Performance-Based Fire Safety Engineering Design in the Offshore Industry

Abstract

A substantial revision to the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) is due to enter into force on July 01, 2002. This text, along with a supporting IMO Circular, sets forth a procedure for accepting fire safety engineering aspects of vessel designs, which deviate from the strict prescriptive regulations of the Convention. It is anticipated that this alternative performancebased approach will ultimately have significant practical and economic influence on fire safety engineering design in the offshore industry.Evidence for the assertion that performance-based approaches will be adopted in the fire safety engineering design of offshore facilities are provided through examples of their increased use within land-based construction regulations, classification society rules and the general maritime industry. In addition, comparisons are made with the development of regulations within the United Kingdom sector of the offshore market. Fire safety engineering tools, which are available for use in the performance-based design process, are introduced, followed by a section on the perceived influences, including the proactive potential, of alternative design approaches on the offshore industry.