IRF is an informal - but still important - cooperative body for authorities which regulate safety in various countries and offshore oil and gas provinces all over the world.
The meeting in Stavanger will be attended by managers and key personnel from the shelf authorities in Australia, Brazil, the US, Canada, the UK and the Netherlands.
The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway's representatives will be director general Magne Ognedal and special advisor Odd Bjerre Finnestad.
Busy schedule
The meeting has a busy schedule: The members will report on important incidents and events which have occurred in their areas of responsibility since the previous meeting - held in Sydney, Australia, in October last year.
There will also be briefings on the progress of several of the projects the members are currently cooperating on, such as safer crane and lifting operations, safeguarding technical integrity and development of common criteria for reporting incidents, so that comparisons can be made between the individual member states.
A major part of the schedule has been set aside for exchanging experiences and debates relating to topical issues such as the development of the Norwegian evacuation systems and equipment, safe employee transport to and from the offshore installations and the petroleum industry's safety-related challenges in the Arctic.
Serious incidents
Time has also been set aside for informing and exchanging experiences relating to the more serious incidents which have occurred in the members' oil and gas provinces in the past year, and for how they have been followed up.
Among the incidents which will be looked at closer are the tragic helicopter accidents outside Newfoundland and on the UK shelf during the past year.
In addition, first-hand briefings will be given on the investigation following the explosion in Apache's processing facility on Veranus Island off West Australia, which took place in June 2008, and on the PTTEP Australasias Montara/West Atlas accident.
The latter took place as recently as 21 August, and there is much to indicate that a well on the Montara platform will continue to blow gas and oil into these environmentally sensitive Australian waters for a long time.
International authorities conference
Every two or three years, IRF holds a major conference for the world’ s safety authorities, as well as for representatives of international companies, industry associations and employee organisations.
One part of the meeting in Stavanger has been reserved for discussing the preparations for the next conference, which will be held in Vancouver BC from 18 – 20 October 2010.
Contact in the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway:
Odd Bjerre Finnestad, special advisor and IRF member
E-mail: Odd.Bjerre.Finnestad@ptil.no
