In its ‘State of Safety 2018’ report, DNV GL reports that ‘close to half (46%) of senior industry professionals believe that too little has been invested in safety in recent years.’ Unfortunately, less than a third (28%) are to increase safety spending in 2018. On the plus side 40% of respondents believe digital tools and technologies have already improved safety. Digital solutions can compensate for human error, the main cause of 60-80% of industrial accidents. Digital systems help manage and disseminate information. In which context, the report rather curiously cites BP as stating ‘there is no standard and global approach to managing engineering information and data ... which leads to a lack of clear accountability and responsibility for managing critical engineering information.’ The report includes a plug for DNV GL’s MyQRA quantitative risk assessment service and its ISRS international safety rating system.
The US Chemical Safety Board, in its 2017 annual report states that hot work is one of the most common causes of worker deaths among incidents it investigates. The CSB disseminated lessons learned and best practices to prevent worker deaths around storage tanks containing flammable materials. The CSB also looks back to the Macondo disaster, observing that ten years later, ‘there remain significant deficiencies in human and organization performance that must be addressed to prevent future accidents, a number of our recommendations to Federal agencies remain unimplemented.’
The US Pipeline Research Council International has produced a summary of its analysis of recent recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation of the 2010 Marshall, Michigan, incident. The PRCI report compares various in-line inspection (ILI) tools and technologies including tool tolerance, the probability of detection and of identification. The study compared some 50,000 crack features identified through ILI technologies and with in-ditch non-destructive examination results. The report provides operators with ‘detailed step-by-step procedures for evaluating the effects of interacting corrosion and crack threats on the integrity of pipelines.’
A new recommended practice from DNV GL RP-E104 updates findings from a joint industry project that analyzed wellhead fatigue. Previous wellhead fatigue analysis conducted by different industry players has produced ‘diverging results.’ The new RP seeks to improving quality and consistency in the analysis.
The IOGP has produced a safety recommended practice for contracted work performed at oil and gas fabrication sites. While injuries and fatalities have reduced significantly over time, ‘they are still too common.’ IOGP Reports 577 and 597 provide recommendations to owner operators and engineering contractors.
A new, integrated high level shut-in safety feature is available on all Electrolab Model 2100 digital level sensors. A single sensor can provide two levels and eight temperature measurements in the same tank and a dedicated safety circuit ensures accurate high and high-high level alarms. The device can be supplied an explosion proof housing.
Det-Tronics has published a white paper explaining how to integrate fire and gas safety systems with process control. ‘Using a certified, fire and gas safety system that can communicate appropriate messages to the process control system during an event is vital to the safety of a facility and its inhabitants.’ However, ‘specifying and integrating these two systems is no simple matter.’
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