Oil & Gas UK UAS Operations Management Standards and Guidelines

Oil & Gas UK have launched drone guidelines to industry in the form of the ‘Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Operations Management Standards and Guidelines’, in partnership with an expert panel, including Green Deck Operations Ltd.

Simon Jones, owner of Green Deck Operations, a company providing helideck and crew support services to the offshore and super yacht aviation sectors as well as HEMS support services was part of a panel of experts selected from Oil & Gas UK tasked with the development of these groundbreaking UAS guidelines for the UK Oil & Gas industry. The group consisted of representatives from three major oil and gas companies, BP, ConocoPhillips and Shell as well as two of the UKs leading drone operators, Cyberhawk and Sky-Futures.

Mick Borwell, Health, Safety and Environment Director at Oil & Gas UK, said: “The technology is particularly attractive for its use in improving safety. For example, sending unmanned aircraft instead of people into confined spaces to conduct inspections reduces risk, and is also effective and efficient. We expect their usage to grow.The intention is to encourage offshore operators planning on using this emerging technology to think about the whole operating and safety system offshore and not just the air vehicle. The guidelines have evolved from lessons learned in recent years and provide information about best practice, procedures and the certification needed to be compliant with UAS regulations.”