Oil and Gas Industry RegulationFrom Detailed Technical Inspection to Assessment of Safety Management

Reprint of: Economic recession and a crisis of regulation in safety–critical industries

“…Further problems arise when regulators lack the necessary technical competence to provide clear guidance to companies seeking their support. This has been a side-effect of an increasing focus on the regulation of management systems rather than technical inspections (Hale et al, 2002b).…”

Other reliability and safety areas Graphical technique for practical dependability management

“…The approach to inspections is important as it determines how regulatory compliance is handled. French regulations concerning inspections take a "safety case" approach (Hale et al 2002), which means that risk prevention is the responsibility of the operator of an industrial plant: they have to prove that they have identified and assessed the risks, and adopted appropriate prevention measures. In brief, they have to prove that the plant is safe for people and the environment.…”

Safety regulation: The lessons of workplace safety rule management for managing the regulatory burden

“…If a regulator changes the regulation from one that specifies concrete actions to one that prescribes outcomes or risk---management process systems, the regulator must also change its inspection strategy from inspecting on the basis of detailed external regulations to assessing safety-management systems and the detailed rules developed within such systems (Hale et al 2002). The latter may be a more difficult task for the regulator, as it cannot simply observe whether the externally prescribed procedures are being followed but must become deeply familiar with each company's unique safety protocols.…”