We know Oil and Gas Legislation, so you don't have to.

Every province has legislation in place saying that you need to have appropriate safe operating procedures in place. It's becoming more and more common for inspections to be made checking to see if your site is compliant with that legislation. Take a load off your mind, and make sure you pass inspection by giving us a call.

If you want to learn more about the oil and gas legislation, here's some from British Columbia and Alberta concerning safety programs:

In Alberta

Excerpt from ABSA Safety Codes Act Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation

Page 25

Responsibility of owners

37. The owner of pressure equipment must ensure that

    ...

    6. there are adequate and suitable instructions for the safe operation of the pressure equipment, and

    ...

Excerpts from ABSA – Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation User Guide

Page 5

Preventing Pressure Equipment Failure

To prevent pressure equipment failures, root causes of failure must be addressed:

...

• having up-to-date operating procedures for normal and emergency operating conditions and having them readily available to the operators;

...

Page 89

Owner's Duties:

An owner of pressure equipment must ensure that the pressure equipment is designed, constructed, installed, operated, maintained and decommissioned in a manner to prevent unintentional release of stored energy, to prevent injury to people and to prevent damage to equipment. These responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following sections of the Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation:

...

37. ensure that: the pressure equipment meets the requirements of the Regulation and is maintained in good working order; an integrity management system is in place; safe operating limits and operating procedures are established; and operators are competent.

...

Responsibility of Owners
Page 71

Operating Instructions. "Adequate and suitable instructions" are the information (such as documentation, specifications, procedures, etc.) needed to assist a competent person in operating the pressure equipment safely. These may be manuals and operating procedures developed by the manufacturer or owner, and other technical resources that provide sufficient information. The detail depends on the type and complexity of the pressure equipment.

Excerpts from Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Code 2009

Possible Exposure to Oil, Condensate, Natural Gas, Sour Natural Gas, Acid Gas, Produced Water

"Harmful substance" means a substance that, because of its properties, application or presence, creates or could create a danger, including a chemical or biological hazard, to the health and safety of a worker exposed to it.

Part 4 – Chemical Hazards, Biological Hazards and Harmful Substances
Section 21 – Potential Worker Exposure
Page 4-4

21(2) The employer must ensure that a worker who may be exposed to a harmful substance at a work site

...

2. is trained in procedures developed by the employer to minimize the worker's exposure to harmful substances, and understands the procedures.

Isolation of any Energy Source

"Hazardous energy" in Part 15 means electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, nuclear, thermal, gravitational, or any other form of energy that could cause injury due to the unintended motion, energizing, start?up or release of such stored or residual energy in machinery, equipment, piping, pipelines or process systems.

Part 15 – Managing the Control of Hazardous Energy
Section 212(2) – Isolation
(Page 15-1)

212(2)An employer must develop and implement procedures and controls that ensure the machinery, equipment or powered mobile equipment is serviced, repaired, tested, adjusted or inspected safely if

1. the manufacturer's specifications require the machinery, equipment or powered mobile equipment to remain operative while it is being serviced, repaired, tested, adjusted, or inspected, or
2. there are no manufacturer's specifications and it is not reasonably practicable to stop or render the machinery, equipment or powered mobile equipment inoperative.

Possible Exposure to NORMs or TENORMs in the Oil and Gas Industry

Part 20 – Radiation Exposure
Section 291 – Prevention and protection
(Page 20-1)

291 If workers may be exposed to ionizing radiation at a work site, an employer must

1. develop and implement safe work practices and procedures to be used when the workers deal with or approach the radiation source,

In British Columbia

Excerpt from BC OHS Regulations

Part 6 - Substance Specific Requirements

Toxic Process Gases

6.120 Procedures

1. The employer must ensure that written work procedures providing instructions for the safe handling of the toxic process gas are prepared for all hazardous tasks in accordance with the risk assessment results, critical technical information and operations manuals.
2. The employer must ensure that emergency procedures designed for the safe evacuation and rescue of all workers are established and tested on a regular basis.
3. The procedures required by subsections (1) and (2) must be readily available to the workers at the workplace.

6.121 Education and training

The employer must ensure that

1. workers are capable of operating the equipment and machinery in a safe manner by providing effective education and training, and
2. records of education and training are maintained.

Part 23 - Oil and Gas

23.5 Safe work procedures

1. The employer must identify the work activities or circumstances, including releases of gases, that have caused or may cause significant risk of injury or occupational disease to workers.
2. The employer must analyze the risks arising out of the work activities or circumstances identified under subsection (1) and implement safe work procedures if the activities or circumstances create a hazard.
3. The procedures implemented under subsection (2) must state the number of workers involved, the steps to be followed and the safety equipment required.

23.9 Flare pits and flare lines

1. Written safe work procedures must be implemented to ensure the safety of workers lighting or operating a flare tip, flare stack or flare line.
2. Workers must be instructed in the application of the written work procedures required by subsection (1).

From a Different Province?

You can find the Oil and Gas Legislation for your province at your provincial government's website. Found the info for a province we don't have listed? Send us the link, and we'll add it to this page!