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Standalone regulator urged after crash Former supreme court justice urges ‘separate and independent’ agency to control safety in Newfoundland’s offshore oil industry Gary Park For Petroleum News
An inquiry into a helicopter crash last year off Newfoundland-Labrador that killed 17 of 18 people on board has called for an independent regulator to oversee safety in the province’s offshore oil industry.
Commissioner Robert Wells, a retired Newfoundland Supreme Court justice, said Newfoundland should follow the lead of Norway, the United Kingdom and Australia and a concept being developed for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico to install a regulator “separate and independent from all other components of offshore regulation … with safety being its only regulatory task.”
He also recommended that a rescue helicopter should be ready for deployment within 15 minutes of an accident and that restrictions be placed on the number of night-time flights.
The inquiry followed the March 2009 crash of Cougar Helicopters Flight 491, which was trying to return to its base in St. John’s, Newfoundland, after encountering problems while en route to offshore oil platforms.
“I believe the safety regulator should be powerful, independent and equipped with expert advice,” wrote Wells in his report to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.
His 29 recommendations covered the operation of the offshore industry and changing the responsibilities of the board itself.
Wells had previously asked the board to have a helicopter set aside for emergency response — a proposal that is already being acted upon.
Crash investigated separately But his mandate did not extent to examining the cause of the crash. That aspect is being investigated by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which has already reported that significant mechanical problems occurred when titanium studs broke in flight preventing oil from flowing through the gearbox before the chopper plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.
Once the transportation board has completed its draft report, Wells will have the opportunity to offer more recommendations.
“Offshore oil jurisdictions and regulators differ in the amount of information about safety which they give to the public,” Wells said.
“In a free and democratic society such as Canada, as much information as possible on all safety maters should be made public at all times,” he wrote.
“After catastrophic disasters over the years — the most recent being the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico — we are beginning to understand that we are all stakeholders now.”
Randell Earle, an attorney for the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union, said the call for a standalone regulator was an important one for workers in the Newfoundland offshore.
The offshore board said it will take 30 days to review Wells’ recommendations.
A C$27 million lawsuit has been filed against Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and others alleging breach of duty, gross negligence, negligent misrepresentation, reckless and willful misconduct.
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