Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area Petroleum Operations Framework Regulations (SOR/2024-25)

Marginal note:Reliability and availability

• The following provision is not in force.

  108 (1) An operator must demonstrate, through a risk and reliability analysis conducted using internationally recognized techniques, the reliability and availability of any system in an installation whose failure could cause or contribute to a major accidental event or whose purpose is to prevent or mitigate the effects of a major accidental event.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Redundancies and measures

  (2) The risk and reliability analysis must determine the redundancies and measures that are required to protect a system referred to in subsection (1) from failure, including any redundancies and measures required under this Part for that system.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Results of analysis

  (3) The operator must ensure that the results of the risk and reliability analysis are reflected in the design of the installation, its systems and equipment and in any associated operating and maintenance manuals, including the operations manual referred to in section 157.

Marginal note:Monitoring program for physical and environmental conditions

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  109 (1) An operator must develop a monitoring program that involves the collection of data on physical and environmental conditions in sufficient quantities and at sufficient frequencies, and the retention of that data for sufficient periods, to

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    (a) support, during all works and activities, the identification of hazards and the assessment of the safety and environmental risks related to those hazards; and

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    (b) allow for the timely implementation of control measures to address the identified risks and, if necessary, of the contingency plan referred to in section 11.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Equipment

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the operator must ensure that the installation is equipped to observe, measure and forecast physical and environmental conditions, to record data on those conditions and to obtain from external sources any additional data on those conditions.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Program implementation and update

  (3) The operator must ensure that the monitoring program is implemented and periodically updated.

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  Marginal note:Availability of data

  (4) The operator must ensure that the data referred to in subsection (1) that may have an impact on safety and the protection of the environment is documented and provided to all persons that request it.

Marginal note:Inspection, monitoring, testing and maintenance

110 An operator must, for the purpose of facilitating the inspection, monitoring, testing and maintenance of an installation, ensure that

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  (a) relevant areas are clearly marked and identified;

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  (b) there is safe access to those areas;

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  (c) in the case of an installation that is not intended to be periodically drydocked, there are means for carrying out an on-location inspection of the hull and underwater components;

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  (d) there is safe access to subsea equipment; and

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  (e) the installation is otherwise designed and equipped to permit those activities to be carried out.

Marginal note:Materials for installations

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  111 (1) An operator must ensure that the materials used in an installation are

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    (a) fit for the purposes for which they are to be used and suitable for the conditions to which they may be subjected, including any foreseeable emergency situation;

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    (b) non-combustible, unless essential properties are available only in materials that are combustible or the use of combustible material will not increase the risk to safety; and

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    (c) selected to ensure that, in the case of fire or explosion, their use will not increase the risk to safety in the area of the fire or explosion or in adjacent areas, including by exposing persons to toxic fumes or smoke.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Definition of non-combustible

  (2) In this section, non-combustible means, in respect of material, material that does not burn or give off flammable gases or vapours in sufficient quantity for self-ignition when heated to 750°C.

Marginal note:Passive fire and blast protection

• The following provision is not in force.

  112 (1) An operator must ensure that an installation is designed and constructed with passive fire and blast protection.

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  Marginal note:Design of passive fire protection

  (2) The design of the passive fire protection must

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    (a) not take into account the cooling effect from active firefighting equipment; and

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    (b) take into account the need to inspect and maintain the passive fire protection components and the structures, divisions and equipment they are intended to protect.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Divisions

  (3) The operator must ensure that the installation is divided such that spacing and barriers protect against accidental events and loads identified in the risk assessment conducted under subsection 107(1) or mitigate their effects.

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  Marginal note:Barriers — safety plan and environmental protection plan

  (4) The operator must ensure that barriers are designed, arranged, installed and maintained in accordance with the measures referred to in clauses 9(2)(b)(v)(C) and 10(2)(b)(v)(C) that are described in the operator’s safety plan and environmental protection plan, respectively.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Barriers — requirements

  (5) Barriers must be designed, arranged, installed and maintained to

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    (a) contain fire, smoke, explosions and hazardous gas and prevent their effects from spreading into adjacent areas;

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    (b) protect persons from fire, smoke and explosions for the time necessary to enable them to escape to a temporary safe refuge;

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    (c) maintain for the necessary time, as determined on the basis of the safety studies referred to in section 116, the integrity of temporary safe refuges and of associated facilities that allow for communication, command, monitoring, control and evacuation against the effects of fire or explosion;

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    (d) protect safety-critical elements and equipment that are to remain operational in the event of an emergency from failure or malfunction caused by the effects of fire or explosion; and

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    (e) maintain the installation’s structural integrity against the effects of fire or explosion for the time necessary to safely evacuate all persons.

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  Marginal note:Barriers — level of protection

  (6) The level of fire and blast protection that each barrier must provide is to be based on the results of the risk assessment conducted under subsection 107(1).

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  Marginal note:Barriers — penetrations and openings

  (7) A barrier must not have any penetrations or openings unless

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    (a) the penetration or opening is necessary for the functionality of the installation;

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    (b) the barrier is equipped to maintain its overall fire and blast integrity despite the penetration or opening; and

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    (c) if there is a means of closing the penetration or opening, that means can be activated automatically or from outside the space being protected.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Barrier components

  (8) The operator must ensure that barrier components are certified by a competent third party.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Bulkheads — production installation

  (9) Unless the other combined features of a production installation can be demonstrated to provide at least the same level of protection, the operator must ensure that the following bulkheads are capable of preventing the passage of smoke and flame and of limiting the temperature rise on the unexposed face of the bulkhead to an average increase of 139°C and a maximum increase of 180°C above the initial temperature following 120 minutes of exposure to a hydrocarbon fire:

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    (a) those external bulkheads of the temporary safe refuges, main control centre, control stations, accommodations areas, embarkation stations and evacuation points, other than aircraft landing areas, that face production areas or wellheads; and

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    (b) the bulkheads that segregate the wellhead and processing areas from other areas of the installation.

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  Marginal note:Classification society rules

  (10) The operator must ensure that the passive fire and blast protection for an installation that does not hold a valid certificate of class issued by a classification society is at least equivalent to the protection required under the rules of a classification society for a mobile offshore drilling unit.

Marginal note:Hazardous and non-hazardous areas

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  113 (1) An operator must ensure that the boundaries between all hazardous areas and non-hazardous areas on an installation are delineated.

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  Marginal note:Classification of hazardous areas

  (2) The operator must ensure that, following the conduct of the risk assessment under subsection 107(1), each hazardous area is classified according to an internationally recognized, comprehensive and documented classification system.

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  Marginal note:Separation of areas

  (3) The operator must ensure that hazardous areas of different classifications are separated from one another and from non-hazardous areas.

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  Marginal note:Direct access and openings

  (4) The operator must ensure, if practicable, that there is no direct access or other opening between hazardous areas and non-hazardous areas and between hazardous areas of different classifications or, if that is not practicable, that any direct access or opening between those areas is minimized and is designed to prevent uncontrolled air flow between them.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Piping systems

  (5) The operator must ensure that piping systems are designed to ensure that there is no direct conduit between hazardous and non-hazardous areas and between hazardous areas of different classifications.

Marginal note:Ventilation of enclosed hazardous areas

• The following provision is not in force.

  114 (1) An operator must ensure that any enclosed hazardous area on an installation is ventilated such that

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    (a) air is replaced at a rate sufficient to prevent hazardous gas accumulations in the enclosed hazardous area;

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    (b) all air entering the enclosed hazardous area is from a non-hazardous area;

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    (c) the air exhausted from the enclosed hazardous area does not increase the hazard level in another enclosed hazardous area or create a hazard in an enclosed non-hazardous area; and

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    (d) the ventilation system for the enclosed hazardous area is separate from the ventilation system for any non-hazardous area.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Mechanical ventilation system

  (2) If a mechanical ventilation system is used for the purposes of subsection (1), the operator must ensure that the air in the enclosed hazardous area is maintained at a pressure that is lower than the pressure of any adjacent non-hazardous area or any adjacent hazardous area that is classified as less hazardous.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Air exhaustion from enclosed hazardous area

  (3) The operator must ensure that all air exhausted from an enclosed hazardous area is vented to an outdoor area that, were it not for the vented air, would be a non-hazardous area or a hazardous area that would be classified as no more hazardous than the enclosed hazardous area.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Ventilation pressure differential and functionality

  (4) The operator must ensure that measuring devices are installed that will monitor any loss of ventilation pressure differential and any loss of functionality of each ventilation system for a hazardous area and that will, no more than 30 seconds after such a loss occurs, activate audible and visual alarms at the control points from which the system is monitored.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Positive overpressure relative to atmospheric pressure

  (5) The operator must, in respect of the main control centre and all accommodations areas on an installation, ensure that

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    (a) they are maintained at a positive overpressure relative to atmospheric pressure;

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    (b) all of their external doors that provide a primary means of access to them are equipped with airlocks; and

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    (c) all of their other external doors are equipped with airlocks or other means of maintaining and monitoring positive overpressure relative to atmospheric pressure.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Power shut-off for mechanical ventilation system

  (6) The operator must ensure that the power source for a mechanical ventilation system that serves a hazardous area, a work area in a non-hazardous area or an accommodations area is capable of being shut off from the control station and from a position that is outside the area being ventilated and that will remain accessible during any fire that may occur within that area.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Inlets and outlets of ventilation systems

  (7) The operator must ensure that the main inlets and outlets of all ventilation systems are capable of being closed from a position that is outside the area being ventilated and that will remain accessible during any fire that may occur within that area.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Ventilation system in non-hazardous area

  (8) The operator must ensure that any ventilation system that serves a non-hazardous area is equipped with emergency devices in the event of a mechanical ventilation failure or the detection of hazardous gas, including

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    (a) measuring devices to monitor any loss of ventilation pressure differential;

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    (b) audible and visual alarms;

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    (c) an automated isolation device to prevent hazardous gas from entering the non-hazardous area; and

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    (d) a device to remotely seal the non-hazardous area — including inlets and outlets of all ventilation systems — from the control station and from a position outside the non-hazardous ventilated area that will remain accessible during any fire that may occur within the area.