The Center for Offshore Safety (COS) has issued a new edition of COS-2-03, “Requirements for Third-Party SEMS Auditing,” Second Edition, and three additional guidance documents: COS-1-06, “Guidance for Developing a SEMS Audit Plan”; COS-1-07, “Guidance for Developing a SEMS Corrective Action Plan”; and, COS-1-08, “SEMS Audit Report Format and Guidance.”
It is important to understand that COS-2-03, First Edition is incorporated by reference into BSEE’s Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) regulation [30 CFR 250, Subpart S]. BSEE supports the new edition and the new guidance documents but is not yet incorporating them into the regulations. However, BSEE will use these COS documents as guidance in its review of audits and corrective action plans in addition to its own auditing activities. These new documents provide an excellent and practical approach to planning, conducting, documenting and addressing audit findings.
RCP helps its clients prepare for regulatory audits as well as conducts third-party audits of regulatory compliance and safety management conformance and maturity for the pipeline industry. RCP also helps clients build audit and assessment programs for the clients’ internal processes. If you would like help in developing your own audit program using industry standard audit processes, having your processes audited or have questions about auditing, contact Jessica Foley.