OIM (offshore installation manager)
Encyclopedia
The Offshore Installation Manager (OIM) is the most senior manager of an offshore platform operating on the UKCS
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Many offshore operators have adopted this UK offshore management model and title and applied it to their operations in all global regions irrespective of the local regulations in force.
In the UK the individual must be officially registered as an OIM with the Offshore Safety Division of the Health and Safety Executive
and the OIM is responsible for the health, welfare and safety of the personnel on board the installation, whether a drilling rig
, production platform or a support vessel (e.g. a flotel).
The OIM position had arisen in part from the Inquiry into the 1965 Sea Gem
disaster, in which the Sea Gem drilling rig collapsed and sank in the southern sector of the North Sea with a loss of 13 lives. The Inquiry recommended that " ... there ought to be a 'master' or unquestioned authority on these rigs" and that " ... there ought to be the equivalent of a shipmaster's daily round when the 'master' could question those responsible for different aspects of the day-to-day management of the whole." The recommendations from the Sea Gem Inquiry were formalised in the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971 which requires a registered OIM to be in charge of each installation.
Training and selection of OIMs has been the subject of research projects and specialist training
UK Continental Shelf
The UK Continental Shelf is the region of waters surrounding the United Kingdom, in which the country claims mineral rights. This principally refers to the North Sea, where there are large resources of hydrocarbons. The North Sea is also bordered by Norway, Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands...
.
Many offshore operators have adopted this UK offshore management model and title and applied it to their operations in all global regions irrespective of the local regulations in force.
In the UK the individual must be officially registered as an OIM with the Offshore Safety Division of the Health and Safety Executive
Health and Safety Executive
The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...
and the OIM is responsible for the health, welfare and safety of the personnel on board the installation, whether a drilling rig
Offshore drilling
Offshore drilling refers to a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled through the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently produce hydrocarbons which lie in rock formations beneath the seabed...
, production platform or a support vessel (e.g. a flotel).
The OIM position had arisen in part from the Inquiry into the 1965 Sea Gem
Sea Gem
The Sea Gem was the first British offshore oil rig, and the first British offshore rig disaster when in 1965, the rig's legs collapsed, killing 13 of the crew.-Background:...
disaster, in which the Sea Gem drilling rig collapsed and sank in the southern sector of the North Sea with a loss of 13 lives. The Inquiry recommended that " ... there ought to be a 'master' or unquestioned authority on these rigs" and that " ... there ought to be the equivalent of a shipmaster's daily round when the 'master' could question those responsible for different aspects of the day-to-day management of the whole." The recommendations from the Sea Gem Inquiry were formalised in the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971 which requires a registered OIM to be in charge of each installation.
Training and selection of OIMs has been the subject of research projects and specialist training