PUBLICATIONS AND VIDEOS

SUMMARY

This report identifies, collates and summarizes the regulations, codes of practice and certification requirements which are used in the specification and certification of blast and fire-resistant structures.

The offshore industry uses a considerable number of regulations, codes and guidelines during the design of offshore facilities. Many are not specific to the industry and have been culled from areas such as shipping, nuclear installations and mining. The review has therefore concentrated on the most appropriate documents used in the consideration of the general requirements relating to explosion and fire protection. More technically specific design guidelines are reviewed in the other project reports.

In general, there is a lack of any regulations or guidance relating to the treatment of explosions offshore. The amount of documents relating to fire is greater and largely stems from the shipping and onshore building industries.

An important aspect relating to the future safety of facilities in the United Kingdom, and possibly other countries, is the publication of the Public Inquiry into the Piper Alpha Disaster. The implication of the published findings will possibly result in radical changes to the way in which the UK Offshore Industry assesses, implements and is supervised in matters of safety.

The full report is publicly available from the HSE Website at www.hse.gov.uk/research/otipdf/oti92588.pdf.