Health & Safety Report 2016

4.1.3 Hydrocarbon Releases The HSE set up the HCR reporting scheme in 1992 in response to Lord Cullen’s recommendation following the Piper Alpha disaster. Data are supplied to the HSE by duty holders of offshore installations and relate to incidents that are reportable under RIDDOR. HCRs are classified as major, significant or minor 10 based on their potential to cause a major accident if ignited. Since a peak in 2004, there has been an overall sharp decline in the total number of HCRs by almost 70 per cent from 273 to 87. 2015 saw a nine per cent increase in total HCRs on the previous year, the majority of which were minor releases. Major releases remained unchanged at three. The fact that HCRs remain largely minor reflects the many control measures employed to respond to and limit the effect of releases. It should be noted that in the second half of 2015, the EU Implementing Regulation introduced new reporting criteria and this may have contributed to the increased number of minor releases, which were not deemed reportable under previous legislation. Oil & Gas UK will analyse the HCRs further to determine any common or recurrent issues where improvement efforts may be focused.

1

2

3

4

5

Figure 11: Number of Hydrocarbon Releases Occurring Offshore

300

6

Total HCRs Major and Significant HCRs

250

7

200

150

8

100

Number of Hydrocarbon Releases

9

50

0

10

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Source: The Health and Safety Executive

10 The definitions of HCR severities can be found on the HSE website at https://www.hse.gov.uk/hcr3/help/help_public.asp#Severity

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