Course Modules - Safety, Risk and Reliability Offshore

Module Leader

Aim

To enable the student to understand and be able to apply the basic concepts of risk and reliability analysis in the offshore environment.

Syllabus

Introduction: concept of risk, ALARP criteria, and reliability engineering
FMECA and HAZOPS: Use of failure modes and effects analysis to identify system and component failure, use of qualitative risk matrices. Hazard and operability studies to identify hazards in offshore processes
Reliability data: types, data collection methods and data sources. Examples of typical failure rate data. Weibull analysis and interpretation of data plots
Human reliability analysis and accident causation: major accident sequences, risk perception and control of risk. Introduce to human reliability analysis techniques HEART and THERP
Offshore safety case and formal safety assessments: regulatory regime, safety case requirements, types of study, scenario development, examples of use of QRA methods, consequence analysis, vulnerability of essential systems, smoke and gas ingress,evacuation escape and rescue and typical output
Pipeline corrosion risk analysis: corrosion of steel pipelines offshore. Use of stress strength interference for estimation of safe life and probability of failure
Statistics and probability distributions : basic Boolean algebra, Bayes theorem and commonly used discrete and continuous probability distributions
Systems' reliability techniques : reliability block diagrams and networks.
Estimation of cut sets and tie sets
Availability modelling: system availability and impact of maintenance strategy and. component reliability. Markov state space models and use of availability simulators
Review of major accidents offshore: Sea Gem, Alexander Keilland, Star Canopus and Piper Alpha disasters
Diving bell risk analysis workshop: application of RBD, FTA, and ETA techniques to determine the cut sets for the failure of a diving bell life support system. Compare output with FMECA approach to assessment
Introduction to structural reliability analysis: stress strength interference and limit state concepts, FORM and SORM. Damage accumulation and modelling of time dependent failures

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module the student will:

Have a basic understanding of the concept of risk and its application in the offshore industry
Have a basic understanding of reliability analysis techniques and the mathematical basis of risk and reliability
Be able to apply reliability block diagrams, fault tree and event trees analysis to the assessment of an underwater system
Appreciate the role of human error and equipment failure in accident causation
Understand how the above relate to the preparation of offshore safety cases