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Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Improving process safety for the operation of Major Hazard Facilities

Erik Vandenberg https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2458-1618 A *
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A Verbrec, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.

* Correspondence to: erik.vandenberg@verbrec.com

The APPEA Journal 63 S332-S336 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22041
Accepted: 22 March 2023   Published: 11 May 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.

Abstract

The discipline of process safety management has proven to be a valuable tool for assisting operators of Major Hazard Facilities (MHF) in focussing on the critically important ‘few’, with a heightened level of scrutiny than that of the ‘many’ lesser critical yet still important elements of a process system. This discipline attracts much oversight, discussion, and enthusiasm from many areas within and outside asset operations teams. Major Accident Hazards may vary in severity and probability throughout the life cycle of existing assets, it is, therefore, important to review these periodically. Clear purpose and definition of Safety Critical Elements (SCE), and in some cases Integrity Critical Elements (ICE), along with intelligent rationalisation of these to reflect the items of legitimate criticality, will allow higher precision and clarity, leading to higher confidence and an improved ability to manage genuine process safety risk. Further improvements can be made through real-time and near-time reporting through risk visualisation bowtie diagrams to ensure hazards can be managed to As Low as Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) and their status made visible to enable the most effective prioritisation of work which prioritises restoration of the most compromised threat and consequence barriers first.

Keywords: aging assets, ALARP, barrier health, carbon sequestration, end of field life, Integrity Critical Elements, Major Hazard Facilities, process safety, repurposing hydrocarbon assets, Risk-Based Process Safety, Safety Critical Elements.

Erik Vandenberg MEng A-MIEAust NER CMRP AFAIM, Operations Manager, Verbrec Asset Management, is a highly strategic Asset Management, Maintenance, and Reliability Leader with over 20 years of experience in engineering, commissioning, maintenance and reliability, and physical asset management within the oil and gas industry. Erik’s expertise encompasses, but is not limited to, asset integrity and process safety management programs, LNG fixed asset rotating equipment shutdowns/turnarounds, maintenance and reliability optimisation programs, pre-commissioning, commissioning, start-up, and safe operations of major energy/hydrocarbon facilities. His experience spans many of the significant Australian hydrocarbon assets. Since entering the oil and gas industry, Erik has completed postgraduate studies, including a Diploma in Leadership and Management and a Master of Maintenance and Reliability Engineering. A strong advocate for process safety management, Erik possesses a proven record of technical leadership and management of high-volume stakeholder groups, influentially negotiating and communicating effectively, using key metrics to inform decision-making.


References

Silva GFO, Borella A, Machado RC, et al. (2022) Dynamic risk advisor – real time bowtie risk assessment monitoring system. The APPEA Journal 62, 92–105.
Dynamic risk advisor – real time bowtie risk assessment monitoring system.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |