Overview of Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)

Though new regulations have changed the way offshore companies operate, the need to make safety part of an enterprise sustainability management strategy has never been more important. As accountability moves higher up the chain of command, operators are coming under increasing pressure to place an emphasis on HSE - especially with regard to human factors and workforce training. At the same time, juggling compliance efforts with daily safety concerns has forced a re- thinking of how to evaluate SEMS and training systems for overall safe operation and to drive strategic decisions. David Munzenmaier, HSE&S Director GOM at Baker Hughes, recently spoke with marcus evans about key topics to be discussed at the upcoming 3rd Annual Offshore Safety & Workforce Capability Assurance Conference, October 2-4, 2013, in Houston. All responses represent the view of Mr. Munzenmaier and not necessarily those of Baker Hughes and its subsidiaries.

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The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) this week announced the implementation of a new Risk-Based Inspection Program that employs a systematic framework to identify facilities and operations that exhibit a high-risk profile.

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The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement released a safety alert on January 5, 2018 discussing gas hazards on production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. The alert highlights findings from BSEE's Gulf of Mexico-wide inspection effort under its Performance-Based Risk Inspection pilot, along with several recommendations for operators.

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Offshore oil and gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico are evacuating platforms and rigs in preparation for Tropical Storm Harvey. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Hurricane Response Team is activated and monitoring the operators’ activities. The team will continue to work with offshore operators and other state and federal agencies until operations return to normal and the storm is no longer a threat to Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activities.

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U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) report finds that offshore regulatory changes made thus far do not do enough to place the onus on industry to reduce risk, nor do they sufficiently empower the regulator to proactively oversee industry’s efforts to prevent another disaster like the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and oil spill at the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico.

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In an effort to improve its focus on offshore oil and gas facilities that exhibit a number of distinguishing risk factors, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is launching a pilot Risk-Based Inspection Program. The new program will complement its existing inspections and audits to increase the safety of offshore oil and gas operations.

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Auto-refrigeration can impose low temperatures onto process vessels and piping causing them to be at risk of brittle fracture, the sudden break-before leak phenomena that can result in catastrophic rupture of the equipment.

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The blowout preventer (BOP) that was intended to shut off the flow of high-pressure oil and gas from the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico during the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20, 2010, failed to seal the well because drill pipe buckled for reasons the offshore drilling industry remains largely unaware of, according to a new two-volume draft investigation report released today by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB).

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