Health, Safety, and Environmental Management in Offshore and Petroleum Engineering

Srinivasan Chandrasekaran

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781119221845
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781119221432
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Mechanical Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This book shares the technical knowhow in the field of health, safety and environmental management, as applied to oil and gas industries and explains concepts through a simple and straightforward approach

• Provides an overview of health, safety and environmental (HSE) management as applied to offshore and petroleum engineering
• Covers the fundamentals of HSE and demonstrates its practical application
• Includes industry case studies and examples based on the author's experiences in both academia and oil and gas industries
• Presents recent research results
• Includes tutorials and exercises

1
Safety Assurance and Assessment

Introduction to Safety, Health, and Environment Management

Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) management is an integral part of any business and is considered to be extremely essential when it comes to managing business in oil and gas sectors. HSE requirements are generally laid out considering the expectations of the divisional compliance with that of the standard policies. This is the most important part of HSE through legislation in the recent decades and thus forms the basis of HSE regulations in the present era. Apart from setting out the general duties and responsibilities of the employers and others, it also lays the foundation for subsequent legislation, regulations, and enforcement regimes. HSE standards are circumscribed around activities that are “reasonably practicable” to assure safety of the employees and assets as well. HSE regulations impose general duties on employers for facilitating the employees with minimum health and safety norms and members of the public; general duties on employees for their own health and safety and that of other employees, which are insisted as regulations.

1.1 Importance of Safety

There are risks associated with every kind of work and workplace in day-to-day life. Levels of risk involved in some industries may be higher or lower due to the consequences involved. These consequences affect the industry as well as the society, which may create a negative impact on the market depending upon the level of risk involved (Ale, 2002). It is therefore very important to prevent death or injury to workers, general public, prevent physical and financial loss to the plant, prevent damage to the third party, and to the environment. Hence, rules and regulations for assuring safety are framed and strictly enforced in offshore and petroleum industries, which is considered to be one of the most hazardous industries (Arshad Ayub, 2011). The prime goal is to protect the public, property, and environment in which they work and live. It is a commitment for all industries and other stakeholders toward the interests of customers, employees, and others. One of the major objectives of the oil and gas industries is to carry out the intended operations without injuries or damage to equipment or the environment. Industries need to form rules, which will include all applicable laws and relevant industry standards of practice. Industries need to continuously evaluate the HSE aspects of equipment and services. It is important for oil and gas industries to believe that effective HSE management will ensure a good business. Continuous improvement in HSE management practices will yield good return in the business apart from ensuring goodness of the employees (Bottelberghs, 2000). From the top management through the entry level, every employee should feel responsible and accountable for HSE. Industries need to be committed to the integration of HSE objectives into management systems at all levels. This will not only enhance the business, but also increase the success rate by reducing risk and adding value to the customer services.

1.2 Basic Terminologies in HSE

ALARP: To reduce a risk to a level ‘as low as reasonably practical’ (ALARP). It involves balancing reduction in risk against time, trouble, difficulty, and cost of achieving it. Cost of further reduction measures become unreasonably disproportionate to the additional risk reduction obtained.

Audit: A systematic, independent evaluation to determine whether or not the HSE-MS and its operations ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• About the Author
• 1 Safety Assurance and Assessment
• 2 Environmental Issues and Management
• 3 Accident Modeling, Risk Assessment, and Management
• 4 Safety Measures in Design and Operation
• Application Problem: Quantified Risk Assessment of LPG Filling Station
• References
• Index
• End User License Agreement