Purpose

1. This notice provides updated guidance on the provision of accommodation on offshore installations,
as required by regulation 12 and Schedule 1 of the Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and
Construction, etc) Regulations 1996 (DCR)
1
and replaces ON62, which is now withdrawn.
2. It clarifies the standards used to define the terms sufficient beds, overcrowded, adequate
space, reasonable privacy and comfort referred to in Schedule 1, paragraphs 60 and 61. Guidance
2

is provided on the meaning of so far as is reasonably practicable (paragraph 61(c)) and how HSE
approaches the enforcement of these regulations.
Background
3. DCR regulation 12(1) and Schedule 1 paragraphs 59-66 contain requirements for accommodation
standards offshore. Regulation 12(3) made provision for a transition period for installations
commissioned before DCR came into effect (30th June 1996). This period ended on 3rd November
1999. DCR regulation 12 and Schedule 1 requires all installations operating after this date to be
compliant.
4. The DCR requirements are based on the principles of adequate space, privacy and comfort. This
guidance takes into account the time which has elapsed since compliance with DCR was required.
Provision of accommodation offshore
Sufficient beds
5. Schedule 1 paragraph 60 requires there to be sufficient beds or bunks for the number of people
expected to sleep on the installation, ie there must be a bed or bunk for everyone at all times. This
includes personnel visiting normally unattended installations (NUIs) unless there is no possibility of them
needing to sleep on the installation. See Annex 1 for further information concerning NUIs.
Hot bunking
6. The requirement for sufficient beds means that HSE will consider formal enforcement action if there
is evidence of hot bunking. A mattress on its own, made up appropriately with bedclothes, does not
constitute a bed or bunk. Changing the mattress and/or bedding to allow two people to share a bed or
bunk also constitutes 'hot bunking'.
Temporary increases in Persons On Board (POB)
7. Sleeping accommodation needs to take into account temporary increases in POB such as those that
occur during planned shutdown, maintenance and drilling campaigns, or major modification work.
Additional temporary beds in the accommodation to cope with staffing peaks are unlikely to meet
the guidance for reasonable privacy and comfort. The design of new installations should carefully
consider these foreseeable increases in staffing levels. Where this has not been the case planning will
need to address potential staffing peaks. These measures will remove the need to consider alternatives
such as temporary living accommodation or helicopter shuttling.
Overcrowded
8. Any room designated as sleeping accommodation must not be overcrowded. Overcrowding occurs
when cabin accommodation occupancy levels exceed the maximum allowable occupancy level, for the
actual volume of the room. It also extends to the need to have sufficient space to allow for reasonable
access to the facilities within the room, disturbance to sleeping occupants by others using the facilities
within the room or using the adjacent corridors and rooms, and to disturbance caused by
cleaning/servicing the room.
9. The ideal room volume provided for each occupant in a room designated as sleeping accommodation
should not be less than 11 cubic metres/person [including all furniture and fittings, e.g. bed, desk and
clothes storage space, but excluding toilets, showers or wash room]. The minimum height of room
should be 2.3 metres. In making the volume calculation a room or part of a room which is more than 3.0
metres high should be counted as 3.0 metres high.
10. Minimum volume per occupant is derived from established standards such as the 4th Edition
Guidance Notes
3
and onshore workplace requirements
4
. It is also consistent with standards used by
other regulators including Norwegian NORSOK Standard C-001
5
. Any room providing less than 6.9 cubic
metres per person is considered overcrowded.
11. Cabins providing between 6.9 and 11 cubic metres per person will be considered as having the
potential to be overcrowded. In such circumstances, enforcement decisions are based on additional
factors including numbers occupying the room and features of the room that may affect available space
e.g. number of beds.
Adequate space for the storage of clothes
12. Adequate space for the storage of clothes requires a number of cupboards and/or drawers which
can be individually locked. The minimum numbers required being equivalent to the number of bunks in
the accommodation cabin.
Reasonable privacy
13. Single occupancy of a cabin during a 24 hour period provides absolute privacy.
14. Reasonable privacy will be provided when a cabin is allocated to a maximum of two persons during a
24 hour work/rest period (double occupancy standard). The two persons can be on the same or
different shifts. An exception may be crew change days when due to rotation of personnel more than
two persons can be allocated to a cabin during a 24-hour work/rest period. This temporary situation
does not change the intention of the double occupancy standard.
15. The double occupancy standard has been in place since the DCR regulations came into force and is
consistent with other regulator standards (e.g. NORSOK C-001).
Comfort
16. Comfort is a state of physical well being and the parameters that ensure reasonable comfort are
environmental and physical e.g. air temperature, humidity, air quality, noise pollution, lighting levels,
cabin furniture condition and ergonomic suitability (including space and layout).
Sufficient number of showers, washing facilities and toilets
17. Cabins with en-suite toilet/shower facilities shared between two cabins i.e. one toilet and one
shower between four persons is considered sufficient. Any ratio worse than one shower and one toilet
shared between four persons is regarded as insufficient.
18. New installations (post 1996) should not have toilets, showers or washing facilities remote from
cabins. Existing installations (pre 1996) which were designed with remote facilities should be updated to
include the standard of two person cabins, with en-suite toilet/shower and washing facilities when
accommodation refurbishment or expansion is undertaken.
Provision of accommodation on normally unattended installations
19. DCR regulation 12 and Schedule 1 paragraphs 59-66 do not detail prescriptive requirements for NUIs
nor is there a specific mention of emergency accommodation. The regulations simply state that people
on an installation should be provided with accommodation if the nature, scale and duration of
operations so require. Any accommodation that is provided should meet DCR provisions (regulation 12
and Schedule 1 paragraph 59) and must contain sufficient beds or bunks for the number of people
expected to sleep on the installation (DCR Schedule 1 paragraph 60).
20. A number of different work patterns can be adopted for visiting NUIs. Annex 1 provides guidance on
the minimum accommodation standards for visits of varying duration.
Enforcement
Regulation 12(1)
21. DCR Regulation 12 requires compliance with the Schedule 1 requirements on an installation while it
is 'in use'.
22. 'In use' in this context means personnel are onboard the installation at its offshore location. An
offshore installation with no personnel onboard, no longer remains 'in use'. Therefore Schedule 1 of DCR
applies at any time while personnel are onboard an offshore installation, from its initial placement at
site, until final site removal.
Reasonable practicability
23. DCR, in accordance with Council Directive 92/91/ECC, required existing installations to comply with
the goal for accommodation provision as soon as possible and at the latest by 3 November 1999. All
installations currently operating in the UKCS are expected to comply with all the requirements in DCR
including those relating to accommodation.
24. The concept of reasonable practicability lies at the heart of the British health and safety system. It
is a key part of the general duties of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and many sets of health
and safety legislation including DCR. Using reasonable practicability allows HSE to set goals for duty-
holders, rather than being prescriptive. This flexibility is a great advantage but it has its drawbacks as it
relies upon duty-holders and HSE to exercise judgement with reference to good practice. The
information provided in this Operations Notice details existing good practice on which HSEs
judgement is based.
Enforcement approach
25. In applying DCR HSE will consider the following short-term incidents and exceptional
circumstances:
Short-term Incidents: From time to time there may be short duration unplanned events that challenge
compliance with the above DCR standards. These include circumstances requiring a short term
deviation from DCR standards such as a helicopter breakdown or an unforeseen event requiring a raised
POB to address safety imperatives.
Exceptional Circumstances: On rare occasions there may be an event that (despite good planning) could
not have been foreseen or avoided. Where this involves a safety or welfare imperative HSEs initial
enforcement expectation may be revised if the longer term benefits to health, safety and welfare
outweigh the costs of short term compromise of welfare standards but only when there is no other
means of achieving compliance and the impact on welfare standards are mitigated.
26 Each circumstance will require judgement in establishing whether there are sufficient factors that
indicate a case for temporary non-compliance with DCR accommodation standards. HSE will consider
the following factors when considering enforcement action. This list is not exhaustive and other relevant
factors will be taken into account:
Requirement for raised POB based on health, safety or welfare not commercial reasons;
Circumstances have come about despite good planning and use of resource;
Time available is limited by circumstances (e.g. weather, inter dependences on other
operations);
Unplanned event could escalate and compromise health, safety or welfare if not addressed;
Effect of raised POB does not impact on compliance with other legal requirements (e.g. PFEER
6
,
MAR
7
).
27 Where a decision is made to allow operation at a lower standard the duty holder will be required to
demonstrate that:
All reasonably practicable alternatives have been fully explored;
The effect of the compromise on accommodation standards will be mitigated wherever
possible;
Action has been taken to ensure food hygiene and water quality during period of raised POB;
A clear time limit exists on operating outside DCR with formal time-bound plans for achieving
compliance;
Consultation with affected workforce has taken place and appropriate action taken.
The period of non-compliance will be minimised by good planning.
28 All enforcement decisions will be subject to management review by HSE, and will be recorded in
sufficient detail to make it clear how the final enforcement decision was reached. The record will include
a timescale for revisiting the decision to ensure an early return to compliance.
29. For further information on enforcement and its application to accommodation please see the HSE
Enforcement Management Model and SPC/Enforcement/169 Offshore Accommodation: Enforcement
Guidelines.
Annex 1: Accommodation standards for normally unattended installations
Scenario 1: Short duration visits on a periodic or irregular basis with no expected overnight stays
Example: People attending a NUI for a few hours per day on a periodic or irregular basis, by vessel
transfer only in good weather, with the vessel standing by during the short period people are stationed
on the installation. People are not expected to stay overnight on the installation because the standby
vessel is available throughout the work period and capable of returning the installation crew to suitable
accommodation. In the event of the standby vessel or attendant craft breaking down, there should be
contingency arrangements in place to transfer the installation crew, on the same day, either back to the
shore or to other suitable accommodation (eg on an alternative vessel or attended installation). Toilet
and basic eating facilities need to be available nearby eg on the attendant craft.
Accommodation provisions:
accommodation is not required because of the nature, scale and duration of the operations;
beds or bunks are not required if accommodation is not provided.
Scenario 2: Full day visits on a periodic or irregular basis with no planned overnight stays but
emergency overnight stays could be expected
Example: People attending NUIs for full day trips (no planned overnight stays) on a periodic or irregular
basis by helicopter transport, where the helicopter returns later in the day to collect them. The
helicopter may park on a nearby attended installation or return to shore. Because of the possibility that
the helicopter will break down, become unavailable or be prevented from flying because of bad
weather, there is an increased likelihood that people might have to stay overnight on the installation.
Accommodation must be provided because of the nature, scale and duration of the operations. In this
scenario, where there may be no dedicated standby vessel, the Offshore Installations (Prevention of Fire
and Explosion, and Emergency Response) Regulations 1995
5
(PFEER) regulation 17 still requires
arrangements for a good prospect of recovery and rescue of personnel following evacuation or escape
from the installation.
Accommodation provisions:
rest room accommodation with dining area, complete with tables and chairs with backs;
separate food preparation area;
changing area with clothes storage facilities which enable male/female separate use, eg
lockable;
toilets, washbasins, and shower facilities which enable male/female separate use, eg lockable;
as people may be expected to stay overnight on the installation in a genuine emergency, beds or
bunks should be provided that should meet the following minimum standard:
o a bed or bunk for each person on the installation (Z-beds or similar temporary beds are
acceptable)
o bed or bunk accommodation facilities that enable male/female separate use, eg
separate lockable facilities. Rest room accommodation area can be temporarily used as
emergency sleeping accommodation.
Overcrowding is not permissible (a volume of 6.9 m3 per person would be considered the minimum
acceptable in this scenario).
The above facilities should be of a suitable size for the maximum number of people expected to be
stationed on the installation at any one time, including the helicopter crew of a helicopter broken down
on deck.
Scenario 3: Visits of a few days duration on a periodic or irregular basis with planned overnight stays
Example: People attending NUIs for trips of two to three days duration (planned overnight stays) on a
periodic or irregular basis by helicopter transport, where the helicopter returns to collect them.
Accommodation must be provided because of the nature, scale and duration of the operations.
Accommodation provisions:
requirements as per fully attended installation.
Note: Three-tier-high bunks may be considered only for the particular work pattern and visit frequency
described in Scenario 2 (no planned overnight stays) but, if considered, then a risk assessment should be
undertaken to ensure height of bunk etc does not give undue risk of injury from anyone falling from the
top bunk. Also note the requirements of PFEER, particularly regulation 14(3)(b), where two means of
egress are required from accommodation areas (kick-out panels will suffice for a second means of
egress).
Smoking and non-smoking personnel should be catered for, either by separate rest rooms, or
prohibition of smoking in rest room accommodation areas.
References
1. Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction, etc.) Regulations 1996 SI 1996/913
The Stationery Office 1996 ISBN 0 11 054451 X
2. A guide to the integrity, workplace environment and miscellaneous aspects of the Offshore
Installations and Wells (Design and Construction etc) Regulations 1996. Guidance on Regulations
L85 HSE Books 1996 ISBN 0 7176 1164 7
3. Offshore installations: guidance on design, construction and certification (fourth edition) HMSO
1990 (withdrawn)
4. Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 SI 1992/3004 The Stationery Office
1992 ISBN 0 11 025804 5
5. NORSOK Standard C-001 Living Quarters Area (3 May 2006)
6. Offshore Installations (Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response) Regulations
1995 SI 1995/743 The Stationery Office 1995 ISBN 0 11 052751 8
7. Offshore Installation and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995
The Stationery Office 1995 ISBN 0 11 052735 6
This guidance is issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Following the guidance is not compulsory
and you are free to take other action. But if you do follow the guidance you will normally be doing
enough to comply with the law. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law
and may refer to this guidance as illustrating good practice