Process Safety Elements that can Prevent the Worst Case

Abstract

Abstract Over the past 30 years the oil and gas industry has made great strides in developing a culture that promotes personal safety for all workers in well site and support roles. Comprehensive personal safety programs and ever-improving safety records are fundamental goals of operating companies and their contractors. While awareness of personal safety principles (examples include personal protective equipment and lock-out/tag-out procedures) has improved personal safety at the workplace, it has not prevented catastrophic process safety lapses such as the 2010 Macondo explosion and spill, GOM, USA, the 2009 Montara blowout and spill, Timor Sea, Australia and 2003 Gao Qiao gas well blowout, Chongqing, China to name few. Process Safety incidents are distinctive from other incidents as they may result in catastrophic outcomes. The ‘Think Process Safety’ initiative aims to reduce the number of incidents by helping staff to understand their role in keeping all hydrocarbons safely in the pipe, well or reservoir at all times. The focus is on avoiding, correcting and learning from the minor events to prevent the more serious, and potentially catastrophic incidents. To prevent future incidents both large and small, the industry needs to continue focusing on personal safety and at the same time make a paradigm shift and pay the same attention to process safety. The inter-relation between personal safety and process safety will be discussed herein. The paper will primarily share the approach of ten elements that are deemed to be critical to process safety in wells operations; examples include physical barriers, emergency response, subsurface uncertainties, well control equipment, and standards and procedures. The Think Process Safety initiative supports engagement at every level from senior leaders to frontline workers and contractors. Examples of each of the ten elements will be presented in addition to how employees are benefiting from implementing from each one.