A Systemic Approach to Managing Fire Safety on Offshore Installations
Authors: Santos-Reyes J. , Beard A.N. 
Published: October 2008

Oil and gas organisations have shifted from a prescriptive approach to a goal-setting approach to safety. However, safety and in particular fire safety still tends to be analysed in isolation, though fire loss is a result of the interactive and interrelated parts that constitute an oil and gas organization as a whole. This paper presents a systemic approach to managing fire safety in oil and gas offshore installations. It is hoped that this systemic approach will lead not only to a more effective management of fire safety, but also to more effective management of safety, health and the environment for the oil and gas organisation as a whole.

Introduction

Several fire incidents or major accidents, such as San Juanico (Mexico City, 1984) and the Piper Alpha fire (UK, 1988), in the oil and gas industry have highlighted the need to improve radically the safety performance of the oil and gas organisations' operations. Fire safety in particular in the oil and gas industry has become a subject of increasing importance in recent years. The need for major changes in the safety performance of oil and gas offshore installations was emphasised by the Cullen report1 into the Piper Alpha fire. Some recent regulations that address the Cullen report's recommendations include the offshore installation Safety Case (SC)2 regulations and the Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response (PFEER)3,4 regulations. The SC regulations require the United Kingdom oil and gas offshore operators in the North Sea to demonstrate that their offshore installations are acceptably safe. The PFEER regulations address prevention of fires and explosions, and emergency response, including evacuation, escape and rescue. The Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction) regulations (DCR)5 emphasise that the appropriate design, commissioning, operation, maintenance and abandonment of the offshore installation. The Offshore Installation and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) regulations (MAR)6 stress the need for more effective management systems, including weather data.

Oil and gas organisations have shifted from a prescriptive approach to a goal-setting approach to safety7,8. This new perspective involves assessing the consequences of the fire risks inherent in the organisation's operations more proactively. Quantified Risk Assessment (QRA) is usually used to identify the main contributors to the risk, estimate risk levels and assess their significance, and devise actions to reduce or avoid them9. Despite this significant change in approaching safety and fire safety in the oil and gas industry, significant reduction of accident rates is still a far reaching objective10,11. There is still a need to understand the systemic nature of fire safety so that both technical and human factors can be addressed as a coherent whole. In general, a fire incident or accident is the product of the interactions of technical and human factors of the whole organisation. This paper proposes a Fire Safety Management System (FSMS) to manage fire safety in oil and gas offshore installations. This systemic approach is intended to maintain an acceptable level of fire risk in an oil and gas organisation's operations during its entire life cycle.