Commonwealth Numbered Regulations

1996 No. 298 PETROLEUM (SUBMERGED LANDS) (MANAGEMENT OF SAFETY ON OFFSHORE FACILITIES) REGULATIONS - REG 3

3. (1) In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears:

"Act" means the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967;
[NOTE: Re "adjacent area"-at the date of commencement of these Regulations,
the Act defines this expression as follows: " 'adjacent area' means an
adjacent area in respect of a State or Territory ascertained in accordance
with section 5A": see subs. 5 (1).]

"ancillary unit" means a structure or vessel, and includes a ship, barge or
other vessel or floating structure that:

   (a)  is a vessel or structure on which, or from which, construction or
        installation operations for, or in conjunction with, the exploration
        for or recovery of petroleum are or may be carried out; or

   (b)  provides a base on which, or from which, services (such as diving,
        firefighting, accommodation, processing or storage) in connection with
        operations of a kind referred to in paragraph (a) are controlled,
        mounted or performed; but does not include a facility or a pipeline;

"confined space" means an enclosed, or partially enclosed, space that:

   (a)  is not used or intended for use as a regular workplace; and

   (b)  has restricted means of entry and exit; and

   (c)  has, or may have, inadequate ventilation, contaminated atmosphere or
        oxygen deficiency; and

   (d)  is at atmospheric pressure when occupied;

"Consent to construct and install", in relation to a facility, means a
consent, in force under Part 2, to construct and install the facility;

"Consent to use", in relation to a facility, means a consent, in force under
Part 2, to use the facility; [NOTE: For cases where a consent to use under the
Schedule of  Specific Requirements is taken to be a Consent to use for the
purposes of these Regulations, see subr. 40 (1).]

"contractor" means an individual or a body corporate that does work in
connection with a contract between an operator and another person for carrying
out an activity to which the Act applies or to which these Regulations apply;

"controlled substance" means substance listed in:

   (a)  Schedule 8 to the Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations; or

   (b)  Schedule 4 to the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations; as in
        force from time to time;

"Criminal Code" means the Criminal Code, as amended from time to time, set out
in the Schedule to the Criminal Code Act 1995;

"Designated Authority" means a person who is constituted as a
Designated Authority by, or who is performing and exercising the powers and
functions of a Designated Authority under, section 14 of the Act and, except
in subregulation 30 (5), includes a person (known as a Director) who holds an
appointment as a delegate, under section 15 of the Act, of the
Designated Authority;

"employee", in relation to a facility, includes any individual on the facility
in the course of his or her duties (for example, as an official or officer, or
as a company director) or in a self-employed capacity (for example, as a
contractor);

"employer" means a person (including a contractor) who employs persons for
carrying out an activity to which the Act applies or to which these
Regulations apply;

"emergency", in relation to a facility, means an urgent situation that
presents, or may present, a risk of death or serious injury to persons on or
in the vicinity of the facility;

"facility" means a vessel or structure located in an adjacent area that:

   (a)  is used or constructed for the recovery of petroleum; or

   (b)  carries, contains or includes equipment for drilling, or for carrying
        out other operations in connection with a well, from the vessel or
        structure; and includes a combination or series of 2 or more related
        facilities, but excludes a vessel engaged merely in site surveys or
        investigations to a depth in the seabed not exceeding 100 metres;
        [NOTE: 1. For the application of this definition to a proposed or
        intended facility, see para. (2) (d).
2. For cases where a fixed platform under the Schedule of Specific 
Requirements is taken to be a facility, see subr. 40 (1).]

"Facility Description", in relation to a facility, means a Facility 
Description that complies with subregulation 14 (2) in relation to the
facility;

"Formal Safety Assessment", in relation to a facility, means an assessment
that:

   (a)  arises out of a formal investigation of the nature, likelihood and
        impact of potential major accident events and the means (as far as
        reasonably practicable) of preventing or minimising the risk of their
        occurrence and of minimising the consequences of their occurrence; and

   (b)  consists of, or includes, a report on studies specific to the
        facility, being a report that contains reasoned arguments and
        judgments about the findings of a formal investigation of the kind
        mentioned in paragraph (a); and

   (c)  complies with subregulation 14 (3) in relation to the facility;

"intoxicant" means a beverage or other substance for human consumption (other
than a substance for medical or pharmaceutical use) that contains alcohol;

"major accident event" means an event connected (whether immediately or after
delay) with work activities that, should it occur, would cause, or pose a
significant risk of causing, multiple fatalities (for example, by reason of
hydrocarbon releases);

"operator", in relation to a facility, means the person from time to time
registered or recorded by the Designated Authority, in accordance with
subregulation 42 (7), as the operator in relation to the facility; [NOTE: 1.
For circumstances where a person is taken to be an operator; see para. (2)
(b).
2. For a means of proof, in proceedings under these Regulations, that a person
was, on a given date, etc. the operator of a specified facility, see r. 43.]

"performance standards", in relation to an activity on or in connection with a
facility, means standards established by the operator of the facility that
specify the following matters:

   (a)  who is responsible for carrying out the activity;

   (b)  what has to be done in the performance of the activity;

   (c)  when the activity has to be performed;

   (d)  what outcomes from the activity are to be expected;

"qualified", in relation to a medical practitioner, a nurse or a pharmacist,
means qualified or entitled under the law of a State or Territory to practise
as a medical practitioner, a nurse or a pharmacist, as the case requires;

"revise", in relation to a Consent to construct and install, a Consent to use
or a Safety Case, includes extend or modify;

"Safety Case", in relation to a facility in an adjacent area, means
documentation relating to the facility that complies with regulations 14 and
15;

"Safety Case in force for a facility" means a Safety Case or revised
Safety Case that is accepted or provisionally accepted, and "Safety Case in
force for the facility" has a corresponding meaning in relation to the
particular facility; [NOTE: For cases where a safety case in relation to a
fixed platform under the Schedule of Specific Requirements is taken to be a
Safety  Case in force for a facility, see subr. 40 (1).]

"Safety Management System", in relation to a facility, means a comprehensive
integrated system for managing safety at the facility that complies with
subregulation 14 (4) in relation to the facility;

"Schedule of Specific Requirements" means the document published by the
Department and known as the "Schedule of Specific Requirements as to Offshore
Petroleum Exploration and Production - 1995", being that document as in force
immediately before the date of commencement of these Regulations;

"scope of validation" means the matters covered by a validation under
regulation 13;

"specify", in relation to a Consent to construct and install, a Consent to use
or a Safety Case, includes describe or refer to;

"therapeutic drug", in relation to an act or omission on or in the vicinity of
a facility in an area that is an adjacent area, means a drug:

   (a)  that may lawfully be prescribed, under the law of a State or Territory
        in force in, or applied to, the adjacent area, by a qualified medical
        practitioner; or

   (b)  that may lawfully be sold, under that law, without the prescription of
        a qualified medical practitioner;

"titleholder", in relation to a facility, means a person who is a permittee,
lessee, licensee or pipeline licensee in respect of the facility.
[NOTE: The expressions "permittee", "lessee", "licensee" and

"pipeline licensee" are defined in subs. 5 (1) the Act.]

(2) In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears:

   (a)  a person who is not actually on a facility is taken to be on a
        facility if he or she:

        (i)    is in the vicinity of the facility; and

        (ii)   is under the direction or control of the operator of the
               facility or of a contractor working on or in connection with
               the facility; and

   (b)  a person who, whilst not qualifying as an operator within the
        definition of that expression in subregulation (1):

        (i)    operates the facility (whether directly or indirectly); or

        (ii)   causes or permits another person to operate the facility
               directly or indirectly;
is taken, where the context so permits, to be an operator of the facility; and

   (c)  a reference to a person involved with a facility includes a reference
        to a person on the facility; and

   (d)  a reference to a facility includes, where the context so permits, a
        reference to an intended or proposed facility.