Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

Wells

13.  Any of the following incidents in relation to a well (other than a well sunk for the purpose of the abstraction of water)—

(a) a blow-out (that is to say an uncontrolled flow of well-fluids from a well);

(b) the coming into operation of a blow-out prevention or diversion system to control a flow from a well where normal control procedures fail;

(c) the detection of hydrogen sulphide in the course of operations at a well or in samples of well-fluids from a well where the presence of hydrogen sulphide in the reservoir being drawn on by the well was not anticipated by the responsible person before that detection;

(d) the taking of precautionary measures additional to any contained in the original drilling programme following failure to maintain a planned minimum separation distance between wells drilled from a particular installation; or

(e) the mechanical failure of any safety critical element of a well (and for this purpose the safety critical element of a well is any part of a well whose failure would cause or contribute to, or whose purpose is to prevent or limit the effect of, the unintentional release of fluids from a well or a reservoir being drawn on by a well).