Page 26 - Gi February 2019 - flipbook
P. 26
hirty years after the Piper
Alpha tragedy, and despite
huge improvements in oil
and gas safety since,
T regulators worldwide
remain concerned over major accident
hazard management (MAHM). They
are watching for any sign that gaps in
safety-related skills may potentially
arise and lead to a higher incidence of
major accidents in an industry picking
up after the oil price downturn.
One sign of persistent concern
came in a report in early 2018 as the
result of a Norwegian government
review of offshore health, safety, and
environmental performance. It
commented that although the level of
health, safety, and the working
environment off the shores of Norway
was high, safety challenges and
serious conditions have arisen in the
past few years.
Operators seeking enhanced but
cost-effective approaches to MAHM
UNDER THE technologies, but also to management
are turning not only to new
processes that optimise the huge
value that experienced people can
SURFACE bring to safe operations in the global
oil and gas industry.
Accidents usually result from
complex interactions between
people and plant. “This is why the oil
Mercifully, major incidents in the gas industry are and gas industry needs rigorous
systems to check for weaknesses in
few and far between. However, 30 years on from the both elements,” said Hari
North Sea’s worst ever tragedy, how much have we Vamadevan, Senior Vice President at
really learned about safety and risk? And how much DNV GL. He observed that while risk
of that knowledge is hidden from view? Experts from management processes to enhance
safety are important, people can be
DNV GL talk about their research ignorant of the risk.
With the cost of ignorance being
potentially high in terms of human
lives and financial consequences, the
industry faces a knowledge risk
challenge. Advanced technologies and
better use of data are helping to meet
it, but the human factor in safety
control remains central to the design
and implementation of knowledge risk
management strategies.
Companies that formally manage
‘knowledge risk’ to identify, capture,
share, and reuse information can
extract need-to-know, safety-related
information from experts and
departments. It is a safeguard against
the potential loss of safety-critical
knowledge if staff move within the
industry or leave it.
The International Association of Oil
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