Reporting to SafeOCS
SafeOCS is a confidential reporting program that collects and analyzes data to advance safety in oil and gas operations on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The objective of SafeOCS is to capture and share essential information across the industry about accident precursors and potential hazards associated with offshore operations. The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) established the program with input from industry, and then entered into an agreement with the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to develop, implement, and operate the program. More information about BTS can be viewed here.
SafeOCS consists of three components:
- • Well Control Rule (WCR) equipment failure reporting, comprises critical safety equipment failure reports in drilling and non-drilling operations.
- • Safety and Pollution Prevention Equipment (SPPE) failure reporting, comprises critical safety equipment failure reports in production operations.
- • Industry safety data (ISD) reporting, comprises near-miss event reports and other industry safety data.
BSEE regulations mandate WCR and SPPE equipment failure reporting. ISD reporting is voluntary. For information and FAQs on these individual program components, please click the links above.
& BTS collaborate
to improve offshore
drilling safety
equipment failures
to BTS
quality evaluation
and detailed statistical
analysis
reports
on offshore safety patterns,
trends, and contributing
factors
Learn More about When to Report Equipment Failure
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Well Control Rule (WCR)
Equipment Component Failure -
Safety and Pollution Prevention
Equipment (SPPE) Failure
Well control equipment component failure reporting relates to failures of a Blowout Preventer (BOP) and other well control equipment.
Well control equipment includes a Blowout Preventer (BOP) and other well maintenance equipment. A failure is any condition that prevents the equipment from meeting the functional specification. Written notification of equipment failure must be provided within 30 days after the discovery and identification of the failure. An investigation and failure analysis must also be performed within 120 days of the failure to determine the cause. This reporting is required by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) under 30 CFR 250.730. To see further descriptions of what is considered a failure of equipment and what information is required for reporting, please see the Federal Regulation. BSEE has directed all equipment failure reports to be made to SafeOCS; these reports are protected under the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA).
View Final Rule in 30 CFR 250.730 of Code of Federal Regulations.
Safety and pollution prevention equipment (SPPE) failure reporting relates to failures of valves and their associated actuators, safety valve locks, or landing nipples.
SPPE include surface safety valves (SSVs), boarding shutdown valves (BSDVs), underwater safety valves (USVs), subsurface safety valves (SSSVs) and their associated actuators, safety valve locks, or landing nipples. A failure is any condition that prevents the equipment from meeting the functional specification. The Oil and Gas and Sulfur Operations on the OCS, Oil and Gas Production Safety Systems rule (known as the Production Safety Systems Rule) established on September 7, 2016, increased the reporting of SPPE failure data to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) per section 30 CFR 250.803. According to this rule, SPPE failures are to be reported within 30 days after the discovery and identification of a failure, to BSEE and the OEM. BSEE has directed all equipment failure reports to be made to SafeOCS, which is managed by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS); these reports are protected under the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA). Reports provided to BSEE are subsequently provided to BTS, but are not protected under CIPSEA.
View Final Rule in 30 CFR 250.803 of Code of Federal Regulations.
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(1-844-627-3778) SafeOCSBureau of Transportation Statistics P.O. Box 23295 Washington, DC 20026-3295 |
BTS releases the 2017 Annual Report: Blowout Prevention System Safety
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has released the 2017 Annual Report: Blowout Prevention System Safety, which provides information on equipment component failures occurring during drilling and non-drilling operations on rigs in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The reporting of such events is mandated by the Well Control Rule (WCR), published by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), Department of the Interior. The publication of this report represents a groundbreaking collaboration between industry and government stakeholders and is a significant milestone in promoting safety on the OCS. The report includes an analysis of equipment component failures and other key information such as root causes of failure events, follow-up response to failures, and opportunities to improve data quality. In 2017, the first full year of mandated WCR reporting, 18 of 25 operators in the Gulf of Mexico reported 1,129 rig equipment component failure events, and the notifications involved 45 of 59 rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico. The 18 reporting operators represent 90.2 percent of new wells drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. The report begins by analyzing aggregate equipment component failure data and then, in separate sections, presents statistics on the reported events for the two major types of BOP stacks (subsea and surface). Both types of BOP stacks were associated with component failures and most notifications were associated with the more complex subsea BOP stack (92.5 percent).
Key findings:- The top four reporting operators represented 81.8 percent of reported component events and 32.7 percent of new wells spud in the Gulf of Mexico for 2017.
- There was a decrease in overall reporting from 2016 to 2017. The event reporting rate adjusted for rig activity (defined as events per 1,000 BOP days) decreased from 122.3 in 2016 to 59.8 in 2017.
- There was an increase in reporting equipment component failures while not in operation for rigs with subsea BOP stacks. The percent of subsea, not-in-operation notifications for 2017 was 86.4 as compared to 79.8 percent for 2016.
- There was a decrease in the rate of unplanned stack pulls for rigs with subsea BOP stacks. In 2016 the rate was 7.2 percent and in 2017 it was 5.6 percent.
- Based on follow-up documents submitted to SafeOCS, only 12 of the 18 components involved in unplanned stack pulls were sent to shore for further analysis by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or a third party, despite the expectation of a root cause failure analysis (RCFA) for every stack pull.
- Of 1,044 subsea events in 2017, one reported loss of containment of synthetic oil based mud (drilling fluid) during in-operation rig activity. No surface stack events resulted in loss of containment.
- Leaks remained the most frequently reported observed failure and wear and tear remained the most frequently reported root cause of failure events in 2017 as they were in 2016.