I was honoured to represent OSRL, to attend the Association of Petroleum Industry Co-op Managers (APICOM) HSET meeting in Santa Barbara, California on 12 May 2017. The meeting brought together members from different co-ops from the North American continent, who spent two and half days discussing safety and best practices. It is also a forum to share experiences and knowledge and to look into common areas that can be aligned within the various legal jurisdictions.
The meeting was hosted by the Clean Seas LLC Co-op, which I had also visited in 2015.
Members of the HSET (Health Safety and Environment Team) includes:
• Clean Seas
• Clean Rivers
• Clean Gulf Associates
• Alaska Chadux Corporation
• ECRC
• MSRC
• OSRL
• SEAPRO
Some of the discussions were:
• Hazardous waste regulations
• Individual lifting weights for manual handling
• Keeping safety paramount during an incident
• Site safety app being developed by SEAPRO
• Confined space entry and controls
• Heavy lifting controls
• Knowledge sharing of incidents/lessons learned
• Accident/Incident Investigations
OSRL had the opportunity to highlight the work done by our Vessel Safety Working Group, as well as the formation and work of the different SME groups within OSRL.
Cleans Seas also hosted a site tour, and a deployment exercise showcased one of their 65ft vessels. These vessels have a crew of three and all equipment onboard was designed to be easily deployed and recoverable.
The HSET team aims to meet every quarter with three conference calls and one face to face.
From top left, clockwise: Seals spotting, Deployment of the LORI Skimmer, A nice view of Santa Barbara, Deployment of the Kepner offshore boom.