Environment Report 2014

4.1.3 Reporting Releases The UK offshore oil and gas industry reports hydrocarbon releases (HCRs), including oil, gas and condensate releases, to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HCR database, accessible on the HSE website 15 , includes incidents that are reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR), as well as supplementary detail voluntarily provided by operators. HCR releases are confirmed unintentional releases that are reportable if they: • Result in a fire or explosion • Initiate automatic executive action • Require the taking of other actions to prevent or limit the potential for death or a specified injury to any person Whether releases are deemed reportable or not depends on factors such as the release rate and volume of the release. These releases may be made to the atmosphere, to the marine environment, or the installation and are then contained. Releases are reported under three severity classifications: major, significant and minor. All accidental chemical and oil releases to the marine environment are also reportable to DECC through the submission of a Petroleum Operations Notice 1 (PON 1). This PON1 data differs from the HCR data because it includes all releases, regardless of their size, that reach the sea. PON1 data are published on DECC’s website 16 and updated regularly. The trend data below presents an overview of the number and volume of releases to the marine environment over the past decade using the PON1 dataset, supplemented by data from EEMS 17 . Further detailed analysis of the data from 2011 to 2013 explores the distribution of release size, sources and chemical hazard levels. The HCR and PON1 data have been treated separately in Oil & Gas UK’s Health & Safety Report 2014 and Environment Report 2014 , respectively, because of the difference in data coverage. Many of the initiatives to manage releases by industry are likely to affect the number of both HCR and PON1 releases. 4.2 Trend Data Although the number of releases can appear significant, it is important to note that the UK offshore oil and gas industry is committed to transparency in reporting and all releases to the marine environment, no matter how small, are reportable as a PON1. Given that the releases are unplanned, they cannot always be measured, therefore, estimation is used to determine a release volume. Commonly, the approach taken is to report the worst case estimate meaning that the volume actually released is often lower than the volume reported. Once reported, PON1s undergo a period of investigation by DECC and the operator, classified as ‘under review’. After the investigation has been completed, the details of the accidental release, including volumes, are made available. The figures below include the total number of PON1s, both complete and under review. Full details, including volumes, were not available for releases classified as ‘under review’ in April 2014 (157, or one tenth of the releases from 2011 to 2013) and, therefore, those volumes have not been included in the analysis.

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15 The HCR database is available to view at www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/hydrocarbon.htm 16 The PON1 data are available to view at www.og.decc.gov.uk/eng/fox/pon1/PON1_PUBLICATION_EXTERNAL/viewCurrent 17 Both the PON1 and EEMS datasets were analysed as at April 2014

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