Public workshops planned on near-miss reporting system

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement will host two public workshops to discuss the voluntary confidential near-miss reporting system. The workshops, to be held on April 22 in Los Angeles and April 24 in Houston, will include presentations by BSEE and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). The workshops will give the offshore oil and gas industry, other stakeholders and the public an opportunity to contribute to the development of the system.

"The voluntary confidential near-miss reporting system has the potential to help prevent catastrophic incidents that endanger lives and the environment," said BSEE Director Brian Salerno. "However the tool is only as good as the information provided. We will need to gather input from the offshore industry on how to design a system that will yield maximum value for overall safety improvements."

BSEE and BTS signed an interagency agreement in November 2013 to develop the voluntary confidential near-miss reporting system for use on the outer continental shelf. BTS will maintain control of the individual confidential reports. Progress reports, trends analyses and aggregated data will be developed by BTS and made publicly available on the BTS website. The BTS reports will enable BSEE to work with the offshore oil and gas industry as a whole to identify important trends and enhance safety across all operations.

The identity of individuals and companies who submit reports will be completely confidential and protected under the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act, legally protecting them from disclosure and from release under the Freedom of Information Act.

Workshop locations:

April 22, 2014

9:00 am to 1:00 pm PST

Radisson Hotel at Los Angeles Airport

6225 W. Century Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90045.

April 24, 2014

9:00 am to 1:00 pm CST

Houston Airport Marriott at George Bush International Airport

18700 John F. Kennedy Blvd.

Houston, TX 77032.

Those planning to attend the workshop should register by April 11, 2014 at the following web address: http://www.bsee.gov/near-miss-workshop/.