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The integrity of offshore
installations is ensured by means of safety measures taken in
relation to their construction and thus aimed at minimizing the
risk of fire, explosion, collapse, etc. as much as reasonably
practicable.
Before installations for exploration or production of hydrocarbons
are commissioned in the Danish area, the operator must have
obtained an operating permit from the Danish Energy Agency. This
applies to fixed offshore installations as well as mobile offshore
units.
The DEA issues an operating permit on the basis of an application
from the company in charge of the activities. The application must
include documentation showing that the installation has been built
and will be operated in full compliance with safety, health and
environmental requirements. This presupposes, among other things,
that a health and safety case of the installation is available,
including a risk analysis, as well as documentation showing that
the installation has been built in conformity with safety standards
and that, in view of the activities for which permission is sought,
the management is adequately set up and the installation
sufficiently prepared for any emergencies during operation.
When a fixed offshore installation is designed, a health and
safety risk asessment is required in order to keep the risk of
operating the finished installation as low as reasonably
practicable.
The result of the assessment and the subsequent risk reduction
must be documented in a Health and Safety Case.
If the installation undergoes major reconstruction work, Danish
rules require that the health and safety risk assessment be updated
on the basis of the new conditions.
Much of the safety documentation for the physical conditions on
board the offshore installation is based on compliance with
national or international standards and codes of practice,
frequently documented in the form of certification or other
verification carried out by an expert third-party company.
Some of the standards applicable to the construction of an
offshore installation are issued by the Danish Standards
Association, which distributes ISO, IEC and EN standards, as well
as the American Petroleum Institute (API), Det Norske Veritas
(DNV), AGA, the American Gas Association and ASTM International
(ASTM).
A number of standards adopted by the International Maritime
Organization, IMO, apply to work performed by existing mobile units
on the Danish continental shelf. Thus, the so-called MODU Code for
the Construction and Equipment of Mobile Offshore Drilling Units
applies to drilling rigs. In addition, a number of rules laid down
by the classification societies certifying the installations also
apply.
Mobile offshore units must have been subjected to a safety
assessment demonstrating that the safety level of the individual
unit is satisfactory. This assessment, which makes up the safety
case for the unit together with a description of its management
system for health, safety and environmental matters, must accompany
the application for an operating permit submitted to the Danish
Energy Authority.
While the Danish Energy Authority supervises the safety of fixed
offshore installations, the Danish Maritime Authority supervises
the safety of mobile offshore units (with the exception of drilling
equipment). Thus, the Danish Energy Authority consults the Danish
Maritime Authority when processing applications for operating
permits for mobile offshore units.
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