Try the British Drilling Association Ltd., Wayside, London End, Upper Boddington, Daventry, Northamptonshire, NN11 6DP. Tel: 01327 264622 Fax: 01327 264623 Email: infobritishdrillingassociation.co.uk Web: www.britishdrillingassociation.co.uk They have a number of publications including a health and safety manual.... Regards, Ross

I am not sure why you think regulation would be specific to fracking. There are lots of different oil and gas process and all are covered by the same regulations. I would think fracking will just been seen as an addition. Ultimately there may be some specific guidance. But with anything new, it always take time for this to emerge and be accepted. When searching, try 'shale gas' instead of fracking

Latchy, The issues you are concerned about are all 'standard' in oil & gas operations, and so included in the relevant UK legislative requirements. Obviously the detailed environmental concerns about possible connections to water-bearing strata and seismic effects are specific to the fraccing operations, but the well design, drilling and construction steps are all standard - and covered by some pretty detailed requirements for pre-drilling submissions, independant verification, etc. All wells have to be designed NOT to allow communication with water sources and to include equipment to prevent what you call 'blow backs' (the industry uses 'blowout'). Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) is currently handled and suitably disposed of in many UK oil production operations. I'm not suggesting that all these arrangements work perfectly 100% of the time, just that they are covered by existing legislation - and, as a % of wells drilled or volumes of oil & gas produced in UK and elsewhere, they are pretty reliable.