You are required to use a Safety Management System (SMS) for activities conducted on the OCS to develop or operate a lease, from met buoy placement and site assessment work through decommissioning, and to provide your SMS to BSEE upon request. You must also submit a detailed description of the SMS with your COP (as provided in 30 CFR 585.627(d)) and, when required by this part, your SAP (as provided in § 285.614(b)) or GAP (as provided in § 285.651). Your SMS must address:

(a) How you will ensure the safety of your personnel or anyone else on or near your facilities, such as:

(1) Health and safety risks that anyone on your facilities or engaged in lease activities are likely to face during activities covered by the SMS;

(2) Policies and strategies that will be used to control such risks;

(3) Procedures and nationally or internationally recognized standards that will be followed to ensure the safety of the activities covered by the SMS;

(4) Methods that will be used to monitor the implementation of the SMS and maintain the safety of activities covered by the SMS, including management of change and stop work practices; and

(5) Procedures for personnel to report unsafe work conditions both to the lessee or its designated operator and to BSEE.

(b) Remote monitoring, control, and shut down capabilities, such as:

(1) Aspects of operations and mechanical and structural integrity that will be monitored remotely;

(2) Circumstances under which remote monitoring will be activated and how it will be maintained;

(3) Maintenance of the security of the remote sensing and control capabilities;

(4) Monitoring of conditions if remote sensing equipment fails; and

(5) Conditions that will result in the shutdown of one or more facilities.

(c) Emergency response procedures, such as:

(1) Types of incidents to be addressed (e.g., serious injury to workers during maintenance, unexploded ordnance encountered during construction, damage due to hurricane or allision by vessels or aircraft, unauthorized access into remote monitoring capabilities, evacuation, and search and rescue);

(2) Potential response activities, including U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), other government agencies, and contractor support, for each category of incident;

(3) Management controls, authorities, and reporting to be employed for each response;

(4) Locations from which emergency response will be controlled; and

(5) Resources available to assist in the response.

(d) Fire suppression equipment, such as a description of how and when it will be used, if needed.

(e) How and when you will test your SMS, such as:

(1) Plans, processes, and schedules for:

(i) Self or third-party auditing of the SMS; and

(ii) Regular testing of certain SMS components, including remote shutdown capabilities and emergency response readiness; and

(2) Corrective action processes to improve the effectiveness of your SMS based on the results of audits, tests, investigations of incidents (including near-misses), feedback from the field, and other information sources.

(f) How you will ensure personnel who conduct activities on your facilities are properly trained and have the capability to safely perform duties, such as:

(1) Required training for personnel who conduct activities on your facilities; and

(2) Required knowledge and skills to ensure that personnel perform duties safely for the duration of activities.

[89 FR 42720, May 15, 2024]