Onshore Energy Conference — London Onshore Energy Conference — London | Page 23
CLAIMS SOLUTIONS
maintaining the mechanical integrity of the
plant. In this area, inspection and maintenance
is managed by qualified persons to collect data
and monitor the condition of equipment. This
is a proven method of ensuring the integrity
of equipment is maintained. However, the
downside is it requires a large effort in terms
of the resources required. This has led many
plant operators to look at the adoption of
Risk Based Inspection (RBI) programmes to
focus efforts and make best use of resources
available. The emphasis is then placed on the
qualified person to accurately assess plant
integrity risks and manage them adequately.
The combination of these factors creates
the biggest challenge faced by managers
when trying to establish asset integrity risk.
Unlike blast walls, or safety instrumented
systems (SIS) or active firefighting
measures, robust asset integrity controls
are not obvious and can rarely be seen or
counted to readily quantify their impact.
A qualified mechanical engineer can
lead a risk assessment by bringing a blend
of experience in metallurgy, piping stress
engineering, equipment sizing and fitnessfor-service assessments to best identify
any weak links that may lead to a loss.
They understand the key aspects of flange
management to identify deficiencies in
bolted joints and, crucially, provide practical
advice to management to identify causes
of failures and help mitigate risks.
If you would like to learn more about losses
caused by mechanical integrity failures
or managing mechanical integrity risk,
the experienced experts from Rimkus are
available to assist. We can provide or support
the root cause analysis investigation and
develop your risk management programme
to help you be prepared for the type of
losses highlighted in the LMA review.
Guillermo Lopez CEng MIMechE is a Chartered Mechanical
Engineer based in the Rimkus London office with over 10 years’
experience of working with Engineering Contractors and Oil
and Gas Operators.
Rimkus is a consulting engineering and forensic experts
company founded in 1983 with over 300 professionals in
the US, UK and Canada.
Please e-mail [email protected] or visit www.rimkus.com
for more details.
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