Competence Schemes are a Personal Bench Mark for People Working in the Subsea Environment

摘要

Within the oil and gas industry for many years personnel were promoted depending on their years of experience in a particular job, not necessarily on their skills and knowledge, which was an acceptable practice at the time. In more recent times companies within the oil and gas Industry and their clients have questioned whether this approach is correct due to the complexity of the equipment and the risks involved not only to personnel but the environment when accidents occur. In the search for oil and gas we are drilling deeper, using ROV's to assist in well construction, simulators for engineering design before we construct the installation, which means we need to insure that the people who are carrying out these operations are competent to do the job as well as being academically qualified. History shows that major offshore accidents have occurred on all of the world's continental shelves, resulting in loss of lives, damage to the environment and destruction of assets. After the Piper Alpha platform (fig.1), was destroyed by explosion and fire in 1988 with a loss of 167 personnel, the Cullen Report highlighted that a major change was required within the industry to ensure that all company personnel, as well as contractors were trained and competent to carry out their specific job. This was the catalyst for many Competence Assurance Schemes in the Oil and Gas industry, with customers and industry authorities expecting the companies to demonstrate that their workforce in safety critical roles are competent1.