Safety and Environmental Management Systems
New regulations soon come into force to protect against a repeat of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. From November 2011, US operators must have in place Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) plans.
Following the devastating impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, US regulators will enforce the SEMS Ruling beginning November 15, 2011. This comprehensive management programme has been devised as a way to recognise, address and manage operational safety hazards. The objective: to ensure the safety of personnel and protect against the kind of environmental damage experienced in 2010.
SEMS regulations put the onus on the operator to ensure that both employees and contractors adhere to SEMS plans. Written safety policies and procedures must be in place – and records assuring workforce competence are also required.
Operators are under pressure to ensure that SEMS plans are implemented by the November deadline. What’s crucial is that the industry as a whole settles on a uniform means of doing so. Otherwise different operators may enforce on contractors a wildly varying range of SEMS demands.
One route towards consistency in SEMS planning is the use of competence assurance programmes.
These provide a logical means of defining the skills and knowledge required for workforce safety – and for developing the training, assessment and record keeping required for SEMS compliance.
Many US operators, contractors and service companies are already developing competence assurance programmes with SEMS compliance in mind. Following a competence assurance programme isn’t the entire solution to meeting the new regulations regulations, but it certainly provides a great place from which to begin implementing competency management consistently.
Find out more about how a competence assurance programme can help you to comply with SEMS. Contact our Americas team now.
