Onshore process industries

The development and improvements in offshore safety discussed above and shown in Figure 1.1 were matched by corresponding changes and improvements in the onshore process industries in roughly the same time frame, as can be seen from Figure 1.4 (courtesy DNV). The data shown are for individual companies and for groups of companies. 

Figure 1.5 provides a simple overview as to how regulations and standards in the onshore process industries developed. 

In the USA, one of the principal drivers for the implementation of PSM occurred in the onshore process industries in the early 1990s. Refineries and chemical plants handle large quantities of flammable and toxic materials, often at high pressure and temperature. There had been a series of serious process-related accidents in the 1980s, and it became apparent that new safety systems were needed. In the USA, the most important of these new systems was a regulation called the PSM of highly hazardous chemicals, 29 CFR 1910.119 It was promulgated in the year 1992 and is administered by the OSHA. 

Although the Flixborough accident was very tragic, it did lead to some positive developments. In particular, as discussed above, the onshore process industries... 

First developed for the nuclear and aerospace industries, safety cases can be used in any activity or industry that poses high risk to workers or the community. One of the first examples was in the United Kingdom where the Nuclear Installations Act of 1965 required covered faculties to create and maintain a safety case in order to obtain a license to operate. Since then, other industries that have used safety cases include pipelines, raUways, and mining operations. Moreover, in spite of the fact that the term safety case is not widely used in the USA, the same approach to the development and application of SMSs is, in fact, used in other American industries. For example, the US nuclear and space industries prepare Safety Analysis Reports (SARs) and Mission Safety Evaluations (MSEs), respectively. These documents have the same general intent and structure as a safety case. Within the onshore process industries, the safety case approach was introduced in Europe in onshore process plants as part of the Seveso Directive in 1986 (since replaced by the Seveso 11 Directive of 2003). 

During the 1980s, a series of bad accidents in the process industries, both onshore and offshore, demonstrated that a new approach to management safety was needed. Examples... 

Responsible for safety, emergency preparedness and the working environment in the petroleum industry. The regulatory regime applies to offshore installations and exploration, production and exploitation operations, as well as to their associated onshore processing facilities and refineries. 

Papadakis, G.A. Major hazard pipelines a comparative study of onshore transmission accidents. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries. 12,91-107, 1999. 

The main objective of our exploratory study was to map experiences from applying ISO 11064 and CRIOP to CC design in fiiU scale industrial projects, e.g. construction of new offshore installations (oH platforms, FPSOs) and onshore process installations as well as major CC modifications of the same. The purpose of this was to identify strengths and weaknesses in ISO 11064 and CRIOP as the standard is being apphed today. 

In the previous two chapters it was noted that offshore safety management has much in common with other process industries, particularly onshore facilities such as refineries, pipelines, and chemical plants. However, each industry does have its unique safety issues and problems. For example, a chemical plant will often either manufacture or use highly toxic compounds that have to be handled with special... 

This publication provides guidance on assessing the risk and the consequent SIL requirements of protection systems applied to electrical power equipment and systems used within the petroleum industry (both onshore and offshore) and the allied process industries. The elements of achieving and maintaining a defined SIL applied to protection arrangements are that ... 

Standards for Performance for New Stationary Sources Onshore Natural Gas Processing Plants in the Natural Gas Processing Industry." Federal Renter, 40 CFR Part 60, Vol. 49, No. 14, January 20, 1984, pp. 2,636-2,670. 

The improvements shown in Figiue 1.1 are not confined to the offshore industry. Similar trends are reported by onshore process facilities in the USA, as shown in Figure 1.2 (based on data from Pitblado, 2008). 

This chapter describes eight of the most important events that have occurred in the process industries over the last 40 years. Three of the incidents occurred onshore but their impact was so profound that they affected the entire energy-related business—regardless of location or industry type. (One of the offshore incidents— Blackbeard—was actually a nonevent, but it offers profound lessons to managers and leaders at aU levels.)... 

The Flixborough event is one of the three incidents in this chapter that occurred onshore. However, this event is extremely important to all types of process industry because it led to the creation of process safety management (PSM) systems—which in turn provided the foundation for many other similar systems, including safety and environmental management program (SEMP) and SEMS. 

Cathodic protection and associated instruments have developed in-line with the changing monitoring demands of both the onshore and offshore industries. In particular, for potential and current density measurements, far greater quantities of data are sought and are required to be processed into an easily assimilated form. Thus cathodic protection instrumentation has benefited from an increased association with microprocessor-based data handling and storage systems. 

Smoke is a by-product of most fires caused by the incomplete oxidation of the fuel supply during the chemical process of combustion. It accounts for a large majority of fatalities of from fire incidents at both onshore and offshore petroleum facilities. In the Piper Alpha incident of 1988, probably the worst petroleum industry offshore life loss incident, the majority of deaths were not from bums, drowning or explosion impacts but from smoke and gas inhalation. The report on the incident concluded that, of the bodies recovered from the incident, 83% were as a result of inhalation of smoke and gas. Most of these victims were assembled in the accommodation awaiting evacuation directions or as they may have thought - a possible rescue. 

Generally offshore facilities and major process plants onshore represent considerable capital investment and have a high number of severe hazards associated with them (blowouts, ship collisions, line and vessel ruptures, etc.). They normally cannot be easily evaluated with a simple safety checklist approach. Some level of "quantifiable evaluation" reviews are usually prepared to demonstrate that the risk of these facilities is within public, national, industry and corporate expectations. 

It may seem a bit weird to say that the oil and gas industry is industrialized . Our point is that the on-/ off-shore distinction is challenged, not only as a result of off- onshore communication and interaction at the operational level. There is also a tendency that land-based industrial actors get more involved in the oil and gas industry. As a result, e.g. land-based industrial practices and concepts, e.g. virtual plants , becomes part of the globalization process. 

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