American Petroleum Institute

Guidance Document for the Development of a Safety and Environmental Management System for Onshore Oil and Natural Gas Production Operations and Associated Activities - FIRST EDITION
 N BULL 75L

Annotation

Objective and Scope

An effective SEMS will have a fundamental objective of promoting continuous progress towards making safety and environmental protection an integral part of the company's culture. A SEMS should address facilities, engineering design, major equipment, and work processes relevant to the appropriate owners, contractors, or suppliers. This publication provides guidance for any company in the business of onshore oil and natural gas production, including drilling, construction, well servicing, and maintenance activities. In addition to having an effective SEMS, responsible development includes being a good neighbor and being committed to environmental protection and compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations. Annex B provides guidance for a company to consider as a "good neighbor."

Purpose

This publication is designed to aid companies in initiating the development of a SEMS. The intent is to identify a series of tools to assist in the development and implementation, or improvement, of the system. The design of each company's system will be unique and its implementation schedule tailored to leverage the existing system at a pace realistic to the company and its business plan. For those beginning the process of implementing a SEMS, it is recommended that the process be implemented over time on a risk basis, evolving into a complete system that addresses appropriate SEMS elements specific to a company's operations. Both design and schedule should initially address higher risk facilities, equipment, and processes; following that, the system should continue to expand to address risk in phases, addressing the more important elements at first and expanding to the full system over time. Simply stated, the SEMS can be implemented in several phases on various levels (i.e. geographically, functional areas, system elements). This phase-in schedule should be documented in the planning of the system.