Document No.

EP-GP 04-30
Applicability E&P
Date 19 June 2006

Guidance on Practice for

Design and Location of Occupied Portable
Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

EP-GP 04-30

E&P Segment
ENGINEERING TECHNICAL PRACTICES
19 June 2006 EP-GP 04-30
Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

Foreword

This is the first issue of Engineering Technical Practice EP-GP 04-30.

The goal of this Guidance on Practice (GP) is that no person occupying a portable building within a
BP facility shall come to any harm. BP believes that no one should unnecessarily be exposed to
hazards. This GP sets out requirements around the design and location of Occupied Portable
Buildings.

Clarifications on applicability of this GP and on what constitutes compliance shall be given by the SPU
Engineering Authority (EA). Exemptions from requirements to this GP shall be subject to written
approval by the E&P Segment Head of Engineering.

This GP shall be applied to all wholly owned and operated BP Exploration and Production (E&P)
Segment Business Units, projects, facilities, sites, and operations.

For application to Joint Ventures (JVs) and contractors, the following shall apply:

• Where BP has operational control of a joint venture, this GP shall be adopted.

• Where BP does not have operational control of a joint venture, BP shall endeavour to ensure that
the operator adopts this GP and shall seek to amend relevant agreements immediately or upon
renewal to reflect this GP.

• Where it is not possible or feasible to require a joint venture to adopt this GP or where a joint
venture has not agreed to adopt this GP, in the period before any Practice is adopted, BP shall
seek to influence or persuade the joint venture to adopt guidance based on this GP.

• Where BP relies on a contractor’s employees to perform work located on a BP site that would be
subject to this GP if performed by BP employees, this GP shall apply.

Copyright © 2006, BP Group. All rights reserved. The information contained in this
document is subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement or contract under which
the document was supplied to the recipient’s organisation. None of the information
contained in this document shall be disclosed outside the recipient’s own organisation
without the prior written permission of Director of Engineering, BP Group, unless the
terms of such agreement or contract expressly allow. Page 2 of 18
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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

Table of Contents
Page
1. Scope .................................................................................................................................... 5
2. Normative references............................................................................................................. 6
3. Terms and definitions............................................................................................................. 7
4. Symbols and abbreviations.................................................................................................... 7
5. General.................................................................................................................................. 8
6. Principles ............................................................................................................................... 8
6.1. General....................................................................................................................... 8
6.2. Inherently safer design................................................................................................ 9
6.3. Philosophies ............................................................................................................... 9
6.4. Location .................................................................................................................... 10
6.5. Hazards .................................................................................................................... 10
6.6. Performance standards............................................................................................. 10
7. Hazard identification ............................................................................................................ 10
7.1. General..................................................................................................................... 10
7.2. Blast analysis............................................................................................................ 11
7.3. Occupant vulnerability............................................................................................... 11
7.4. Fire analysis ............................................................................................................. 11
7.5. Toxic gas, flammable gas, and smoke ingress assessment ...................................... 11
7.6. EERS study .............................................................................................................. 11
7.7. Survivability of safety critical systems/equipment...................................................... 12
7.8. Other hazards ........................................................................................................... 12
8. Design ................................................................................................................................. 12
8.1. General criteria ......................................................................................................... 12
8.2. Egress routes............................................................................................................ 13
9. Risk evaluation .................................................................................................................... 14
10. Control procedures .............................................................................................................. 14
11. Emergency response procedures ........................................................................................ 15
Annex A (Normative) Well sites, drilling, and well operations (offshore and onshore) ................... 17
A.1 General................................................................................................................................ 17
A.2 Occupied portable buildings located near well site activities ................................................ 17
A.3 Consequence assessment for well sites .............................................................................. 17
A.4 Control and emergency response ........................................................................................ 18

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

List of Figures

Figure 1 Guiding principles for use of Occupied Portable Buildings ................................................ 9

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

1. Scope

a. This GP provides guidance for location and design of new and existing Occupied Portable
Buildings within oil and gas drilling, production, and processing facilities in the exploration
and production (E&P) segment.
b. Occupied Portable Buildings located within offshore facilities are within the scope of this GP.
c. Occupied Portable Buildings located within onshore facilities, except those located at well
sites, drilling, and well operations, are not within the scope of this GP. For onshore facilities,
refer to RM-GP 04-30.
d. It is recognized that the requirements for Drilling and Well Operations are different than those
required for normal onshore and offshore process facility design and operations; however, the
methodology and design requirements described herein should be applied if possible to Drilling
and Well Operation facilities. Annex A addresses the specific requirements for Drilling and
Well Operations.
e. If facilities are not in operation and contain only minimal amounts of flammables (e.g.,
appropriately stored diesel for generators, fuel totes, and lube oils), this GP does not apply.
f. If facilities are in partial operation, such as pressuring up with buy-back gas, this GP is in
effect.
g. Only the occupied portion of portable building needs to comply with this GP.
For example, some compressor buildings have an office area built inside the shell of the
compressor building. The office portion of the compressor building would be subject to
this GP, whereas the remainder of the building would not.
h. For purposes of this GP, a building is occupied if any of the following applies:
1. Personnel are assigned to location as workstation or command and control center in case
of emergency.
2. Personnel are assigned to location designated as safe haven in case of emergency.
3. Personnel are assigned to location as their primary work space.
4. Building is used for any of the following:
a) Control of process.
b) Office space.
c) Meetings.
d) Quarters.
e) Dining.
f) Meal preparation.
g) Other household uses.
h) Recreation or exercise.
The decision was taken to define occupied based on the actual use of the building (not
the intended use). If a building originally intended as a tool shed is being used as an
office, it is considered occupied. Likewise, if a building has a desk or office related
equipment, it is considered occupied.

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

Buildings that are used for the sole purpose of storage of tools or equipment are not
considered occupied. Shelters or habitats erected for a specific maintenance or
inspection campaign are not considered occupied for the purposes of this GP. It is up to
the site HSSE representative or equivalent person to ensure that buildings not intended
for occupancy remain unoccupied.
Toilets and other welfare buildings should be located as far away from the hazardous
areas as practical. They are not intended to be covered by this GP unless these facilities
are part of an Occupied Portable Building that is otherwise covered.
i. For purposes of this GP, portable buildings are defined as:
1. Buildings that can be moved from location to location (e.g., trailers, portacabins, tents,
accommodation modules), including buildings brought on for specific work tasks, and
may be brought on to site or constructed on location.
2. Portable buildings that were part of original design of facility are not included in the
scope of this GP. These should be included in the original hazard analysis and layout of
the facilities.
3. Buildings installed (constructed on location or off location) that were not part of original
layout and design, regardless of intended duration of use of building, are included in the
scope of this GP.
This GP is intended to address the design and location of portable buildings. However,
in an offshore environment, many permanent buildings are portable. If a building was
located offshore after the original design and layout, it is covered by this GP. If a
similar document is authored addressing permanent buildings offshore, that ETP
governs those permanent buildings that were installed after the original design and
layout of the facility.

2. Normative references

The following normative documents contain requirements that, through reference in this text, constitute
requirements of this technical practice. For dated references, subsequent amendments to, or revisions of,
any of these publications do not apply. However, parties to agreements based on this technical practice are
encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the most recent editions of the normative documents
indicated below. For undated references, the latest edition of the normative document referred to applies.

BP
Integrity Management Segment Implementation Guideline - Exploration and
Production.
GP 24-03 Guidance on Practice for Concept Selection for Inherently Safer Design.
GP 24-21 Guidance on Practice for Fire Hazards Analysis.
GP 24-22 Guidance on Practice for Gas Explosion Hazard Analysis.
GN 66-260 Guidance Note for Fire and Blast Structural Loading and Response
Guideline.
RM-GP 04-30 Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable
Buildings within Refineries and Chemical Plants.

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

3. Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this GP, the following terms and definitions apply:

BP CIRRUS
BP suite of consequence modelling tools. Can be found at http://sunapps.bpweb.bp.com/cirrus/

ERPG-2
Maximum airborne concentration of toxic gases below which it is believed nearly all individuals could be
exposed for up to 1 hr without experiencing or developing irreversible or other serious health effects or
symptoms that could impair an individual’s ability to take protective action.

Explosion
Event arising from rapid release of energy leading to potentially damaging overpressure wave and wind.
For gas explosion, this is due to rapid combustion of flammable gas/air mixture.

Major accident risk (MAR) process

MAR assessment methodology requires the following steps:

a. Identify for a facility or other operation a representative range of hypothetical events that could
lead to multiple fatalities or significant damage to ecosystems.
b. Quantify the hypothetical likelihood of these events. The likelihood of the events will be
heavily influenced by the engineering design of the facilities.
c. Quantify the possible physical effects resulting from these events and assess their
consequences at the location studied. The potential consequences will be heavily influenced by
the location of facilities.
d. Evaluate options to mitigate the likelihood and/or consequences of the events considered.

Occupied
Refer to clause 1.h.

Portable Buildings
Refer to clause 1.i.

4. Symbols and abbreviations

For the purpose of this GP, the following symbols and abbreviations apply:

EA Engineering Authority.

EERS Evacuation escape and rescue study.

ERPG Emergency response planning guideline.

HAZID Hazard identification.

HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.

IM Integrity management.

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JV Joint venture.

MAHID Major accident hazard identification.

MAR Major accident risk.

MOC Management of change.

MODU Mobile offshore drilling units.

PPE Personnel protective equipment.

QRA Quantitative risk analysis.

SGI Smoke and gas ingress.

SIMOPS Simultaneous operations.

SPA Single point accountability.

SPU Strategic performance unit.

5. General

a. Occupied Portable Buildings located within offshore facilities shall comply with this GP.
b. Occupied Portable Buildings located within onshore facilities, excluding those located at well
sites, drilling, and well operations, shall comply with RM-GP 04-30.
c. Occupied Portable Buildings located at well sites, drilling, and well operations (onshore and
offshore) shall comply with this GP, where applicable, and Annex A.

6. Principles

6.1. General
a. Each business unit shall justify and document the need for installing new portable buildings or
retaining existing portable buildings.
b. Guiding principles regarding the use and placement of Occupied Portable Buildings should
follow measures identified in Figure 1.

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

Figure 1 Guiding principles for use of Occupied Portable Buildings

Measure Actions

Eliminate If possible, eliminate need for Occupied Portable Buildings.

Prevent Prohibit use of occupied portable buildings in high hazard areas

and remove people during increased risk activities. Prevent
hazardous effect on Occupied Portable Buildings (e.g., install
fire/blast wall).

Detect and Control Detect release and control event. Identify major hazards and
implement measures to reduce likelihood and consequences of
hazard (e.g., by controlling locations of Occupied Portable
Buildings).

Mitigate Design structure to protect personnel against effects of predicted

hazards.

Emergency Provide emergency response systems and procedures for

Response personnel in portable buildings. Escape/evacuation route shall be
defined in event of worst case scenario.

6.2. Inherently safer design

a. In an effort to eliminate risk to personnel, inherently safer design (GP 24-03) concepts shall be
employed.
b. Inherently safer design may include relocating persons away from hazards, reduction of
inventory, removing hazards, or changing process.

6.3. Philosophies
a. Need for new Occupied Portable Buildings shall be justified and documented.
b. If Occupied Portable Buildings are already installed, efforts shall be made to remove them or
discontinue their use as occupied buildings by investigating other means to achieve same
business objectives which reduce overall risk to individuals (e.g., locate staff in safer onshore
office and use telecommunications rather than housing teams onsite.)
Holistic approach to risk assessment should be considered. If, for example, relocating
personnel to a “safer” location results in increased transportation risks, a revised
approach to risk reduction should be considered. This GP supports the concept of
continuous risk reduction.
c. If existing Occupied Portable Buildings need to remain, hazard assessments shall be done using
methods described in this GP. Existing Occupied Portable Buildings shall not continue to be
used unless they comply fully with all aspects of this GP.

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

6.4. Location
a. Location of Occupied Portable Buildings shall be based on review of identified hazards (both
existing hazards and hazards from planned future operations), including those hazards initiating
from work that required Occupied Portable Building (e.g., startup, drilling).
b. Following suitable analysis, Occupied Portable Buildings shall be located in an acceptable
location (from a potential hazard perspective) and be designed to withstand foreseeable
hazards.
c. If one of the identified locations is intended for other needs in the future (laydown area, etc.),
other locations should be chosen.

6.5. Hazards
a. Occupied Portable Buildings (such as Temporary Accommodation Modules) shall be designed
to withstand predicted effects of hazards identified for selected location.
b. Hazards include:
1. Fire.
2. Explosions.
3. Smoke.
4. Flammable gas releases.
5. Toxic gas releases.
6. Other operational hazards (such as dropped objects).
c. “Hazard based - risk assured” methodology shall be used for analysis. Efforts shall be made to
locate and design Occupied Portable Buildings such that there is no harm to occupants. If this
is not achievable, quantified risk assessment shall be performed and decisions shall be made
using risk evaluation methods described within Integrity Management Segment
Implementation Guideline - Exploration and Production.

6.6. Performance standards

a. Performance standard shall be developed for all Occupied Portable Buildings.
b. Performance standards shall include emergency response role with respect to “safe escape”
from an emergency situation.
c. Performance standards shall also address safe shelter or escape for the occupants of Occupied
Portable Buildings.

7. Hazard identification

7.1. General
a. A HAZID shall be conducted (or reviewed if such study already exists) to confirm that credible
hazards affecting occupants of Occupied Portable Building have been identified. The SPU EA
shall ensure that proper hazard identification and evaluation studies are completed and
recommendations are followed.
b. Scenarios identified should be evaluated using appropriate analysis techniques.

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

Previous risk assessments or hazard evaluation studies may be helpful in identifying the
hazards that could affect the Occupied Portable Building. Some examples of studies that
might help in the identification of hazards include MAR, QRAs, MAHIDs, Hazards
Register, Safety Case, and Dropped Object studies.

7.2. Blast analysis

Overpressure analysis shall comply with methodology outlined in GP 24-22.
GP 24-22 provides detailed methodology for evaluation of blast loads.

7.3. Occupant vulnerability

a. Evaluation of structural vulnerability of Occupied Portable Buildings shall comply with
GN 66-260.
GN 66-260 provides guidance on the evaluation of structures against predicted blast
loads.
b. Further analysis shall be required to assess occupant vulnerability based on building response.

7.4. Fire analysis

a. Fire scenarios that might affect Occupied Portable Buildings shall be evaluated using
GP 24-21.
b. Analysis shall include and address appropriate fire protection, as well as egress routes for
personnel in Occupied Portable Buildings escaping to temporary refuge.

7.5. Toxic gas, flammable gas, and smoke ingress assessment

a. Assessment shall be performed to determine exposure of personnel in Occupied Portable
Buildings to toxic gases (including products of combustion).
b. Assessment shall include estimating concentrations inside building and vulnerability of persons
to those concentrations.
c. Occupied Portable Buildings shall be designed to minimise the possibility of ingress of toxic
gases.
d. Alarms shall be audible to warn occupants of toxic releases in area.
e. Alarms used in Occupied Portable Buildings shall be consistent with alarm and emergency
management philosophy established for facility.
f. Risk mitigation methods shall be used, if required, including the supply of PPE in addition to
training to occupants regarding response to alarms, use of PPE, and evacuation procedures.
g. SGI assessment shall be also conducted on Occupied Portable Buildings. Study shall include
likelihood of ingress of smoke and/or gas, as well as ability to isolate HVAC and or louvers in
event of an emergency.
This analysis includes shutdown of HVAC upon gas or smoke detection, dampers that
close, seals around doors, windows, or wall or floor penetrations that close tightly.

7.6. EERS study

a. Both existing and new Occupied Portable Buildings shall be reviewed and incorporated into
existing evacuation escape and rescue studies (EERS) for the facility.

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

b. If no EERS exists for facility, consideration shall be given to ability of occupants of Occupied
Portable Building to evacuate and escape.

7.7. Survivability of safety critical systems/equipment

a. Safety critical systems associated with Occupied Portable Buildings shall be designed to
survive in accordance with the performance standard set forth for facility. These systems could
be located within the Occupied Portable Building or are required for proper response.
b. Safety critical systems include:
1. Building pressurisation systems.
2. Egress routes.
3. Smoke and gas detection.
4. Firewater systems.
5. HVAC.
6. Emergency lighting.
7. Alarms and public address systems.

7.8. Other hazards

The following other hazards shall be considered in determining location and design for Occupied
Portable Buildings:
a. Dropped objects.
b. Noise.
c. SIMOPS.
d. Thermal radiation from flare(s).
e. Major storms.
f. Seismic events.
g. Damage arising from other buildings or equipment (missiles, fragments).
h. External marine impacts (e.g., rogue MODUs, support vessels).

8. Design

8.1. General criteria

a. Basic design criteria shall be included when Occupied Portable Buildings are being procured or
constructed.
b. Basic design criteria includes:
1. If placed within area of potential toxic gas, smoke, or flammable gas release, building
shall have tightly shutting windows and doors with adequate seals to prevent ingress of
smoke or gas within building (e.g., leak tight without HVAC).
2. Analysis of gas detection, electrical design and building design (positive pressure use,
blockage of air intake, etc.), and building evacuation shall be given in the siting plan and
the Occupied Portable Building design.

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

3. Occupied Portable Buildings shall be placed such that gaps around and underneath
building in which flammable gas can accumulate are reduced.
4. Fire analysis referenced in 7.4 shall identify minimum recommended requirements for the
fire exposure rating of external boundary.
5. External boundary shall withstand blast overpressure as defined in 7.2.
6. Occupied Portable Buildings shall be securely fixed to secondary structure and maintain
integrity as result of structure movements due to explosions, seismic loads, or wind loads.
7. Smoke, gas, and fire detectors shall be fitted and integrated into the facility fire and gas
detection system.
8. Alarm and communications systems shall be provided to allow command and control to
advise occupants of the situation.
9. Occupied Portable Buildings shall have emergency equipment, including emergency
lighting, alarms, signage, and firefighting facilities.
10. Occupied Portable Buildings shall have emergency egress doors that open outwards.
11. Occupied Portable Buildings located within ERPG-2 level shall have adequate warning
of toxic gases.
12. Occupied Portable Buildings should not have windows. Windows that are contained in an
Occupied Portable Building shall be made of certified safety glass, such as fully tempered
or laminated and rated for assessed fire and blast loads.
13. Wall structures shall not be weakened by installation of appurtenances, including air
conditioning units.
14. Furniture and interior fittings shall be secured to reduce the risk of them falling or being
thrown onto occupants by overpressure force of any explosion.
15. Occupied Portable Buildings shall include direct vision of windsock from exit doors of
building.

8.2. Egress routes

a. Egress routes shall be consistent with EERS.
b. Ideally, each building should have two well marked escape routes.
c. Escape routes shall:
1. Be designed to be far apart.
2. Lead directly to muster location.
3. Not be obstructed by equipment.
4. Be well marked.
5. Be protected from heat.
6. Lead away from hazardous areas.
d. At least one escape route shall remain unimpaired by hazard scenario identified.
e. Gangways, if used as part of egress route, shall be protected from effects of gas, smoke, and
heat.

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

f. Stairways that form part of egress route shall be constructed of non combustible material and
shall not be obstructed.
g. Egress routes shall be of suitable construction, materials, and orientations such that they are
designed to survive major accident hazards and provide protection for personnel to escape from
building to protected muster point.

9. Risk evaluation

BP’s approach to design and placement of Occupied Portable Buildings is one of “fit
for service”.
a. Occupied Portable Buildings shall be constructed or procured with hazards well understood
and assessed.
b. After evaluation is complete, it should be verified that risks to occupants in Occupied Portable
Buildings is consistent with Major Accident Risk Matrix in Integrity Management Segment
Implementation Guideline - Exploration and Production.
c. If there are implications to the results of the MAR outcome, the MAR should be updated before
addition of the Occupied Portable Building.

10. Control procedures

a. Procedures for control of Occupied Portable Buildings shall be developed and maintained.
b. Procedures shall include:
1. Reference to applicable legislation and this GP.
2. Requirement that Occupied Portable Buildings be subject to MOC approval process that
includes holistic hazard analysis.
3. MOC approval process that shall include assessment that, as a minimum, takes the
following credible hazards into account:
a) Hazards from potential fires, explosions, flammable hydrocarbon, and toxic
releases.
b) Potential Occupied Portable Building impact threats, e.g., equipment falling from
crane lifts, vehicles, or projectile damage from process plant incident (including
from offsite location).
c) Potential personnel impact threats from furniture and fittings.
d) Environmental risks, e.g., hurricanes, subsea conditions, and metocean conditions.
e) Emergency procedures, including raising alarm and evacuation.
f) Maximum allowable occupancy.
4. Requirement that the following information is available before and serves as information
for any hazard review:
a) Layout drawings showing placement of the Occupied Portable Building, locations of
blowdown and flare stacks, atmospheric relief discharges, processing modules, and
locations of fire protection and detection systems.

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

b) Design specifications for the Occupied Portable Building, including explosion

rating, fire rating, ventilation systems design, and detection and alarm systems.
c) Proposed occupancy levels, including normal and peak occupancy.
d) Draft of emergency response plan.
e) Prevailing wind speed and direction.
5. Siting of Occupied Portable Buildings on offshore installations shall be subject to
approval by the site’s most senior site manager and should have concurrence from the
Business Unit EA.
6. Proper MOC with evaluation and approval as required shall be developed before
installation.
7. Procedures to identify SPA and associated responsibilities for the following:
a) Site IM SPA shall be accountable for ensuring that this policy is followed and
Occupied Portable Buildings are appropriately designed and placed to protect
occupants from explosion, fire, and toxic gas hazards.
b) Site IM SPA shall be accountable for maintaining a register of Occupied Portable
Buildings and associated documentation produced as a result of this policy. SPU EA
shall conduct routine audits to confirm this policy is followed.
c) SPA for each Occupied Portable Building, who is responsible for ongoing safety of
occupants, including making sure that the occupants are practiced in building’s
emergency procedures.
8. Signed “occupancy” permit approving function, location, design, and occupancy of
Occupied Portable Buildings shall be prominently displayed and revalidated at least
every month. If process conditions change (e.g., new well operations, startup of units,
heavy lifts), occupancy shall be reviewed and revalidated.
9. Retention of relevant documentation for life of building at site.
Each business unit or asset may wish to develop a site technical practice or procedure
with appropriate forms and identified signoff personnel.

11. Emergency response procedures

a. Each asset shall have emergency response procedures for evacuation of occupants from
Occupied Portable Buildings when processes that can affect safety of occupants are started up
or shut down or during upset conditions.
b. Occupied Portable Buildings shall be included in site emergency response plans.
c. Effective emergency response procedures shall be in place for Occupied Portable Buildings.
d. Procedures shall be communicated to occupants via signage and briefings.
e. Effectiveness of procedures shall be tested in exercises within 1 week of initial occupancy.
f. The following shall be considered in developing emergency response procedures:
1. Raising alarm, distinguishing between when to evacuate and when to shelter in portable
buildings.
2. Means of egress routes and, potentially, provision of escape equipment. Personnel shall
be trained in use of escape equipment provided.

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

3. Location of evacuation points, whether shelter in place buildings or outside

evacuation/muster points.

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Guidance on Practice for Design and Location of Occupied Portable Buildings within E&P Segment Facilities

Annex A
(Normative)
Well sites, drilling, and well operations (offshore and onshore)

A.1 General

a. This annex provides guidance for well sites, drilling, and well operations onshore and offshore.
b. Except for buildings listed in A.2, portable buildings used for drilling and well activities shall
comply with guidance in the following:
1. Onshore - RM-GP 04-30.
2. Offshore - this GP.
Guidance on consequence assessment is available in A.3.
c. Any other buildings for drill or well sites, such as sleeping quarters, galleys, office facilities,
and meeting rooms, shall follow the guidance in the main body of this GP for offshore or
RM-GP 04-30 for onshore. Exceptions must be approved by the appropriate Segment Head of
Drilling.

A.2 Occupied portable buildings located near well site activities

a. There are a few Occupied Portable Buildings that are integral to drilling and well operations
which need to be located near activities.
b. In general, these are buildings that are occupied as a fundamental requirement of the nature of
well operations. The following list is all inclusive:
1. Drill floor dog house facilities.
2. Wireline units.
3. Mud logger’s facilities.
4. Cement room facilities.
5. Snubbing units.
6. Coiled tubing units.
c. For these buildings, the local well site leader shall ensure that:
1. Buildings are located such that exposure to risk is minimised.
2. Occupancy of these buildings is kept to an absolute minimum.

A.3 Consequence assessment for well sites

a. Business units should consider typical well characteristics in establishing safe distances for
location of their occupied portable buildings.
b. This can be done to supplement consequence modelling done in RM-GP 04-30, if modelling
done is not representative of process conditions.
Following describes some considerations that may be included in the design and
assessment of well site layouts:

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• Modelling for releases in RM-GP 04-30 assumes release directions that are not
vertical. A typical well blowout release is modelled as vertical, so the Business Unit
may desire to complete some additional modelling to better estimate the
consequences of a well blowout. BP Cirrus or other software should be used.
• Rather than complete individual well scenario hazard analysis, typical release
analyses may be done that address a family of wells or potential release scenarios,
for example:
- High water cut wells.
- Predominantly oil wells.
- Predominantly gas wells.
- High pressure, high temperature wells.
- Sensitive or unique well or drilling operations.
c. If the well site is integrated with processing, the modelling needs to include hazard analysis
from both the well scenarios and the process related scenarios.
d. For Onshore applications, the same end points as described in RM-GP 04-30 shall be used for
location of nonexempt buildings to identify the applicable zones, i.e. red, yellow, orange
zones.

A.4 Control and emergency response

a. Non essential personnel shall not be officed or located near well sites.
b. During periods of well operations or drilling activities, when even essential personnel are not
explicitly needed for the task, every effort should be made to locate these individuals as far
away from well operations as possible without interrupting work.
c. Well sites shall have documented emergency response plans. Personnel shall be trained on and
be familiar with those plans.

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