The safety plan will be part of a comprehensive Environmental Health and Safety Management (EHSM). With a project this big, safety is a major issue with the staff and the public that are near the processing plants and the pipeline. The next few pages describe some of the safety features that the project has built into its operations planning.

The following list are some things used in other offshore developments similar to this project, and are planned for this project.

• physical barriers and/or passive fire protection to protect safe havens from the effects of fire, smoke and blast (e.g. fireproofing, spacing, blast walls, fire walls)
• ventilation and pressurization
• shutdown, relief and depressurizing systems
• gas, smoke and fire detection systems in hazardous locations and at strategic locations throughout the platforms
• overpressure protection
• temperature and pressure monitoring and control
• hand-portable and wheeled fire extinguishers
• high-pressure and high-level shutdowns on vessels
• lifeboats
• survival suits
• ventilation to prevent build-up of hazardous vapours
• safe refuge locations

In support of the safety system/devices listed above, the following primary systems are planned for the central facilities at Thebaud.

• A firewater hydrant system using seawater for general deluge, water monitors and fire-fighting applications. Firewater pumps will supply seawater to a main system. Other equipment will be placed at strategic locations around the platform (e.g. hose reels, monitors and portable extinguishers.)
• An Aqueous Fire-Fighting Foam system (AFFF) to fight hydrocarbon-based fires.
• An inert gas fire suppression system will be used in places such as turbine enclosures, electrical switch gear rooms and control rooms.
• A fixed fire-extinguishing system using carbon dioxide, pressure water spray for machinery, hydrocarbon liquid pump, and flammable liquid storage spaces.

The living quarters will be the main safe haven where platform personnel can take the following actions:

• assemble during an emergency
• take refuge from fire, smoke and other hazards
• initiate emergency actions (incuding requirements to have secure communication)
• effect safe and orderly platform evacuation

The following fire protection and safety systems are planned for the accommodation facilities:

• non-combustible construction
• fire rated construction(minimum one-hour duration)
• explosion overpressure protection, if required
• heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system capable of maintaining a positive pressure
• fire detection, smoke detection and alarm HVAC inlets incorporating gas detection and alarm
• platform emergency shutdown capability
• emergency lighting
• two means of egress
• alternative means of escape (lifeboats, life rafts, helideck, etc.)
• survival suits
• hand-portable and wheeled fire extinguishers
• hose reel and sprinkler firewater system

Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning Systems

The Thebaud production platform ventilation system will be based on natural ventilation , a system in which personnel are sheltered with wind screens that are open top and bottom. this will allow air currents to ventilate any buildup of hazardous vapours.

Areas that require heat and air conditioning include the control rooms, offices, storage areas and work areas. These areas will be pressurized with air to prevent the entry of hazardous vapours. Fire dampers, which will close automatically in case of fire, will be installed for both supply and exhaust air vents.

Subsea Pipelines

What will keep the pipeline safe?

• externally coated for corrosion protection and for cathodic protection, zinc anode bracelets will be installed.
• concrete coated for negative buoyancy and for on bottom stability.
• trenched into the seabed where necessary.
• water will be used to pressure test the completed pipeline before use.
• pressure, temperatures and flow rates will be monitored and controlled.
• leak detection system that will compare mass flow in and out of the pipeline
• pipeline will be marked on charts, and a re-anchoring zone established within 200 metres.

Decommissioning and Abandonment

There are three main facility sites that will require decommissioning and abandonment once the project is finished the offshore facilities, onshore gas plant, and natural gas liquids handling facilities.

The following actions will be taken to abandon the wells:

• the well will be killed by weighted brine or mud, a retainer set and the wellbore pressure tested
• cement will be squeezed below the retainer into the perforations, and a cement plug set on the retainer
• the hole contents will be flushed with special fluid, and the riser strings and conductor pipe pulled
• the borehole will be plugged with cement and/or a second bridge plug and the conductor pipe cut two or three meters below the sea level to provide a clear seabed area.

Offshore Platforms will be removed. The offshore pipeline will be kept in place and will be flushed out and filled with seawater. The ends will be capped off. The lines will be surveyed, and any pipeline or parts of lines presenting an environmental or commercial hazard will be recovered and scrapped. Onshore pipelines, where buried, will, in general, be abandoned in place. Finally the right-of-way will be surrendered and allowed to return by natural succession. Onshore facilities will be removed, and land remediated