The legislation places the onus on operating oil companies to ensure the health and safety of all persons working in connection with petroleum activities in the Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area.

In order to oversee Operators’ efforts in this regard, the Safety Department has an established safety assessment process to review Operators’ applications in a systematic manner prior to the Board issuing a work authorization. This process considers the safety of the activity as a whole and its component parts including the installation, its facilities, personnel and procedures. This process also provides confidence that each Operator has an appropriate system in place to manage risk to personnel both from major hazards and from day to day occupational hazards. As part of the safety assessment process, Safety Officers may visit installations or vessels to conduct a safety audit or safety inspection.

The Department conducts safety assessments of the following petroleum activities:

• Production Operations
• Production Development (e.g. construction of glory holes, pipe laying, etc. on a production field)
• Drilling Operations
• Well Operations
• Diving Operations
• Geophysical Operations