Canada Oil and Gas Installations Regulations (SOR/96-118)

Corrosion Protection

• 15 (1) All structural elements that are part of an offshore installation and the failure of which as a result of corrosion would cause a safety hazard shall be protected or constructed with extra material so as to prevent the degree of corrosion that may cause that structural element to fail and shall be protected against corrosion in accordance with section 4.15 of Canadian Standards Association CAN/CSA-S471-92, General Requirements, Design Criteria, the Environment, and Loads.

• (2) Corrosion protection systems for offshore installations shall be designed, installed and maintained in accordance with

  • (a) section 15 of Canadian Standards Association CAN/CSA-S473-92, Steel Structures, Offshore Structures, in the case of steel platforms; and

  • (b) sections 4.9.5, 5.1.1, 5.3, 5.4.2, 5.6, 5.10 and 11.19 of Canadian Standards Association Preliminary Standard S474-M1989, Concrete Structures, in the case of concrete platforms.

• (3) All corrosion protection systems on an offshore installation shall be designed so that adjustment, repair or replacement can be done on site, except where

  • (a) dry dock surveys are possible and are scheduled at a frequency of five years or less; or

  • (b) the corrosion protection system is a cathodic protection system that has a design life exceeding that of the installation.

Cranes

16 Every crane on an offshore installation shall

• (a) be designed and constructed in accordance with American Petroleum Institute Spec 2C, Specification for Offshore Cranes; and

• (b) be operated and maintained in accordance with American Petroleum Institute RP 2D, Recommended Practice for Operation and Maintenance of Offshore Cranes.

Gas Release System

• 17 (1) In this section, gas release system means a system for releasing gas and combustible liquid from an installation, and includes a flare system, a pressure relief system, a depressurizing system and a cold vent system.

• (2) Every gas release system shall be designed and located, taking into account the amount of combustibles to be released, the prevailing winds, the location of other equipment and facilities, including rigs, the dependent personnel accommodation, the air intake system, embarkation points, muster areas, the helicopter approaches and other factors affecting the safe, normal flaring or emergency release of the combustible liquid, gases or vapours, so that when the system is operating it will not damage the installation, other installations, the land or other platforms in the vicinity used for the exploration or exploitation of resources, or injure any person.

• (3) Every gas release system shall be designed and installed in accordance with

  • (a) American Petroleum Institute RP 520, Recommended Practice for the Design and Installation of Pressure-Relieving Systems in Refineries;

  • (b) American Petroleum Institute RP 521, Guide for Pressure-Relieving and Depressuring Systems;

  • (c) American Petroleum Institute Standard 526, Flanged Steel Safety-Relief Valves;

  • (d) American Petroleum Institute Standard 527, Seat Tightness of Pressure Relief Valves; and

  • (e) American Petroleum Institute Standard 2000, Venting Atmospheric and Low-Pressure Storage Tanks.

• (4) Every gas release system shall be designed and constructed to ensure that oxygen cannot enter the system during normal operation.

• (5) Any flare boom and its associated equipment shall be designed

  • (a) to ensure a continuous flame using an automatic igniter system;

  • (b) to withstand the radiated heat at the maximum venting rate;

  • (c) to prevent flashback; and

  • (d) to withstand all loads to which they may be subjected.

• (6) Every gas release system shall be designed to limit to the acceptable levels permitted by the Oil and Gas Occupational Safety and Health Regulations the noise that may occur as the gas expands.

• (7) With the exception of water, any liquid that cannot be safely and reliably burned at the flare tip of a gas release system shall be removed from the gas before it enters the flare.

• (8) Any vent that is used to release gas to the atmosphere without combustion shall be located and designed to minimize the risk of accidental ignition of the gas.

• (9) Every gas release system shall be designed and installed so that, taking into account the prevailing wind conditions, the maximum radiation on areas where personnel may be located, from the automatically ignited flame of a flare or vent, will be

  • (a) 6.3 kW/m², where the period of exposure will not be greater than one minute;

  • (b) 4.72 kW/m², where the period of exposure will be greater than one minute but not greater than one hour; and

  • (c) l.9 kW/m², where the period of exposure will be greater than one hour.

Emergency Shutdown System

• 18 (1) Every installation shall have an emergency shutdown system that is capable of shutting down and isolating all potential sources of ignition and sources of flammable liquids or gases.

• (2) An emergency shutdown system shall be designed and installed so that when activated it causes

  • (a) an audible and visual signal that indicates the cause of its activation and the identity of the equipment that has been shut down and isolated to be given in the appropriate control point; and

  • (b) an audible alarm to be sounded through the general alarm system required by section 34 unless the alarm is overridden by the control point operator.

• (3) In the case of a production installation, an emergency shutdown system shall be designed to ensure

  • (a) that there are at least two levels of shutdown; and

  • (b) subject to subsection (13), that the following will occur within the time and in the sequence set out in the operations manual:

    • (i) the shutdown of all production facilities and associated test facilities,

    • (ii) the closure of all surface inlet manifold safety valves and production riser safety valves,

    • (iii) the closure of all Christmas tree safety valves and all downhole safety valves, and

    • (iv) the shutdown of all utilities except the equipment listed in subsection 12(1).

• (4) In the case of a production installation, manual operation of an emergency shutdown system shall be in accordance with American Petroleum Institute RP 14C, Recommended Practice for Analysis, Design, Installation and Testing of Basic Surface Safety Systems for Offshore Production Platforms.

• (5) In the case of a drilling installation, an emergency shutdown system shall be designed to ensure

  • (a) the shutdown within the time and in the sequence set out in the operations manual of all utilities, except the equipment listed in subsection 12(1); and

  • (b) that shutdown is possible from at least two strategic locations.

• (6) The emergency shutdown system shall be designed to permit the selective shutdown of the ventilation systems required by section 10, except the fans necessary for supplying combustion air to prime movers for the production of electrical power.

• (7) At least one of the controls of the emergency shutdown system shall be located outside hazardous areas.

• (8) After an emergency shutdown, the emergency shutdown system shall stay in a locked-out condition until it is manually reset.

• (9) The emergency shutdown system shall be connected to a source of power in such a way that, in the event of a failure of the primary source of power, there is automatic changeover to an emergency source of power and audible and visual alarms indicating that failure are given at the appropriate control point.

• (10) Where a hydraulic or pneumatic accumulator is used to operate any part of the emergency system, the accumulator shall

  • (a) be located as close as is practicable to the part that it is designed to operate, except where that part is part of a subsea production system; and

  • (b) have capacity for at least three operations.

• (11) In the event of a failure of the accumulator referred to in subsection (10), the shutdown valves shall revert to a fail-safe mode.

• (12) All cables and pneumatic and hydraulic power lines that are part of the emergency shutdown system shall

  • (a) in the case of cables and power lines that are exposed to the risk of mechanical or fire damage, be protected

    • (i) by metal channels or casings, or

    • (ii) by being enclosed in a steel conduit or an equivalent covering; and

  • (b) as far as practicable, be segregated or routed away from the process and utility control systems so that any damage to those systems does not affect the shutdown system.

• (13) In the case of a production installation, on activation of the emergency shutdown system, the surface-controlled subsurface safety valve shall close in not more than two minutes after the Christmas tree safety valve has closed, except where a longer delay is justified by the mechanical or production characteristics of the well.

Escape Routes

• 19 (1) On every onshore installation,

  • (a) every work area shall have at least two well-marked separate escape routes that are situated as far apart as is practicable and that lead to an area away from the drill site or production site; and

  • (b) all corridors that are more than 5 m long, all accommodation areas and, where practicable, all work areas shall have at least two exits, located as far apart as is practicable, that lead to escape routes.

• (2) On every manned offshore installation,

  • (a) every work area shall have at least two well-marked separate escape routes that are situated as far apart as is practicable;

  • (b) all escape routes shall lead to the open deck and from there to an evacuation station;

  • (c) in addition to the escape routes required by paragraph (a), clear passage shall be provided, where practicable, to the helicopter deck and sea level and other embarkation locations;

  • (d) all corridors that are more than 5 m long, all accommodation areas and, where practicable, all work areas shall have at least two exits, located as far apart as is practicable, that lead to escape routes;

  • (e) every escape route and embarkation station shall be free of all obstructions, and each exit door along the route shall be a sliding door or designed to open outwards;

  • (f) every escape route leading to an upper level shall, where practicable, be provided in the form of ramps or stairways;

  • (g) every escape route leading to a lower level shall, where practicable, be provided in the form of ramps, stairways or chutes of sufficient width to accommodate stretcher bearers with stretchers;

  • (h) suitable means shall be provided, where practicable, for persons to descend from the installation to the water;

  • (i) materials used for escape routes shall have a level of fire durability equivalent to steel;

  • (j) the survival craft evacuation stations located adjacent to the accommodation areas and the associated escape routes from the accommodation areas shall provide fire protection for a period of at least two hours; and

  • (k) all escape routes and associated stairwells shall be appropriately sheltered from the effects of fire and explosion.

Protection Against Impact Offshore

• 20 (1) Subject to subsection (4), every offshore platform shall be designed to withstand accidental impacts with a vessel.

• (2) Where practicable, every offshore platform shall have a fender system, buoyage system or similar arrangement that will permit the transfer of goods to and from the production installation and a vessel without endangering that production installation or vessel or any person or goods.

• (3) Subject to subsection (4), every offshore platform, including any fender system, shall be capable of absorbing the impact energy of not less than 4 MJ from a vessel without endangering any person or the environment.

• (4) Subsections (1) and (3) do not apply to an unmanned offshore platform if any impact described by those subsections will not cause major damage.

• (5) Every offshore platform shall be designed so that the impact energy referred to in subsection (3)

  • (a) can be totally absorbed in the permanent deformation of the structural element impacted and by the elastic deflection of the platform; and

  • (b) will not be absorbed in the permanent deformation of the vessel.

• (6) Where a fender system is used to comply with subsection (2), its size and arrangement shall be such that a vessel cannot be trapped under it at low tide.