During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) continued to fulfill its mission by performing safety and environmental inspections for offshore oil and gas operations. We reviewed the actions BSEE’s three regions—the Gulf of Mexico Region, Pacific Region, and Alaska Region—have taken to protect inspectors and offshore employees from COVID-19 and evaluated any impacts the virus had on inspections BSEE conducted since March 2020.
We found that BSEE:
• Developed, communicated, and updated COVID-19 guidance for all personnel involved with offshore inspections
• Continued to complete its required inspections
• Adapted its practices and remotely witnessed operators’ blowout preventer (BOP) tests by accessing the operators’ software systems
We learned that BSEE did not provide the inspectors with guidance on how to witness the BOP remotely. As of July 15, 2020, BSEE officials informed us that they were developing this guidance.
Considering the COVID-19 exposure risks for personnel conducting offshore inspections and the potential impact on safety, it is imperative that BSEE continue to update its COVID-19 guidance, work with operators to limit the risks to its inspectors, and finalize its guidance on conducting remote witnessing of operators’ BOP tests.