This Part applies to every petroleum operation under the control of an employer at which employees carry out duties relating to petroleum operations.

(1) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that a person is appointed to—

• (a) manage the petroleum operation; and

• (b) supervise the health and safety aspects of the petroleum operation personally on every day on which any employee is at work.

(2) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that every manager appointed under this regulation—

• (a) possesses the knowledge and skills necessary to supervise the petroleum operation; and

• (b) has practical experience relevant to the petroleum operation; and

• (c) if the petroleum operation relates to a well-drilling operation, has practical experience in well-drilling and a sound knowledge of well-control methods; and

• (d) if the petroleum operation involves an installation, has experience on, or in direct association with, the installation to be supervised.

(3) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that all employees are informed of the name of the manager.

(4) Employees must comply with all reasonable instructions given by the manager in order to ensure compliance with the Act and any applicable regulations made under the Act.

An employer must take all practicable steps to—

• (a) prevent the uncontrolled release of hazardous liquids, vapours, or gases; and

• (b) prevent the uncontrolled accumulation of hazardous vapours or gases; and

• (c) detect hazardous accumulation of vapours or gases; and

• (d) protect petroleum workers working in areas where hazardous liquids, vapours, or gases may exist, particularly in confined spaces.

(1) A principal, and any other person, who controls a place of work must take all practicable steps to develop procedures for dealing with emergencies that may arise while employees are at work.

(2) The procedures include—

• (a) identifying the person or persons responsible for instructing petroleum workers in the emergency procedures; and

• (b) ensuring that a copy of the emergency procedures is sent to the Secretary before commencement of the petroleum operation; and

• (c) reviewing the emergency procedures from time to time to ensure that they remain adequate; and

• (d) ensuring that any revision of emergency procedures is sent to the Secretary as soon as practicable after the revision is made.

(3) The principal or other person must ensure that a copy of the procedures is sent to the Secretary as soon as practicable after they have been developed.

An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure the safe disposal of any waste petroleum, vapours, or gases, including the safe location of flarepits.

An employer must take all practicable steps to prevent sources of ignition being carried into or used in areas where such sources of ignition may create a hazard.

An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that, at least 24 hours prior to the initial discharge of any petroleum vapours or gases that may require flaring, the Secretary is notified in writing of the intention to discharge those petroleum vapours or gases.

(1) Subject to subclause (2), an employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that the petroleum operation is designed, constructed, operated, and maintained, and suspended or abandoned (as the case may be), in accordance with the appropriate part or parts of—

• (a) the Institute of Petroleum Model Code of Safe Practice in the Petroleum Industry, in particular,—

  • (i) Part 1, Electrical Safety Code 1991; and

  • (ii) Part 4, Drilling and Production Safety Code for Onshore Operations 1986; and

  • (iii) Part 8, Drilling and Production Safety Code for Offshore Operations 1990; and

  • (iv) Part 15, Area Classification Code for Petroleum Installations 1990; or

• (b) the International Maritime Organisation Code for the Construction and Equipment of Mobile Offshore Drilling Units 1989; or

• (c) the International Maritime Organisation International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974.

(2) If the documents referred to in subclause (1) are not applicable to any part of the petroleum operation, the employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that that part of the petroleum operation is designed, constructed, operated, and maintained, and suspended or abandoned (as the case may be), in accordance with generally accepted and appropriate industry practice.

This Part applies to all well-drilling operations under the control of an employer at which employees carry out duties relating to well-drilling operations.

(1) For the purposes of this regulation, a notifiable operation is work of 1 or more of the following descriptions:

• (a) any well-drilling operation:

• (b) the suspension of any well-drilling operation:

• (c) the abandonment of any well:

• (d) the use of explosives.

(2) No employer may commence any notifiable operation unless the Secretary has first been notified in writing of—

• (a) the nature of that notifiable operation; and

• (b) the time when the employer intends to commence that notifiable operation.

(3) The notification must contain the particulars set out in Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 (as appropriate) of Schedule 1.

(4) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that the Secretary is notified at least 20 days before the day on which the employer intends to commence the notifiable operation.

(5) If any material alteration occurs in respect of the particulars supplied under subclause (3), an employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that the Secretary is notified in writing of the alteration as soon as practicable after the date of the alteration.

(6) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that any notifiable operation is carried out in a manner that is consistent with the notification.

An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that before the commencement of any well-drilling operation, and at least once a day after the commencement of such operation, a competent person inspects the well-drilling operation to ensure that it is operating safely.

(1) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that—

• (a) daily records are kept of the well-drilling operation; and

• (b) a summary report of well-drilling activities is made when the well is completed.

(2) The daily records must contain the particulars set out in Schedule 2.

(3) The summary report must contain the particulars set out in Schedule 3.

(4) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that a copy of the daily records, and a copy of the summary report, are supplied as soon as practicable to the Secretary.

An employer must take all practicable steps to—

• (a) ensure the primary pressure containment system is not made inoperative without alternative methods of controlling the well pressure being available:

• (b) supervise the well-drilling operation when the primary pressure containment system is inoperative:

• (c) ensure that each well-drilling operation can be clearly identified:

• (d) ensure access is maintained to a well-drilling operation or a well at all times, so that the operation or well may be properly maintained or abandoned:

• (e) prevent unauthorised access to any hazardous part of a well-drilling operation, including any well-heads or drilling ponds:

• (f) provide adequate blow-out prevention equipment to enable the well to be shut in:

• (g) ensure blow-out prevention equipment is tested to ensure that it is adequate for the purpose for which it is installed, and that it is tested and maintained to ensure the equipment remains operational at all times:

• (h) ensure blow-out prevention equipment is not removed without appropriate action being undertaken to ensure the safety of the well-drilling operations.

An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that wells are cased—

• (a) with casing materials conforming to generally accepted and appropriate industry practice; and

• (b) in a manner designed to provide a firm anchorage for blow-out prevention equipment and pressure control equipment; and

• (c) with setting depths based on known or reasonably anticipated geological and engineering factors, such as—

  • (i) the presence or absence of petroleum; and

  • (ii) formation pressures and fracture gradients; and

  • (iii) lost circulation intervals; and

  • (iv) the degree of compaction or consolidation of formations; and

• (d) with sufficient casing to prevent the uncontrolled release of fluid to or from formations.

An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that the Secretary is immediately notified in writing of—

• (a) any failure of any part of the primary pressure containment system of the well; and

• (b) the steps that the employer proposes to take in order to remedy such failure.

(1) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that, in any abandonment of a well,—

• (a) in the uncased portions of the well, cement plugs are placed to extend 30 m below the bottom to 30 m above the top of any oil, gas, and abnormally high pressure zones, so as to isolate them in the strata in which they are found and to prevent them from escaping into other strata:

• (b) in a cased hole where there is an open hole immediately below any casing, a cement plug is placed in the deepest cemented casing string from at least 30 m below the casing shoe to at least 30 m above the casing shoe:

• (c) in a cased hole where the casing has been perforated or ruptured, a cement plug is placed opposite the perforation or rupture and extends from at least 30 m above to 30 m below the perforated or ruptured interval:

• (d) in a cased hole containing a liner or liners, a cement plug is placed to cover every liner hanger and extends from at least 30 m above to 30 m below the hanger:

• (e) no casing is recovered if its recovery will expose any abnormal pressure, lost circulation, oil, or gas or water zone:

• (f) when recovery of casing exposes an open hole,—

  • (i) a cement plug is placed to extend from at least 30 m above to 30 m below the shoe of the next larger size casing above the casing cut; or

  • (ii) if no casing shoe exists above the casing cut, a cement plug is placed to extend from at least 30 m above to 30 m below the stub of the casing cut:

• (g) a surface cement plug of at least 50 m in length is placed from the surface onshore or from below the base of the mud-ooze zone offshore:

• (h) no annular space that extends to the surface onshore or to the seabed offshore is left open to any drilled hole below; but, if such an annular space exists, the annulus is plugged with cement to fill at least 30 m of the annular space:

• (i) the location and integrity of each cement plug is satisfactorily tested before proceeding to the next abandonment stage:

• (j) any intervals in the well not plugged with cement are filled with fluid of appropriate density suitably inhibited to prevent the corrosion of any casing.

(2) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that—

• (a) every well that is not completed or suspended is abandoned before the attendant drilling rig is released; and

• (b) if an offshore well is to be abandoned, all seabed equipment is removed and all unrecovered casing is cut not less than 2 m beneath the seabed and removed so the well is left in a safe condition; and

• (c) the area of the abandoned well at the surface or the seabed is cleared of all equipment and debris and left in a safe condition.

This Part applies to all installations under the control of an employer at which employees carry out duties.

(1) Subject to regulation 23, an employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that a safety case containing the relevant particulars set out in Schedule 4 is prepared for—

• (a) the design and construction of an installation; and

• (b) the operation of an installation; and

• (c) the abandonment of an installation.

(2) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that a copy of the safety case is sent to the Secretary at least 2 months before the commencement of the construction, operation, or abandonment, of any installation.

(3) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that a copy of any revision of the safety case is sent to the Secretary as soon as practicable after the revision is made.

(4) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that the installation is constructed, operated, and abandoned, in a manner which is consistent with the safety case.

(5) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure all petroleum workers are informed of the relevant parts of the safety case, and of any actions they may have to take to comply with the requirements of the safety case.

An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that every installation in existence at the date of commencement of these regulations complies with regulation 22 within 18 months after that date.

(1) The Secretary may recognise a person or organisation as an inspection body, if satisfied that—

• (a) the person or organisation operates an effective and relevant quality assurance programme; and

• (b) the person or organisation has appropriate experience and background relevant to the certification work; and

• (c) the person or organisation is currently accredited, to a recognised industry standard, by International Accreditation New Zealand on behalf of the Testing Laboratory Registration Council or by the National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia; and

• (d) the person or organisation is likely to carry out its inspection work in an objective fashion that promotes safety and the public interest; and

• (e) there is no reasonably foreseeable conflict of interest between the person or organisation's verification work, inspection work, and any other work the person or organisation does or is likely to do.

(2) Recognition of any person or organisation as an inspection body is subject to the following conditions:

• (a) that any certificate of fitness issued by the inspection body is in the form specified in Schedule 5:

• (b) that any certificate of fitness issued by the inspection body contains the date on which the certificate expires, which is to be no longer than 5 years from the date of issue of the certificate:

• (c) any other conditions from time to time prescribed by the Secretary in the Gazette on the grounds that it is in the interests of safety to do so.

(3) The Secretary may withdraw recognition of an inspection body if the Secretary is satisfied that—

• (a) it is appropriate to do so; or

• (b) the inspection body no longer complies with any provision of subclause (1) or is not complying with any condition imposed by or under subclause (2).

(4) Before withdrawing recognition of an inspection body, the Secretary must put his or her concerns to the inspection body and consider the inspection body's response.

(5) If the Secretary has recognised any person or organisation under this regulation, or withdrawn recognition from any person or organisation, the Secretary must publish a notice to that effect in the Gazette.

An inspection body must—

• (a) carry out such inspections or examinations of installations, and equipment fixed to or associated with installations, as may be necessary to determine the safety of such installations and equipment; and

• (b) issue certificates of fitness in respect of the safety of the structure of installations, equipment fixed to the structure, and other equipment necessary for the safe operation of the installation; and

• (c) impose limitations or conditions under regulation 28(6), if the installation or equipment no longer complies with the relevant certificate of fitness.

(1) The Secretary may allow an employer to operate a verification scheme for a particular installation, if satisfied that—

• (a) the employer has provided the Secretary with a suitable verification scheme for the installation containing the particulars set out in Schedule 6; and

• (b) the verifier is sufficiently independent and objective to ensure that safety is not compromised; and

• (c) the employer has satisfied the Secretary in writing of the date by which the verification scheme will be satisfactorily implemented.

(2) If the Secretary approves an employer's verification scheme, that employer does not have to comply with the certification requirements imposed under regulation 24.

(3) The Secretary may withdraw recognition of the verification scheme if it is appropriate to do so or if the employer's verification scheme does not comply with regulation 27.

(4) Before withdrawing recognition of a verification scheme, the Secretary must put his or her concerns in writing to the employer and consider the employer's response.

An employer who operates a verification scheme must take all practicable steps to—

• (a) appoint a competent person or persons to carry out the verification work identified in the verification scheme, who is or are sufficiently independent of the verification work to ensure that the verification work is carried out in an objective fashion; and

• (b) implement, maintain, review, and revise the verification scheme, so that the management of safety critical elements can be audited; and

• (c) maintain records that show the particulars described in clause 5 of Schedule 6 for the duration of the operation and for a minimum period of 6 months after the date on which it has been decommissioned; and

• (d) if a revision of a safety case is provided to the Secretary under regulation 22(3), provide a copy of the revised verification scheme to the Secretary as soon as practicable after the revision is made.

(1) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that the installation is not operated unless there is a current certificate of fitness in respect of the safety of—

• (a) the structure of the installation; and

• (b) all equipment necessary for the safe operation of the installation.

(2) The matters referred to in subclause (1)(a) and (b) may be covered by one certificate, if appropriate.

(3) Subclause (1) does not apply to an employer operating a verification scheme.

(4) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that a copy of any certificate of fitness is sent to the Secretary at least 1 month before the commencement of operation of the installation.

(5) The installation or equipment no longer complies with the relevant certificate of fitness if it—

• (a) sustains damage; or

• (b) shows signs of deterioration that could affect the integrity of the installation or equipment; or

• (c) is structurally modified or replaced.

(6) If the installation or equipment no longer complies with the relevant certificate of fitness,—

• (a) the employer must cease to operate that installation or equipment unless the inspection body allows such operation under paragraph (b):

• (b) the inspection body may allow the employer to continue to operate that installation or equipment in accordance with such reasonable limitations and conditions as it notifies to the employer in writing, and—

  • (i) the certificate of fitness is subject to those limitations and conditions; and

  • (ii) the employer may continue to operate the installation or equipment only within those limitations or conditions (if any):

• (c) the inspection body must in each case endorse on the certificate of fitness—

  • (i) the reason or reasons for non-compliance; and

  • (ii) any limitations or conditions imposed under this subclause.

(7) A certificate of fitness or any other certificate having a similar purpose, is deemed to be a certificate of fitness issued under these regulations with an expiry date of 31 October 2000, or such earlier date as may be provided in that certificate, if—

• (a) it was issued under the Petroleum Regulations 1978; and

• (b) it is in force immediately before the commencement of these regulations.

(1) For the purpose of this regulation, audit means the systematic examination of any safety management system with the objective of assessing the effectiveness of that system in minimising the hazards associated with the installation.

(2) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure, in relation to any installation under the control of that employer, that—

• (a) a report is made of any audit of the installation; and

• (b) a record is made of any action taken in consequence of such an audit; and

• (c) a copy of the report and record is kept at the installation.

An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that accommodation on every occupied, fixed installation is provided with—

• (a) external fire protection designed to protect the accommodation; and

• (b) an integrated set of active and passive measures designed to prevent the ingress of smoke and other contaminants into the accommodation and to maintain adequate fresh air within it; and

• (c) ventilation intakes fitted with smoke and gas detectors that are capable of shutting down the ventilation intakes.

An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that a temporary refuge is provided on every occupied, fixed installation that—

• (a) is designed to protect any person in the refuge from serious harm resulting from any release of hazardous material at or near the installation; and

• (b) contains facilities capable of operating and monitoring emergency shut down systems and emergency alarms, and maintaining communication with onshore facilities.

(1) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that on any installation—

• (a) every area that could be occupied has at least 2 separate escape routes that are situated as far apart as practicable and that lead to the muster area in the temporary refuge; and

• (b) every such escape route and abandonment station is readily accessible and unobstructed, and is provided with adequate and reliable emergency lighting and photoluminescent signs to assist in evacuation; and

• (c) provision is made for—

  • (i) a means of escape leading to an upper level in the form of ramps or stairways; and

  • (ii) a means of escape leading to a lower level in the form of ramps, stairways, or chutes; and

• (d) provision is made for embarkation and disembarkation at sea level; and

• (e) provision is made for a variety of means of escape to sea level, which may include knotted ropes, ladders, or scramble nets; and

• (f) every person is provided with the following equipment, which must be securely stored and readily accessible in the event that escape from the installation is necessary:

  • (i) an immersion suit:

  • (ii) a life jacket equipped with a means of locating persons in the water, such as a transmitting device, luminescent strips, or a locator light:

  • (iii) a smoke hood of a simple filter type designed to exclude smoke for at least 10 minutes:

  • (iv) a torch or chemically activated light:

  • (v) fireproof gloves.

(2) An employer must take all practicable steps to ensure that—

• (a) every installation is equipped with suitable and sufficient lifeboats to safely accommodate at least twice the maximum number of people on the installation at any one time; and

• (b) sufficient lifeboats to accommodate at least the number of people on the installation are readily accessible from the temporary refuge; and

• (c) every installation is provided with life-rafts having, in the aggregate, sufficient capacity to accommodate safely on board at least the number of people on the installation, together with suitable ropes to enable people to obtain access to the life-rafts after the life-rafts have been deployed and launched; and

• (d) every installation has a sufficient number of lifebuoys, with lines attached, situated around the installation, that are ready for use in the event of a person falling into the sea.

An employer must take all practicable steps to—

• (a) ensure every person is informed, as soon as practicable after his or her arrival on the installation, of the procedure for evacuation, the significance of emergency signals, and the location of relevant life-saving equipment; and

• (b) ensure all people on board the installation vacate the installation in a safe and orderly manner when instructed to do so; and

• (c) ensure all people on board the installation are trained in the use of life-saving appliances, and evacuation techniques and procedures; and

• (d) ensure effective procedures are in place for the recovery of people from the water; and

• (e) identify the installation for evacuation and rescue purposes; and

• (f) ensure the installation is not hazardous to other maritime users.

(1) The provisions to which this regulation applies are regulations 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14(2), 14(4), 14(5), 15, 16(1), 16(4), 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 28(1), 28(3), 28(4), 29(2), 30, 31, 32, and 33.

(2) Section 50 of the Act (which provides that every person who fails to comply with a provision to which that section is declared to apply commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine) applies to the provisions of these regulations referred to in subclause (1).