| Who has built the IMHH website? |
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The IMHH website was originally developed by Petroweb Solutions Ltd. which is a specialist Internet development company with strong ties to the Oil and Gas Industry. The site has since been redeveloped by LOGIC.
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| Which Internet Browser application should I use? |
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The IMHH website is best viewed with either Internet Explorer version 5 and above or Netscape Navigator version 6 and above.
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| Which companies are participating in the scheme? |
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To find out which companies are already participating in the IMHH scheme, you must click on the 'Signatories' menu item. You can then view participating companies from the alphabetic index, or perform a search on part of the company name.
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| What does the IMHH Reg. No. stand for? |
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The IMHH Registration Number is a system generated number which is associated with your online Application. It's use is purely for internal use by the IMHH Administrator (LOGIC).
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| Why are supply vessels excluded from the IMHH and why are anchor handling vessels and diving support vessels not excluded? |
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Supply vessels are excluded from the IMHH in respect of property and consequential loss only. They are not excluded in respect of personnel (Clause 2.5 refers). This position was reached as a result of the view strongly expressed by one sector the industry. Such view was not so strongly expressed in regard to other vessels such as anchor-handling vessels and diving support vessels, so they are included in all respects.
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| Why is pollution not included? |
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The prevailing consensus in the industry was that the scheme should apply to personal injury, property damage and consequential losses only. Other areas of risk such as pollution were considered, but were ultimately discounted. One of the main reasons for having a mutual hold harmless arrangement in respect of a Signatory's own property, personnel and consequential loss is that the Signatory is best placed to assess the value at risk and, if required, make the appropriate insurance arrangements. Pollution risks are less quantifiable and hence would have created a complication to the IMHH provisions which was not widely welcomed.
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| Why is the IMHH limited to offshore and, if a project involves work which is part onshore and part offshore, how does the IMHH differentiate between the two? |
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The general industry view was that extending the IMHH to cover onshore activities as well as offshore activities could have inadvertently led to the application of the IMHH in circumstances where it was not intended (e.g. motor vehicle accidents) and, as such, in order to avoid any ambiguity it was limited to offshore activities only. With regard to specific projects or contracts undertaken by a Signatory which involve both (for example onshore fabrication and offshore hook up/construction), the IMHH will apply between that Signatory and all other Signatories in relation to the offshore element only. In the event that two or more Signatories wanted to enter into a separate mutual hold harmless agreement between themselves in order to cover onshore risks they would, of course, be free to do so.
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| Where there are a number of companies in a group who are involved in offshore activities, should the parent company sign on behalf of all companies in the group, or should the individual subsidiary companies sign the IMHH Deed? |
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The individual companies (within a group of companies) that are involved in offshore activities should each sign the IMHH Deed in their own right. Although the indemnities in Clause 2.1 are given in respect of the Personnel, Property and Consequential Loss of the Indemnifying Signatory or any other members of its Group, because the contracts for the various work and services are signed by the individual service companies, it is required for the sake of greater visibility and legal certainty that those companies that have entered such contracts should also sign their own Deeds of Adherence. Company structures and ownerships change, but if the companies joining the Scheme are the same as the companies holding contracts there is less risk of such organisational and ownership changes affecting the integrity of the Scheme.
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| What is the difference between a "Core Contractor" and others? |
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A "Core Contractor" means one of the original Signatories to the IMHH Deed. Contractors joining the Scheme subsequently will join by executing a Deed of Adherence in accordance with the provisions of Clause 4 of the IMHH Deed. Regardless of which document a contractor signs, all Signatories will have equal legal status in respect of the Deed.
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| How do we know if all other contractors we are working alongside have signed up to the IMHH scheme? |
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A listing of all the Signatories to the IMHH Deed (including those who have joined by Deed of Adherence) is available on the IMHH website. It appears to be a common misconception that unless all other contractors on a worksite have joined the IMHH Scheme, there is little point in becoming a Signatory. This is a fallacy since, hitherto, unless specific MHH arrangements had been made between contractors the desired mutual protection would not have existed then either. Such MHH arrangements between contractors working in parallel to each other were relatively rare and, when they did exist, were generally not universal on a worksite either. Contractors are therefore likely to be in a better position in respect of MHH arrangements, than formerly, but can still encourage any non-Signatories to join should they so wish.
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| Will the IMHH Scheme result in savings in insurance premiums? |
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Insurers have been supportive of the Scheme, but have not indicated that there will be any immediate effect on premiums. Looking at the situation long term, of course, any source of cost savings can only be good for the industry as a whole and therefore the reduced number of inter-contractor claims which will inevitably result from the Scheme will in turn lead to reduced costs to insurers and, in theory at least, should result in lower premium costs.
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| Is the IMHH Scheme open to suppliers? |
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The Scheme is open to everyone who is likely to work offshore and all offshore contractors are encouraged to sign up to it. It would, however, be inappropriate for suppliers to sign up to the Scheme unless they are likely to be actually going offshore.
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| Can operators sign? |
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There is no bar against operators signing the Deed, although at this stage we would not expect them to. The Deed as currently drafted is not intended for execution by operators, so if the IMHH proceeds to a next stage in which operators were to participate, some re-drafting would be required. On any given offshore installation we would expect that the operator would have contracts in place with all its contractors anyway
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| Should non-UK companies join the IMHH scheme? |
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| All contractors working offshore the UK Continental Shelf are encouraged to sign up to the IMHH Scheme as it designed to benefit any that are working in that area. The accepted methods of signing by non-UK companies may vary, of course, depending on the country of incorporation of the company concerned. Guidance in this respect is given on the Instructions for Signing issued with the Deed of Adherence. |
