Arctic Offshore Structure EER Risk Based Standards and Methods of Risk Analysis

Abstract

The Canadian Offshore Structure Performance Based EER Standards 2006 and International Standard ISO 19906 Arctic Offshore Structures 2010 were developed to help ensure that offshore structures deployed where arctic conditions prevail, provide the appropriate level of reliability with respect to personnel safety, environmental protection and asset value. Both standards address escape, evacuation and rescue (EER). The Canadian standard provides reliability targets for key elements and the totality of the EER process whereas the ISO standard addresses design, construction, transportation, installation and decommissioning phases of the structure. EER is a system that mitigates the effects of major accident hazards to personnel. A suite of risk analyses methodologies are typically employed to assess the EER philosophy and to confirm the provisions of the overall EER system design. The objectives of such analyses are to assess the design adequacy (from an EER perspective) at key stages in the design, to assess the impact of changes to the design that are proposed and to demonstrate that risks to personnel in the overall design are as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). Following a general description of the Canadian and ISO standard’s EER risk and reliability based provisions, this paper provides an overview of some of the applicable risk methodologies including the EER analysis.