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Human Factors

Study of Human Factors in Offshore Operations

This is a Joint Industry Project (JIP). Human factors account for the majority of failures of offshore systems. The objective of this study is to define human factors that affect responses during normal and emergency operations on offshore platforms. The initial phase will focus on three selected topics: tasks and responses associated with managing a 'kick' during drilling operations, crane operations, and service vessel activities. The interest is to develop a methodology which can be used to address both normal and emergency situations.

A Guide for Risk Assessment of Offshore Platforms

This is a Joint Industry Project (JIP). Produce a guidance report to assist engineers in performing Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRA's) of offshore installations. The guide will be suitable for safety engineers and risk analysts. It will provide an overview of all the main aspects of offshore QRA, including sufficient data or references to perform an outline assessment of typical offshore installations. It will also provide references to larger databases and more sophisticated computerized techniques.

Offshore Platform Database and Performance Evaluation System

The objective of this project was to develop a process for documenting, assessing, and reporting the safety condition of aging offshore platforms. The scope of work for the first phase of a three phase effort combined the technologies of Computer Aided Inspection Reporting System (CAIRS), Capacity Analysis Program (CAP), and Assess Inspect and Maintain (AIM) into a single process for documenting, assessing, and reporting on the safety conditions of offshore platforms. Phase I identified the preliminary technology for the process and layout the general plan for overall effort.

Methodology for Formal Safety Assessment of the Topsides of Offshore Production Facilities

The objective was to develop a practical, general, and non- prescriptive engineering approach for the requalification of existing topside facilities. In both the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea, there is a consensus that it is not the aging platform structures that are the major safety problem, but the operating plants and machinery, which have deteriorated over the years. In some cases, equipment is obsolete by today's standards. This assessment project considered:

(1) operating system design;

(2) layout of installations;

Management of Human Error in Operations of Offshore Facilities

This was a Joint Industry Project (JIP) to develop and verify engineering reliability analysis procedures. These procedures allow a quantitative evaluation of the alternatives for management of human and organizational errors in the operation of offshore facilities. Human error accounts for the vast majority (60 to 80 percent) of failures of marine systems. Recent examples include the Piper Alpha platform explosion in the North Sea and the Exxon Valdez tanker grounding in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Methodology for Comparison of Alternative Production Systems

The objective was to develop and apply a methodology for comparison of alternative production systems. While the methodology will be applied in this project to two configurations of a tension leg platform (TLP), it will be applicable to any comparative analysis of alternatives. The methodology is intended to be an engineering procedure that will assist in the process of making rational comparisons.

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