geophysical
operations specifics were developed in OGP Report 317, HSE aspects in a contracting environment
for geophysical operations, Schedules and Plans, May 2001.
In view of the extensive regulation applicable and elaborate safety systems already in place in
aviation, OGP did not extend the requirement for HSE-MS to aviation matters in its earlier
Report 239, Aircraft Management Guide (AMG) of March 1998. However, the current AMG
(OGP Report 390) does require aircraft operators to have safety management systems and safety
cases/safety expositions in place, for contracts of a duration of more than one year or involving
more than 50 flying hours per month (ref. OGP Report 390 Section 3 and Appendix 4).
The minimum required for any operation is a documented risk assessment (as per Appendix 2 of
the AMG) and an “operation specific safety exposition”.
In all, HSE-MS is now being introduced in OGP related aviation industry, but is still in an early
development stage. It is not within the remit of this document to elaborate on the subject matter
and the user is referred to the other documents mentioned above, while it is expected that more
will be developed in due time.
2.2 Recommended minimum requirement for HSE-MS
2.2.1 As explained above, the introduction of formal HSE-MS in aviation matters is still in a
development stage. The recommended minimum elements to be in place are:
1. Company and seismic contractor to have documented systems and plans in place, compliant
with OGP report № 317, HSE aspects in a contracting environment for geophysical operations,
May 2001 (referred to as “OGP Report 317” in this document).
2. A Crew HSE plan and a Project HSE Plan (as per OGP Report 317) to cover all aspects of
helicopter support to the operations, with the exception of specialist aviation matters. In
particular it should contain written and procedures agreed by the three Parties, for HSE
critical parts of the operations such as:
a. Flight planning and flight authorisation, changes in flight plans.
b. Passenger transport.
c. Cargo transport, loading, external load operations.
d. Refueling operations.
3. The Project HSE plan can be a document jointly developed and owned by the three Parties.
An alternative is that the Project HSE Plan is owned by the Seismic Contractor and
supplemented by interface documentation, addressing:
a. Gaps, contradictions or differences between the three parties systems, eg:
b. Standards applicable, which one prevails.
c. Any activities where more than one Party has to play a role eg:
i. Flight planning.
ii. Emergency response.
iii. Provision of fuel, PPE, equipment, training etc.
iv. Use of equipment for specific tasks, eg carrousels, long line.
v. Documented inspection and maintenance schedules of slings, cargo hooks, nets and
any device involved in lifting of external loads.
d. The recommendations of the acceptance audit of the Helicopter Provider carried out by
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