Risk Engineering
Overview
Technical Risk Assessments using “Top Down” or “Bottom-Up” methodology in accordance with International accepted techniques, for example HAZOP, SWIFT and FMECA and Risk Based Inspections to name a few. Required for all industries such as Power Generation, Manufacturing, Water Treatment and Mining.
Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP) is the formal systematic procedure used to review the design and operation of a potentially hazardous process facility. It is used to identify deviations from normal safe operation, which could lead to unforeseen incidents affecting environmental, safety/health, infrastructure, operability, maintenance, etc. The HAZOP study also includes appropriate remedial measures.
Failure Mode, Effects & Criticality Analysis (FMECA) is the technique used to identify the ways in which components or systems can fail to perform their design intent or function. This is the inability of the asset to perform the design intent or function and analyses the consequences of that functional failure.
Structured What-If Technique (SWIFT) is the risk assessment technique is an international high-level and top-down hazard identification tool, which utilises a standardised methodology. It is a thorough, systematic and team oriented analytical technique.
Risk Based Inspection
Risk Based Inspection (RBI) is an optimal maintenance business process used to examine equipment such as pressure vessels, heat exchangers and piping in industrial plants. It examines the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) and business risk of ‘active’ and ‘potential’ Damage Mechanisms (DMs) to assess and rank failure probability and consequence. This ranking is used to optimize inspection intervals based on site-acceptable risk levels and operating limits, while mitigating risks as appropriate. RBI analysis can be qualitative, quantitative or semi-quantitative in nature.
The Pressure Equipment Regulation (PER) of 2009 classify pressure equipment as operating at a pressure ≥ 50kPa and includes piping and valves. Equipment classification is a general requirement and equipment has to be classified according to SANS 347. Instead of the 36 month pressure testing, as per the OHS Act. PER offers an option of implementing a Risk Based Inspection (RBI) program.
The economic benefits of applying risk-based inspection planning (RBI) for structures subject to fatigue are evaluated based on experiences from past industrial projects. To this end, the factors influencing the cost of inspection, repair and failure of structures are discussed and realistic values of these costs are presented. These are then applied to assess the expected costs from different inspection strategies, both risk-based strategies as well as inspection strategies with fixed inspection intervals for all potentially critical elements. By comparing these expected costs, the financial benefit of RBI is assessed.
RBI assists a company to select cost effective and appropriate maintenance and inspection tasks and techniques, to minimize efforts and cost, to shift from a reactive to a proactive maintenance regime, to produce an auditable system, to give an agreed “operating window”, and to implement a risk management tool.