API Pipeline Safety Management System PSMS Third-Party Assessment Program: A Valuable Tool to Help Industry Implement PSMS
Authors: Burr Alexa S. , Frazier Colin M. , Toth S. David 
Published: December 2021

The American Petroleum Institute (API) represents all segments of the natural gas and oil industry, aiming to accelerate safety and environmental progress across operations while meeting global demand for affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy. Through API and in partnership with the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), state pipeline regulators, and other interested stakeholders, pipeline operators developed API Recommended Practice (RP) 1173: Pipeline Safety Management Systems. API RP 1173 users understand how to systematically manage pipeline safety and continuously measure progress to improve overall pipeline safety performance. The core principle of API RP 1173 is the "Plan-Do-Check-Act" cycle. It requires the operator to determine the goals, objectives, and targets needed to be undertaken, complete those initiatives, and periodically review the Pipeline Safety Management System (PSMS) on an operator's determined cycle or at a minimum of a three-year cycle.

API RP 1173 and the Pipeline SMS Maturity Model and Tools are primary resources to support API Energy Excellence® implementation. API Energy Excellence (launched in 2021) is another critical API program in which all API members commit to enhance the integrity of operations across the industry by applying standards, implementing workforce training programs, and participating in performance initiatives. Ultimately, these conditions drive the industry towards its zero-incident goal by ensuring that the PSMS's various components are regularly reviewed and continually evolving.

To that point and as part of the industry's ongoing commitment to continuous pipeline safety improvements, API, in collaboration with industry partners, developed a not-for-profit Pipeline SMS Assessment Program in 2019 and fully launched the offering in January 2020. Unlike most Pipeline Safety or SMS assessments, the API Third-Party Assessment Program utilizes a diverse set of assessors with multiple affiliations, ranging from traditional SMS firms to retired industry executives who wish to give back to the industry by sharing their experience with others.

API has conducted many assessments to date, and the benchmarking from these assessments helps operators gauge how their implementation is relative to their peers. Also, because API is the custodian of RP 1173, learnings from these assessments can naturally be fed back into the standards development process to ensure the next version of RP 1173 is an even better Plan-Do-Check-Act Process. The API Pipeline SMS Assessment (PSMS Assessment) program gives the operator access to the most experienced and knowledgeable assessors. It provides the operator with the opportunity to learn notable practices utilized across the pipeline industry. In 2021 and beyond, API looks forward to taking the assessment program worldwide, increasing industry lessons learned, cataloging good practices, looking for opportunities to increase effectiveness, and giving industry valuable benchmarking, all aimed at our shared goal of zero incidents