2013
KBA: Participated at Stavanger OGP workshop
February saw another busy month for KBA Europe. Brendan Kearns, currently heading our UK operations, was invited by Mr. Tony Greenwood of ExxonMobil Development Company to present to both OGP and a contractors meeting on the topic of FME(C)A at the Stavanger OGP workshop. Influential people within the Oil and Gas industry were there to hear the message which was based around the usability of risk management documentation, the ownership of all or parts of the FME(C)A and the means in which to keep it relevant and updated. There were some very topical and interesting discussions presented at the workshop, none conflicting and all indicating the desire and need to provide a safe work platform with competent personnel. Steve McMillan of McDermott had given OGP a presentation of competency development of divers, making them more than capable to enter the water but to do a task.
A common thread that ran through all the presentations was that communications is a must, a pre-requisite to safety and efficiency. David Forsyth of Bibby Offshore provided a reasonably detailed explanation of the Topaz incident which was excellently handled but reveal some shortcomings. Review of the vessel FMEA was sighted as a reactive step, reactive because while there was one in place, it had neither foreseen the problem nor had personnel been drawn to procedures that are contained, for similar situations. Kongsberg were there to answer technical questions but also informed of their efforts to communicate the issues to other users of the K-POS DP system.
While on the theme of essential communications, Mike Eriksen presented on the abilities of DanMedical - a medical surveillance device that is able to communicate essential data, either live or recorded, and analysed by doctors potentially thousands of mile away. A mix of telecommunications and advanced technology has enabled expertise to be available immediately even when totally remote. Of course that is positively useful in emergencies, however Annie Stokkeland of Subsea 7 presented on their efforts to evaluate long health issues of divers which while excellent information, it hasn’t been too successful yet due to limited response from the subject base.
The issue of communications did not stop there. IMCA have been well known for many years as a provider of safety alerts following incidents. Phil Newsum of ADCI presented on their efforts to do likewise.
Rick Taylor, Conoco, heading OGP’s assurance process gave some insight into the ongoing work. Although this referred to diving systems, there was some crossover with vessels. The aim is essentially to produce a high level overview of processes required for assurance in order to meet an acceptable standard. In questions, the competency of auditors was raised and this created an interesting discussion on who should perform audits, repeat audits, different audits etc. Communicating assurance findings was again within the theme however also within the theme of assurance, was the need for useful, usable and quantifiable FME(C)A’s - bringing the topic back to that presented by KBA.
