Reforming the Regulatory Framework for Offshore Health and Safety in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry: Lessons from the United Kingdom

Due to the hazardous nature of offshore operations in the oil and gas industry, the search for an effective regulatory system that will ensure improved health and safety mechanisms in the workplace has been a top priority for both operators and host governments in the oil and gas industries around the world. The industry in modern days is constantly experiencing an array of environmental, health and safety issues, thereby making the need to improve safety of operations paramount. It is not in doubt that the successes recorded in exploration and production operations in the oil and gas industries are often tied to the applicable regulatory system. It is on the strength of the above statement that we propose reforming the Nigerian regulatory safety framework for the oil and gas drilling and production operations. Drawing on the experiences from the United Kingdom, we recommend the adoption of the UK's "Safety Case" approach where operators are to provide convincing and valid arguments that a system is sufficiently safe for a given application in a specific environment, while considering the factors that may militate against its successful adoption in Nigeria.