Heroes are courageous. They achieve great things, they combat adversity and, often, they receive little recognition. Many heroes humbly see their actions as merely “doing their jobs.” Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement inspectors fit this noble description. Inspectors travel daily offshore to inspect operations and equipment on oil and gas platforms, rigs, drillships and other facilities to ensure that energy exploration, development, and production are conducted safely and in an environmentally-responsible manner.
BSEE’s team of inspectors, some 130-strong, are based in BSEE offices in Alaska, California, Louisiana and Texas. They are experts who work with offshore oil and gas companies to instill a culture of safety, conformance with federal regulations and high standards every time they step foot on an offshore facility.
In 2016, BSEE inspectors conducted more than 21,000 scheduled and unannounced inspections at more than 2,000 facilities, primarily in the Gulf of Mexico.
Inspectors identify issues that can lead to injuries or incidents as they check safety devices and well operations equipment on a host of mechanical systems. Inspectors usually travel via helicopter to check on well and production operations, pipelines, meters and environmental conditions. They look for debris that could end up in the water or unsafe environmental conditions that could lead to pollution events. Inspectors annotate their findings and encourage on-the-spot and follow-up corrections whenever possible.
Safe and environmentally-sustainable operations are a necessity to ensure a robust offshore energy program. BSEE inspectors are at the forefront of that effort.
For more information on BSEE’s safety enforcement program, visit https://www.bsee.gov/what-we-do/safety-enforcement.
##