This paper is about the influence of safety regulations on the way major accidents are identified and managed. A case study is presented based on the Brazilian experience in subsea processing units. The oil and gas industry is devoting increased interest to subsea processing due to the limitation of easily accessible oil and gas reservoirs. There are more than 48 units already installed in Brazil. Most of the safety requirements in Brazil's E&P policy are based on offshore units. However, for subsea structures, there are different risks, environments, and operational conditions. In 2015, Brazil presented a safety regulation named SGSS (Technical Regulation of Operational Safety Management System of Subsea System). This regulation explicitly addresses risers and introduces only general safety requirements to other subsea installations and equipment. Thus, this paper assesses the Brazilian subsea safety regulation and the results of this policy implementation through the Brazilian Petroleum Regulator (ANP) inspections and incident communications. The example demonstrates the inefficiency of the policy to promote safety. This paper then proposes simplifying regulations, introducing new technology requirements, and a technical committee to improve safety to subsea equipment.

本文是关于安全法规对重大事故识别和管理方式的影响。案例研究是根据巴西在海底处理装置方面的经验提出的。由于易于接近的油气藏的限制，油气行业对海底加工越来越感兴趣。巴西已经安装了超过 48 台。巴西 E&P 政策中的大部分安全要求都基于海上单位。然而，对于海底结构，存在不同的风险、环境和操作条件。2015年，巴西提出了名为SGSS（海底系统操作安全管理系统技术法规）的安全法规。该法规明确针对立管，并仅引入了对其他海底装置和设备的一般安全要求。因此，本文通过巴西石油监管机构 (ANP) 的检查和事故通报来评估巴西海底安全法规和该政策实施的结果。这个例子表明促进安全的政策效率低下。然后，本文提出简化法规、引入新技术要求以及成立技术委员会以提高海底设备的安全性。