Knowledge Centre
Asset Integrity
Overview
Asset integrity is essential for ensuring a safe, sustainable industry, and involves maintaining hardware to be safe, reliable and efficient. With the ageing infrastructure in the North Sea, maintaining asset integrity is a challenge which Oil & Gas UK and the industry take seriously. Indeed, asset integrity forms a key part of Step Change in Safety’s strategy.
Maintaining hardware to be safe, reliable and efficient is not only essential to manage the major accidents hazards the industry faces but it also plays a vital part in creating a physical environment people can be proud to work in. Creating this environment is one of the key strategies required to create an incident free workplace.
Monitoring asset integrity
Since 2000, the HSE has run a series of programmes aimed at ensuring asset integrity and reducing hydrocarbon releases. Information on the most recent of these, including the industry's response, is below.
2004 - 2007: Key Programme 3 (KP3)
Concern over an apparent general decline in the condition of fabric and plant on some installations resulted in the HSE carrying out KP3 on asset integrity. The HSE’s report is available here. The industry responded to KP3 by monitoring three asset integrity indicators with a view to gauging and improving its performance in process safety. The three indicators are:
- hydrocarbon releases: HSE collates and monitors data in the aim of reducing major and significant releases by 10% year-on-year
- verification non-compliance issues: independent verifiers visit installations to monitor safety critical elements
- safety critical backlog
In 2009, the industry published Asset Integrity: An Industry Progress Report.
2010 - 2013: Key Programme 4 (KP4)
The HSE's KP4 programme, which came into effect on 28 July 2010, was set up to ensure the risk to asset integrity arising from ageing and life extension is being adequately controlled. Whereas the KP3 programme looked at the ‘here and now’ condition of offshore installations, KP4 takes this one stage further by looking at the ability of the offshore industry to take action now to make sure conditions are safe in the future.
The objectives of KP4 are:
- to raise awareness of the need for specific consideration of ageing issues as a distinct activity within the asset integrity management process
- to inspect duty holders' approaches to the management of the risks to asset integrity associated with ageing and life extension
- to identify shortcomings and enforce an appropriate programme of remedial action where necessary
- to work with the offshore industry to establish a common approach to the management of ageing installations.
KP4 will run until September 2013. It will also include the development of technical information for operators on ageing installations, promotion of good practice, liaison with industry bodies, and sharing of experience through seminars and workshops.
Further details can be found on the HSE’s website here.
Guidelines
The asset integrity workgroup has helped to develop and collate a collection or toolkit of best practice in asset integrity. The checklist identifies the various elements of each of the integrity tools and the various stages of the integrity lifecycle.
Additional information on plant ageing and life extension
Click here to view the Norwegian oil industry's (OLF) guidelines for life extension.
Click here to view the HSE's plant ageing study.
Click here to view the COMAH (Control Of Major Accident hazards) question set to help operators assess compliance with the HSE's plant ageing study.
Click here to view the COMAH Ageing Plant Operational Delivery Guide.
Click here to view the HSE plant ageing report into management of equipment containing hazardous fluids or pressure.
