Identifying and Maintaining an Appropriate Response Capability
Dong Xin, Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL)PAJ Oil Spill Symposium 2016
“Maintaining Future Effective Preparedness against Oil Spills”
Tokyo, JAPAN - January 28-29, 2016

Slide 1:
Tiered preparedness and response is a framework that allows us to identify, mobilize
and utilize the right resources for dealing with spills and to get these resources to where
they are needed. So, not that anyone here needs reminding, however lets just recap on
why we need an integrated, scalable response capability.
Slide 2:The number of participant members is liable to fluctuate – check with Rachel Bayliss if
unsure of the actual figure
Slide3:
Our Mission is to provide Members with resources to prepare for and respond to oilspills efficiently and effectively on a global basis.
Slide 4:
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It will be not be new news to you that today we need oil a lot of oil and to achieve thisdemand we explore for, produce and transport oil by sea, and that spills do happen. But
do we always appreciate the risk.
Even though we are in time where oil prices have plummeted in the last year, theamount of oil being produced has remained largely the same, at around 75 million
barrels per day.
Sea born oil trade accounts for 10 billion tonne miles per year
Yes, the vast majority of oil produced and transported by sea is done with very minimal
amount spilled. And the amount being spilled is reducing over time due to better
prevention, through better well engineering and design, better operating procedures,
more advance navigation for ships, double hulled tankers or more stringent regulation.

All of this and many more factor contribute to the ongoing long term trend of fewer
spills. However we know from history that spills do occur and from basic risk
probability calculations that spills will continue to occur, both frequent low consequenceand less frequent high consequent spills, they will occur.
And therefore importantly we need to ensure that we are appropriately prepared toprotect the vitally important ocean resources that provide to us all in one way or
another.
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Slide8:
Talking Points
Our contingency planning and preparedness process allows us to identify and plan forspills of any magnitude. Incorporated within this process are training and exercises, aswell as the principles of Tiered Preparedness and Response, which enable the industry
to appropriately provision resources to facilities or regions to enable response escalation
based on prior planning. Industry believes that a well-prepared and well-practiced
response strategy significantly increases the likelihood of an effective response
operation.
The preparedness process consists of the following steps:•Identify Potential Events: Identify potential events for a specific facilityor region.

•Plan Scenarios: Develop planning scenarios based on the previously
identified events that encompass the full range of impact and response
challenges for a specific facility or region.

•Develop Response Strategies: Develop appropriate response strategies
based on the planning scenarios.

•Provision Resources: Provision resources according to the response
strategies using the principles of Tiered Preparedness and Response.

Slide9:
Talking Points

The first step in preparedness is for responders to identity the potential events for aspecific facility or region, including worst case events.
Prevention is a basic design and operational goal for industry. Source control is acrucial part of prevention. THROUGH THE IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIALEVENTS,RESPONDERS

MAYIDENTIFYAND

IMPLEMENTFURTHERPREVENTION MEASURES THAT WILL REDUCE THE CHANCE OF SPILLS.
Slide10:
Talking Points
Operators should have effective and deliverable contingency plans, up to and including
the worst credible case discharge.
Responders then select the events that cover the full range of impacts and response
challenges for that specific site and develop planning scenarios based on those events.
These scenarios are built out to include characteristics such as the predicted behavior of
the spill and the potentially impacted resources.
Responders select the events that encompass the full range of impact and response
challenges for the specific site in order to develop planning scenarios.
Slide11:
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Talking Points
After building out the planning scenarios, responders develop response strategies toidentify how best to respond to the each potential scenario. These strategies aredeveloped using NEBA, among other considerations, to identify the best choices thatminimize impacts of spills on people and the environment.
The response strategies are underpinned by NEBA, which is conducted during thepreparedness process to identify the best choices that minimize impacts of oil spills onpeople and the environment. Other considerations of the response strategies include
applicable regulations and the effectiveness and feasibility of involved techniques.
Slide13:
Talking Points
Plans must have detailed, executable components that can be translated into a physicalspill response capability. Equipment + people + planning + training + exercising +review=response capability.

Integration with Incident Management Systems(IMS) is the key to success.
After developing response strategies, resource provisioning occurs using the principlesof Tiered Preparedness and Response. This process ensures that facilities or regions
have access to the appropriate response resources as determined by prior planning. The
principles of Tiered Preparedness and Response allow for response escalation andreduce the over-proliferation of response resources through the integration of regionaland global response capabilities.
Industry members may enter into mutual aid or cooperative agreements with otherlocal members to bolster their own capabilities through the sharing of industry
resources.
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Slide15:
A globally recognized framework.
Tier preparedness and response is not a new philosophy, in fact you can easily traceback over 20 years
These principles are consistent with the International Convention on Oil Pollution
Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC which was adopted in 1990 and cameinto force in 1995 which provides a framework for the development of regional andnational capacities for preparedness and response, and a platform for international
co-operation. One of the most powerful principles of tiered preparedness and response is
the importance of cooperation and partnership between governments and the oil, ports
and shipping industries to develop an integrated response capability. This single
principle underpins the concept by allowing local, regional and global resources to be
combined in an effective and efficient manner to tackle a spill of any size andcomplexity.
Tiered preparedness and response was first specifically published in detail in IPIECA -A Guide To Contingency Planning For Oil Spills On Water first published in 1991 which
provided a basic tree tier system of response and was illustrated by the all familiar 3x3grid which showed how response can be categorised by three Tiers depending on
proximity to operations and size of the spill.
However as time has passed and our knowledge has expanded with experience from
responding to incidents, technology has moved forward and available techniques havedeveloped, there has been a gradual change in risk over time and with these changes
the tier preparedness and response model has had to evolve over time to suit our needs.
However the key principles of tiered preparedness and response remain firm, in that wemust identify appropriate resources to deal with oil spill incidents and develop plans for
how those resources will be accessed, mobilized and effectively utilized in a time of need.
Slide16:
Before we look at a graphic of the new model lets just look at the three main vital
components e look at when building a response capability.
So what is tiered preparedness and response.
Quite simply it is a planning approach that helps us define an appropriate response
capability, that importantly is not categorized by size or scope of spill to ensure that allavailable resources are for any size of spill.
It allows us to appropriately plan for the resources to be mobilized and cascaded to theincident location, and important it allows us to escalate a response through the tiers fora spill of an size or magnitude.
There are 3 many vital components we need to deal with spills and for Tiered
Preparedness and Response they are categorized for planning purposes into;•Responders•

Equipment•

And Additional support

Slide17:
As mentioned previously the historical 3x3 grid used to illustrate how a response can be
categorised by three Tiers depending on proximity to operations and size of the spill.
The grid shown here on the left is actually 2nd edition released mid 2000s which wasadapted from the original version to allow for the many factors that may influence theactual response capability needed and where the boundaries between tiers are set
The model on the right is the latest evolution of Tiered preparedness and response. As
mentioned previously the key principles remain unchanged its that we just have a moresophisticated way of undertaking the process. The old system was a more homogenous
approach, where all resources where bundled into an appropriate tiers and escalation
through the tiers happened at distinctive steps from tier 1, to tier 2 and 3.
However in reality that’s not how it works in practice. In responding to a spill you needa range of different resources that will help you achieve your operational objectives;

whether it be resources for dispersant spraying or resources for shoreline protection.
However, for example just because you need to bring in international tier 3 resources tohelp you achieve your dispersant spraying needs you may have sufficient local tier 1
capacity to deal with your shoreline cleaning requirements.
And that is why in using this newly evolved model we look at each capability
individually. With a total of 15 discrete capabilities. Incident management is illustrated
firmly in the middle as the scalable management structure will be required at all tiers
to ensure you can effectively manage the incent and deliver the required capabilities.
Tiered Preparedness and Response is a globally accepted, tried and tested philosophy,
used to plan for and respond to oil spills with appropriate and proportionate capability
Slide18:
The principles of Tiered Preparedness and Response incorporate global resources forresponse escalation in order to respond effectively to a spill of any magnitude andprotect our shared values.
The IMS symbol is at the center of the model to indicate that the incident management
is a central consideration when planning for potential incidents using the tiered
preparedness and response approach.
Slide19:
This slide is provided just as a visual indicator of how the framework may be used toidentify a required capability for a given scenario. This is just an example lifted directlyfrom the IOGP-IPIECA Good Practice Guide. Noting that in reality much more written
detail would be used to support the identified capability and this exercise would beundertaken for each of the chosen planning scenarios.
The Graphical Illustration Of The New Model Seen Hear On The Right, Shows Each
Response Capability Separately In The Individual Wedges, Through All Three Tiers.
The New Model Facilitates Response Planning By Depicting Which Response
Capabilities Are Needed And In What Timeframe. Tier 1 Capability Being Those That
Are Needed Immediately.
So with this example we firstly notice that out of the 15 different potential capabilities
required (illustrated by the wedges of the wheel), only 8 are considered appropriate forthis given scenario.
We can see that a different level of resource is available for each of the identified
capabilities at a tier 1 level 3 and greater of less reliance will be required through tier 2
and tier 3 support depending on the capability. Which is a nice illustrative way ofshowing what of resource is required, from where and how that will escalate throughthe tiers.
The tiered approach still remains the cornerstone of the way we prepare and plan torespond to spills, which allows us to cascade resources proportionate to the severity andcomplexity of the incident. Tiered preparedness and response provides a structured
approach to establishing the required response effort. The three levels, or ‘tiers’, provide
a simple structure from which oil spill response capabilities can be identified to mitigate
any potential oil spill scenario.
Allows preparedness frameworks to be built based on influencing factors Enables
resources to be cascaded in a proportionate and targeted fashion
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As mentioned at the begging, this is not a presentation to teach how to apply TPR, but
to provide a high-level understanding or what TPR is, how it works and importantly
some insight into common challenges and pitfalls that we observe.
One common pitfall that we see over and over again is the underestimation of themagnitude of the problem, where in some cases the volume of oil spilt is under reported
or the scale of the response effort required is misjudged. You can well imagine what
happens in these scenarios, the response effort applied is not sufficient to deal with theincident and by the time the error has been correct, additional damage could have beencaused and the response effort now required is likely to be even grater.
Therefore, something the oil and gas industry have leant to do quite well in recent years
is what has been coined ‘Prudent over-response’ meaning gear-up quickly assuming theworst and then scaled back as and when factual information informs you that you can.
For whatever reason, we also see issues at individual personnell level where theresponsibly party does not want to ask for help and try and utilize it own insufficient
resources.
We need the right culture in organizations where reporting of incidents is encouraged toensure the right response is applied.
Industry need to work together, industry need to be able to trust government and vice

versa and governments need to actively both seek and offer assistance, removing
national pride which may restrict them to deal with issues on their own insufficiently
and to seek cooperation and assistance to deal with issues collaborative and more
effectively.
Slide23:
Another challenge;
There are only a limited number of options we have to deal with a spill of oil and wewant to make sure all of the options are considered. A common mistake is to exclude anoption before making the assessments. Or for regulators to exclude some of these
response options in the first place.
The right approach to evaluate which options are appropriate is Net Environmental
Benefit Analysis or NEBA as it is commonly referred. We must not forget that thebenchmark for assessing each response option against is the natural degradation of theoil, in other words unless the response option we are assessing provides a net benefit to
the environment over doing nothing then that response option should not be used.
is whether applying that response option will provide a net benefit to the environment
over natural recovery
Slide24:
Moreover, Often those expected to perform a role within a response are insufficiently
training, have lack of exposure and experience leading to a lack of competence andtherefore underperform when required.
It is vital that all of those with key functions in a response undergo appropriate training
and can prove competence prior to undertaking the task.
Regular exercises are a great way of expose people to the challenges they are likely to
face, given that spills generally happen infrequently and therefore most people cantgain experience in their day to day business. Exercises are therefore important aspectsof maintaining experience familiarization and help identify development needs andpotential response challenges. These development areas and potential challenges
should be captured and actioned so that capability continues to improve and the same
mistakes are not made time and time again
Slide25:
There are cases where immigration and customs, for what ever reason and take longer
than necessary to provide visas/ work permits and clear equipment into country,

however we must also recognize that custom and immigration have an important role toperform and there will always be time required into to obtain visas and pass equipment
through customers. Therefore we need to plan for, and allow for these timings in ourresponse planning.
However there may well be legitimate ways in which we can expedite these processes;
such as;Consult with customs and immigration in peace time and understand the right process,what documentation will be required and time it will take.
We can also determine if there are means by which the declaration of an ‘emergency
situation’ can expedite these process as in many countries a process exist to speed up
customs and immigration if an emergency is declared. However even if these process
exist we must understand and what constitutes an emergency situation and who will
make that decision.
Since immigration and customs are such a vital part in the process of tier 3 response,
then they we need make sure these stakeholders are consulted in planning andincluded in some exercises and even occasionally test these process in a tier 3 nationalexercise.
Slide26:
So in summary;•Prudent over-response – act quickly, decisively and prudently over react to theincident, then when facts become clear and you know you have enough resources
you can scale back as required•Encourage cooperation – between companies, between industry, industry andgovernment and between government. A problem shared is a problem halved.

•Required resources should be identified and access to them full understood – Inplanning ensure that sufficient ad appropriate resources are identified andaccess to them full understood•

Ensure all key personnel are appropriately trained and competent to performtheir function and maintain that competence with refresher training andexercises•

Involve all relevant stakeholders – Ensure that relevant stakeholders areidentified and engaged•

Employ NEBA to select the most appropriate options – Look at all options andensure that NEBA is applied to guide response decisions and ensure that only
those response strategies that will provide a benefit over natural recovery areapplied.
•Test all parts of the capability regularly by way of exercises and drills andensure that all relevant parties are included in your exercises.

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