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Scope of a Well Work Safety Case
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| 5.1 Scope of a Well Work Safety Case A Well Work Safety Case covers well work activities in respect of a single well. To carryout well work activities, a petroleum undertaking must hold a Well Work Safety Permit for those specific well work activities. In order to grant a Well Work Safety Permit, the CER must first approve a Well Work Safety Case and either a Non-production Safety Case or Production Safety Case (as the case maybe) in respect of the Well Work Activity. A Well Work Safety Case must demonstrate that the petroleum infrastructure that is carrying out the Well Work Activity is suitable for the particular well and the work being carried out, and the risks have been reduced to a level that is ALARP. Where a Well Work Safety Permit is sought through the submission of a Non-production Safety Case and a Well Work Safety Case, the Well Work Safety Case must state and demonstrate that the well being worked on is within the stated capabilities of the Non-production Installation. This does not mean that information in the Non-production Safety Case needs to be repeated in the Well Work Safety Case, but that the Well Work Safety Case must state and demonstrate that the Non- production Installation can safely carry on the Well Work Activity. During operations such as drilling, the additional pressure containment equipment that defines the pressure containment boundary of the well, e.g. BOP and associated control equipment should be described in the Production Safety Case or Non-production Safety Case as relevant. If the Well Work Activity is being carried out in relation to an existing well, or in relation to a well that is intended to be joined to an existing Production Installation, then the Well Work Safety Case may refer to the associated Production Safety Case as relevant. However all aspects must be covered, so that, for example, if the possibility of a blowout is greater during drilling and additional emergency response measures are required above those described in the Production Safety Case, these measures must be described in the Well Work Safety Case. A Well Work Safety Case should demonstrate that the petroleum undertaking has carefully considered all available data in the planning of the proposed Well Work Activity and that the risks associated with the design and execution of the activity have been reduced to ALARP. The exact conditions that are encountered subsurface and the performance of the Well Work Activity cannot be known with total certainty when the Well Work Safety Case is submitted. Therefore, the Well Work Safety Case should define an envelope of Well Work Activity and well design that can be completed safely. Careful and thorough planning and design through both scenario and contingency planning should be used to establish acceptable operating envelopes for critical design features and these should be described in the Well Work Safety Case. Examples of the parameters that define the envelope are given below. Download 0.73 Mb. Share with your friends:
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