Arctic Offshore Escape, Evacuation, and Rescue Standards and Guidelines

Arctic Escape, Evacuation, and Rescue (EER) is receiving more attention with the current resurgence of interest in Arctic offshore hydrocarbon reserves, marine tourism and shortening marine transportation routes. Since 2000, Transport Canada supported the Arctic EER research project for which the second author’s company has been the lead contractor. The research conducted under this program resulted in the development of Canadian performance-based standards for offshore petroleum installations and a computer model capable of assessing the reliability and performance of EER processes. The ISO, under Working Group 8, developed a Final Draft International Standard addressing Arctic Offshore Structures which is expected to be published in late-2010. The Standard addresses design requirements and assessments for Arctic offshore structures used by the petroleum and natural gas industries worldwide to help ensure that appropriate reliability levels are achieved for manned and unmanned offshore structures, regardless of the type of structure. The EER provisions of the Standard are intended to promote the successful escape from the incident, subsequent evacuation from the installation (emergency or precautionary evacuation), and the ultimate rescue of installation personnel. The EER provisions are performance-based. The Standard specifies design requirements and also provides background to and guidance on the use of the document.