Asset Integrity Management (AIM) in the oil and gas industry is a complex process which encompasses all the phases of an asset lifecycle from design to decommissioning and all these stages must focus on integrity. AIM seeks to ensure a consistent performance throughout the assets lifetime in order to deliver the business objectives profitably and without major accidents.
Barriers against major accidents have always been in place in the oil and gas industry, serving an important role in securing life, environment and assets. However, the robustness of the barriers is only ensured through correct design, maintenance and operation.
Verification represents the activities performed by a Verifier to confirm whether the asset’s Safety and Environmentally Critical Elements (SECEs) remain suitable and are being maintained in adequate condition to meet the performance standards. It is based on a well-defined process of periodic assessment in order to confirm the continued effectiveness of installation’s barriers.
The verification activity shall be based on specific offshore structural expertise including safety risk and compliance.
The work shall include a structured approach to verification, utilising tools such as document review, interviews, testing and field surveys, and be totally independent from the verified party.
Independency ensures that the Verifier is not coloured by any operational habits, putting them in a position to ask the right questions to discover any direct or underlying cause for any futures incident, in other words, “Pre-sight before hind-sight”.
This activity shall be performed by highly skilled Verifiers with in-depth knowledge of technical safety systems, relevant regulations and requirements in the oil and gas industry.
In Summary, the purpose of design verification is to ensure that systems are designed according to requirements and maintained and operated in a safe manner.
