Assessing the Impact of Ageing Safety Critical Elements in Offshore Installations and How the Ageing Processes Impact the Role of Sces to Act as Barriers to Major Accidents

The Energy Institute (EI) has supported and co-ordinated an oil and gas industry project to investigate potential measures for the ageing effects on Safety Critical Elements (SCEs) as defined by the offshore safety regulations Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response, (PFEER), and Design and Construction etc. (DCR). This investigation has led to a measurement method of business processes that can provide Leading Indicators and also a novel modification of the Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis linked with ageing processes. This assessment process is being supplemented by research supported by the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) which is looking at embedding ageing assessments into the assurance processes leading to checks on the performance of hazard barriers (as required by Norwegian safety regulations). The paper will describe what these 2 projects have found and how between them they have developed a synergy resulting in a range of assessment approaches, produced Key Performance Indicators for ageing and have set a number of principles for defining possible life extension.