A Holistic Approach to Sustainable Operational Risk Assessments

The oil and gas industry has long recognized the necessity of periodically revalidating operational risk assessments by performing Process Hazard Analyses (PHAs), such as Hazard and Operability Studies and What-if analyses. To be successful in creating a sustainable business in hazardous industries, organization need to collectively manage risk across their operations in a routine and efficient way. This requires a change in the dynamic between safety and productivity, where safety is not set against production and risk mitigation becomes an integral part of efficient and effective operations.There are publications available on performing a Process Hazard Analyses. However there is limited guidance for revalidating supplemental risk analyses. The objectives of performing periodic revalidations are to address the cumulative changes in risk that occur over time and to continuously improve our understanding of that risk.

 

The purpose of operational risk assessments are to identify and understand the hazards associated with the process being reviewed, to understand the potential resultant hazardous events, and to prevent those events by identifying all the potential routes to those events and ensuring that adequate safeguards are in place to mitigate their risk. The application of a suitable hazards evaluation methodology (e.g., Hazard and Operability [HAZOP], Failure Mode and Effect Analysis [FMEA], What If, Checklist) is a core process of the risk assessment. All of the most-used methodologies are ultimately just different ways of asking “What If” questions. The key to success is asking (and, of course, correctly answering) the “right” What If questions. This paper will look at how a variation on an old theme can significantly improve the likelihood of asking all of the right questions, in a way that capitalizes on the strengths of some of the other approaches while avoiding their weaknesses. The work process mentioned in this paper will be illustrated with actual field examples and case studies.

This paper will guide operation managers, Health and Safety (HS) managers, risk assessment team in effective preparation before and during a risk assessment meeting thereby can reduce the total resources required and improve the overall efficiency. The work process furnishes a company with an effective tool for revalidating operational risk assessments and will provide a holistic and common mean of balancing risk against production at all levels of the operation.