Overview
We are inviting feedback on the exposure draft of the remake of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety) Regulations 2009 (Safety Regulations).
The Safety Regulations will sunset (cease to be law) on 1 April 2026. We are updating them to ensure the regime is fit-for-purpose and continues to be a leading practice regulatory framework.
We aim to:
implement outcomes from our review of the safety regime for offshore oil and gas workers in Commonwealth waters
align regulations to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGS Act)
modernise the provisions and their language in line with current practice.
Proposed amendments
Key changes include:
Changes to reflect amendments to the OPGGS Act including:
improving psychosocial health and discrimination provisions
operator notification and reporting requirements to NOPSEMA
introducing a vessel activity notification scheme.
Introducing a Design Notification Scheme to support early engagement with NOPSEMA on design safety matters.
Clarifying the circumstances that need a safety case revision by relating this to the loss or removal of a technical or other control measure identified in the safety case as being critical to safety.
Clarifying that a safety case must be revised at the end of every 5 year period starting from the day the safety case is first accepted, even if it has been revised during this time.
Strengthening the requirements for operator registration. This includes ensuring that potential operators are able to do the work of an offshore facility operator.
Streamlining the transfer of operators where an operator is replaced.
Inserting provisions allowing the use of civil penalties, infringement notices, injunctions, enforceable undertakings and other alternative enforcement mechanisms. This is under the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014, as part of carrying out a graduated enforcement regime for the offshore petroleum sector.
Enhancing the diving safety management system, diving project plan, start-up notices and reporting obligations for diving supervisors.
Replacing references to ‘OHS inspectors’ with references to ‘NOPSEMA inspectors’, to reflect Act amendments. These replace 2 categories of inspectors (petroleum project inspectors and OHS inspectors) with NOPSEMA inspectors.
Minor changes include restructuring and re-numbering some provisions.
We would like to invite you to an information session on the remake of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety) Regulations 2009 (Safety Regulations). We are updating the Safety Regulations to ensure the regime is fit for purpose and continues to be a leading practice regulatory framework.
Information Session
We are holding an information session to discuss the changes to the Safety Regulations on 19 September from 2:30-4:30pm EST.
Exposure draft
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety) Regulations 2024 exposure draft [976KB PDF] [314KB DOCX]