Glossary
Browse the IADC Lexicon alphabetically or by category. Get comprehensive definitions of drilling industry terms.
Surface-Orientated Diving
Definition(s)
Surface-Orientated Diving
A diving technique in which the diver enters the water from the surface and then returns to the surface after completion of the dive, other than by means of a closed diving bell. Source: Commercial Diving Projects Offshore, Diving at Work Regulations 1997, Approved Code of Practice (UK HSE L103), First Edition, 1998. Regulatory GuidanceInternational Safety Management (ISM) Code
Definition(s)
International Safety Management (ISM) Code
International Safety Management (ISM) Code means the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention as adopted by the Assembly, as may be amended by the Organization. Source: Resolution A.741(18), International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (International Safety Management (ISM) Code), 4 November 1993, International Maritime Organization. Regulatory GuidanceInternational Safety Management (ISM) Code
International Safety Management (ISM) Code means the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention as adopted by the Organization by resolution A.741(18), as amended. Source: IMO Resolution MSC.255(84), Code of the International Standards and Recommended Practices for a Safety Investigation into a Marine Casualty or Marine Incident (Casualty Investigation Code), 16 May 2008, International Maritime Organization. Regulatory GuidancePermit-To-Work System
Definition(s)
Permit-To-Work System
A formal written system used to control certain types of work which are identified as involving significant risk. Source: Commercial Diving Projects Offshore, Diving at Work Regulations 1997, Approved Code of Practice (UK HSE L103), First Edition, 1998. Regulatory GuidanceAt Work
Definition(s)
At Work
The phrase ‘at work’ means as an employee or as a self-employed person. The phrase covers divers who dive as part of their duties as an employee and divers who are in business on their own account during the time that they devote themselves to work as a self-employed diver. Diving does not have to be the main work activity of the employee or the self-employed person. The Diving Regulations apply when at least one diver is at work. Source: Commercial Diving Projects Offshore, Diving at Work Regulations 1997, Approved Code of Practice (UK HSE L103), First Edition, 1998. Regulatory GuidanceAt Work
Regulation 4 makes it clear that where OFAR apply, the meaning of ‘at work’ covers workers at all times while they are offshore, both on-duty and off-duty. Source: Health Care and First Aid on Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works, Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (First-Aid) Regulations 1989, Approved Code of Practice and Guidance (UK HSE L123), Second Edition, 2000. Regulatory GuidanceAt Work
In relation to any person means present, for gain or reward, in the person’s place of work. Source: Guidelines for Occupational Diving 2004, Occupational Safety and Health Service, New Zealand, updated October 2010. Regulatory GuidanceAt Work
At work, in relation to any person, means present, for gain or reward, in the person’s place of work. Source: Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, Public Act 1992 No 96, New Zealand, as of 1 July 2011. LegislationSaturation Diving
Definition(s)
Saturation Diving
Saturation diving is the diving technique used during diving operations where the diver has reached the full saturation state for the pressure and breathing mixture being used. When this state has been reached the time required for decompression is not further increased in relation to the duration of the dive. Source: Commercial Diving Projects Offshore, Diving at Work Regulations 1997, Approved Code of Practice (UK HSE L103), First Edition, 1998. Regulatory GuidanceMine Workings
Definition(s)
Mine Workings
Mine workings include all areas where mineral has been extracted including shafts, staple pits, underground roadways, stopes, longwall workings, board and pillar workings, headings, water lodges and any boreholes associated with the mine, for example for ventilation, cable routes, pumping, methane drainage, proving of reserves and probing in connection with prevention of inrushes. Source: A Guide to the Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L72), Second Edition, 2008. Regulatory GuidanceMining Area
Definition(s)
Mining Area
A mining area means land which lies within 1 km of the workings of any mine whether currently being worked or disused, or land in relation to which a licence to mine minerals has been granted. This is land where mining operations may have been carried out, may be ongoing or may be carried out in the future. It is an area where mining operations and borehole operations may affect one another. It includes the volume of land which lies within the locus of all points lying 1000 metres, measured in any direction, from any mine working. The extent of mine workings and the location and proximity of a borehole must be considered in three dimensions. Source: A Guide to the Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L72), Second Edition, 2008. Regulatory GuidanceMining Area
“Mining area” means land—- within one kilometre, in a horizontal or other direction, of the workings in a mine (whether disused or not); or
- in relation to which a licence to mine for minerals has been granted.
Borehole Site
Definition(s)
Borehole Site
A borehole site means any site at which borehole operations:- are going to be undertaken;
- are being undertaken; or
- have been undertaken and at which there is a borehole, whether partly drilled or completed, which has not been abandoned.
Borehole Site
“Borehole site” means a place at which a borehole operation—- is being or is to be undertaken; or
- has been undertaken, save where all borehole operations have ceased and all boreholes have been abandoned.
Exclusions
Definition(s)
Exclusions
Borehole operations do not include:- the drilling of shotfiring holes in connection with production blasting at opencast sites or quarries or blasting at construction sites;
- geophysical exploration or investigation for the construction of underground storage facilities, civil engineering tunnels, shafts or other civil engineering works which may involve extraction of minerals;
- prospecting for water or extraction or disposal of water, except in connection with petroleum extraction or mineral exploration;
- extraction of landfill gas;
- preparation at a site where no extraction or prospecting is being carried out, of minerals which were extracted by boreholes at another site. An example of this would be separation of gas and water from crude oil at a central oil collection site which is not used for prospecting or production of minerals by boreholes.
Prospecting By Means of Boreholes, Excluding Those Drilled From Within The Underground
Definition(s)
Prospecting By Means of Boreholes, Excluding Those Drilled From Within The Underground
workings of a mine, with a view to extracting discovered minerals by means other than boreholes This includes prospecting by boreholes for coal, tin, salt, gypsum, limestone or any other minerals which are to be extracted by deep mining, opencasting or quarrying. It includes drilling operations, coring, seismic work using boreholes and all work associated with these operations at a borehole site. ‘Mineral’ means mineral existing in its natural strata and includes oil, natural gas (but not landfill gas), coal bed methane, coal, fluorspar, gypsum, lead, potash, anhydrite, salt, tin, rocks, clays and other minerals. It does not include water with the exception of water extracted from or returned to natural strata in connection with the exploration or extraction of minerals. Source: A Guide to the Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L72), Second Edition, 2008. Regulatory GuidanceProspecting For Minerals Which Are To Be Extracted By Boreholes
Definition(s)
Prospecting For Minerals Which Are To Be Extracted By Boreholes
This includes all exploratory drilling operations for minerals existing in their natural strata, which are to be extracted by boreholes, eg oil, natural gas, coal bed methane etc. It also includes all work ancillary to a drilling operation at a borehole site, such as assembly and installation of drilling equipment on the site, drilling, borehole logging, mud pumping, well surveying, fracturing, perforating and well testing etc. It also includes any prospecting work carried out at an existing borehole site even though no drilling operations are being carried out in association with that prospecting. Source: A Guide to the Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L72), Second Edition, 2008. Regulatory GuidanceExtraction Of Minerals By Boreholes
Definition(s)
Extraction Of Minerals By Boreholes
This includes all extraction operations at a borehole site, for oil, natural gas, coal bed methane and other minerals existing in their natural strata. It includes boreholes used for the storage of gas in natural strata reservoirs from which oil, natural gas or coal bed methane has previously been extracted. It does not include extraction of landfill gas. It also includes ancillary operations associated with extraction such as injection of water or gas from the surface to an underground reservoir, maintenance work and on-site operations associated with the preparation of the extracted minerals for sale. It also includes boreholes used to construct underground storage facilities where minerals are to be extracted through the borehole, for example in the construction of caverns in salt formations by solution mining. Preparation of minerals includes simple operations to separate water and gas from well fluids and to stabilise well fluids prior to transport from a borehole site. It does not include processing of minerals. Source: A Guide to the Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L72), Second Edition, 2008. Regulatory GuidanceBorehole Operation
Definition(s)
Borehole Operation
A borehole operation is any operation or activity at a borehole site, associated with the following. Source: A Guide to the Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L72), Second Edition, 2008. Regulatory GuidanceBorehole Operation
Any reference in these Regulations to a borehole operation is a reference to an activity or operation in the course or furtherance of, or in connection with the cessation of—- the extraction of minerals by a borehole;
- prospecting with a view to such extraction; or
- prospecting by a borehole, other than a borehole drilled from within the underground workings of a mine which is in use, with a view to the extraction of minerals by means other than a borehole, or to the preparation for sale, but not the processing, of extracted minerals at the place of any such activity or operation.
WSV
Definition(s)
WSV
Well Service Vessel. Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceUKCS
Definition(s)
UKCS
United Kingdom continental shelf. Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceMWA
Definition(s)
MWA
Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971. Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceMWA
Military warning area. Source: Deepwater Well Control Guidelines. IADC GuidelinesHLV
Definition(s)
HLV
Heavy Lift Vessel. Source: API RP 2SIM, Structural Integrity Management of Fixed Offshore Structures, First Edition, November 2014. Global StandardsHLV
Heavy Lifting vessel. Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceDSV
Definition(s)
DSV
Diving Support Vessel. Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory Guidance Source: NOGEPA Guideline 14, Helideck Operations and Procedures Manual, Netherlands, Version 2, December 2011. Global StandardsAOGBO
Definition(s)
AOGBO
Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) Order 2001 (Note: SI 2001/2127). Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceHelicopter Landing Officer (HLO)
Definition(s)
Helicopter Landing Officer (HLO)
The duty holder is responsible for ensuring that a competent person is appointed as the helicopter landing officer (HLO), who will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the offshore installation helideck, in control of the associated helideck operations, and the helideck crew. Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceWritten
Definition(s)
Written
The instructions need not be on paper to be ‘written’. They can be computer generated, for example, so long as they are capable of being printed out or read (eg on a display screen or electronic sign board) and understood by those who need to see them. Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceComprehensible
Definition(s)
Comprehensible
Capable of being understood by those who will have to follow them. Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceOnshore Record
Definition(s)
Onshore Record
The details required for the offshore record (ie name, and name and address of employer) must also be retained and updated at a location onshore (‘the onshore record’). The onshore record also requires further details to be kept, primarily for use by the police to inform next of kin following a death or loss offshore or to trace the recent contacts of someone found to have an infectious disease. These details are specified in regulation 9(2). Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceWorking From
Definition(s)
Working From
‘Working from’ an offshore installation in this context would mean that a person is considered part of the complement for one installation but may temporarily be working on the other installation. Records do not have to be retained offshore of individuals who are no longer on or working from the installation. Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceOffshore Record
Definition(s)
Offshore Record
The duty holder must ensure that a continuously updated record of all persons present on an offshore installation is maintained (‘the offshore record’). The record must include every person who normally works on an offshore installation, including people who work only part of the time on the installation (eg while constructing it) even if temporarily off the installation, and any other person who visits even for a short time, eg onshore management, inspectors etc. Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceIn Transit
Definition(s)
In Transit
The term ‘in transit’ relates to all times when the installation is not at or in the immediate vicinity of its first, a previous or its new working station. It is intended to exclude installations from the Regulations when the primary risks are marine. Manoeuvring in preparation for leaving a station or after arrival to position the installation is not part of transit, ie the Regulations do apply to such manoeuvring. Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceRelevant Waters
Definition(s)
Relevant Waters
These waters comprise: tidal waters within Great Britain up to the seaward limits of territorial waters; territorial waters adjacent to Great Britain; and those areas of the UK continental shelf designated under the Continental Shelf Act 1964. Source: A Guide to the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995, Guidance on Regulations (UK HSE L70), Second Edition, 2002. Regulatory GuidanceRelevant Waters
Territorial waters, contiguous zone, continental shelf and exclusive economic zone of India shall have the meaning as defined in ‘The territorial waters, continental shelf, exclusive economic zone and other maritime zones act, 1974’. Source: Guidance Notes on Petroleum and Natural Gas (Safety in Offshore Operations) Rules, 2008, Oil Industry Safety Directorate (India), 2012. Regulatory GuidanceRelevant Waters
“Relevant waters” means—- tidal waters and parts of the sea in or adjacent to Great Britain up to the seaward limits of the territorial sea; and
- any area designated by order under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964. Note: 1964 c. 29; section 1(7) was amended by the Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982 (c. 23), Schedule 3, paragraph 1.