Asset Integrity

Jargon Dictionary
Integrity Management
The quality of state of being, complete unbroken and
unimpaired condition. Looks to the whole picture, not
individual components. Asset integrity refers to the
fitness of an asset to be operated as intended, and to
perform as intended.

measure how effectively the capital available for asset

integrity is being spent.
Economic Value Added
Economic Value Added (also abbreviated as EVA) is
another method of measuring the value added by
asset integrity activities, specifically focusing on the
measurable value created usually above the
required level of return expected.

Organisational Integrity
This concept can be described as knowing what the
right things to do are, and doing the right things, also
described as the values and beliefs which drive the
behaviours, systems and practices required to achieve
corporate integrity goals.

Optimal outcome
This is the best outcome possible from an activity and
factors in a cost/benefit balance in relation to the risk
profile, always taking the highest value decision.

Asset Management
Asset management is defined as the optimum way of
managing usually physical assets to achieve a
desired and sustainable outcome, usually measured in
terms of operational performance or financial
profitability.

Sustainable Integrity Management

The systematic and coordinated direction of
organisational resources towards achieving continued
integrity management of assets on a long term basis.
Hazard
A hazard is something that has the potential to cause
adverse effects, and can refer to anything from an
object, a property, a substance, a phenomenon or an
activity.

Risk Management
A systematic approach used to identify, evaluate, and
reduce or eliminate the possibility of an unfavourable
deviation from the expected outcome of any process
or activity or operating scenario.
Asset Activity Cycle
This cycle begins at the concept and business case,
before moving to design, purchase and construction,
the delivery and commissioning, and the operating
and maintenance of an asset before concluding at the
dismantling of the asset.

Risk
A risk is the likelihood that the hazard will actually
cause its adverse effects, together with the measure
of the effect.
The probability of a risk is the likelihood or a chance
of that risk occurring being wither negative or
positive.

Supply Chain Cycle

This term refers to the management cycle of the
supplied product from raw material supply to the
manufacturing of the product and ultimately to the
supply of the finished product to the customer.

Risk Management Models

These are processes which can be used to manage risk
by establishing the context, identifying the risk,
analysing the risk, evaluating and subsequently
controlling the risk.

Return on Capital Employed

Return on Capital Employed (abbreviated as ROCE) is
a method of measuring the value added by asset
integrity activities and is a technique used to help

Risk Register
A Risk Register is a log of risks such as financial,
operational, strategic and compliance risks as well as
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the control measures used including mitigation

measures to eliminate risks.

Human integrity
The concept of human integrity in this context refers
to individuals within an organization having sound
moral principles, usually associated with honesty and
sincerity.

HAZID
A Hazard Identification Study or HAZID is a tool for
hazard analysis, used early in a project to help project
planners identify, analyse and evaluate the potential
for hazards and to allow them to take corrective
measures.

Organization
An organization is not simply a structure or another
word to describe a business. Instead, for this purpose,
it can be defined as a group which distributes tasks for
a collective goal.

HAZOP
The Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP) is a
qualitative risk analysis technique that is used to
identify weaknesses and hazards that may represent
risks to personnel or equipment, or prevent efficient
operation in a systematic way.

Culture
The culture of a company is concerned with the
attitudes and behaviours of a group of people. It
relates to the collective behaviour of a group and is
realized through communication and co-operation
between people. Culture can be learned.

SWIFT
SWIFT is a risk analysis method where the lead
question What If is used to systematically identify
deviations from normal conditions. SWIFT is similar to
HAZOP but is more flexible than HAZOP

Values
Values in this context are the core convictions
employees have about how they must behave in the
fulfillment of the organization's mission. Values are
really the fundamentals for the desired behavior.

FMEA
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is a method
used to reveal failures and to predict failure effects on
the system as a whole. For each component of the
system, you investigate what happens to the system if
this component fails.

Leadership
Leadership is a process in which one person affects
another with influence to reach a certain target.
Leadership is not necessarily a hierarchical concept,
and leadership can be demonstrated by all levels of an
organization.

FMECA
If you describe and rank the criticalities of the failures
in the FMEA, the analysis is often referred to as a
FMECA (Failure Mode, Effect and Criticality Analysis).
The criticality is functional to the failure effect and
frequency or the probability

Direct and Supportive behaviour

Direct behaviour is expressed by control and
supervision it is one way behavior, supportive
behavior is praise, listening and facilitating two-way
communication to deliver direction.

Acceptable and Unacceptable risks

Acceptable risks are those for which no additional
mitigation measures are required to control and we
can tolerate. Unacceptable risks require additional
control measures to be installed to assist in mitigation
or elimination of the risk.

Attitude and behaviour

Attitude refers to what a person believes or thinks
about something (e.g. is safety important?), behaviour
refers to how a person reacts or what they do in a
given situation (e.g. always using personal protective
equipment).

ALARP
Once risks have been identified and assessed, an
action plan is usually developed to allow operators to
reduce that risk to a level As Low As Reasonably
Practicable (ALARP) which applies pragmatism to the
process of addressing risk.

Knowledge and competency

Knowledge refers to the comprehension of how to do
something (e.g. understanding safety concepts),
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competency relates to the ability and skills to act (e.g.

ability to use the procedures).

Asset integrity risk management

Preventing and minimising the consequences of a
major incident, achieved when facilities are
structurally and mechanically sound and perform the
processes and produce the products for which they
were designed.

Policy
A policy is a statement of intent/commitment. The
policy must provide principles and guidelines for the
governing of the company and it provides directions
and limits within which decisions are made.

Risk and risk assessment

Risk is the chance of harm actually being done. Risk =
probability x consequence. Risk assessment involves
finding out what can go wrong, how bad can it be,
what we are doing about it and whether this is good
enough

Mission
A mission is the reason for existence of the
organization - e.g.to maximize integrity to ensure
safety and quality of the products and assets to
guarantee the safety of the people and the
environment.

Texas City
BP refining facility where an explosion took place in
March 2005 which resulted in 15 fatalities, more than
170 injuries and a report which criticised the safety
culture which was deemed at least partly responsible
for the incident.

Management system
A set of interrelated processes, practices, procedures
and instructions and includes organizational structure,
roles and responsibilities. A management system is
the framework or architecture of how the
organization will work.

Deepwater Horizon
The name of the drilling rig which saw an oil blowout
in April 2010 which resulted in 11 fatalities, 17
injuries, around 5m barrels of oil spilt, a 100bn hit to
BPs market value, and strict regulations on deepwater
operations.

Asset Management Strategy

Asset Management Strategy describes how a
company will realize the asset management policy
and how the asset management will contribute in the
realization of the organizational plan.

Buncefield
A UK oil storage depot which exploded in December
2005 injuring 43 people, and causing a fire which took
5 days to extinguish, and resulted in a total cost of
1bn. Led to a number of safety and emergency
response recommendations.

Stakeholders
A stakeholder is any person/organization that can be
positively/negatively impacted or cause an impact on
the actions of a company, government or
organization.
Asset life cycle
Begins with the initial concept/business case and
continues through design, purchase, construction and
commissioning, operations and maintenance,
improvement and modification all the way to
decommissioning/dismantling.

Consequences and threats

Consequences are defined as credible worst case
scenarios that might result from the release of a
hazard, and threats - these are possible causes that
might get us to the point of releasing the hazard
Latent errors
Latent errors may lie dormant within system for a
long time. Operators tend to be inheritors of system
defects created by poor design, incorrect installation,
faulty maintenance, bad management decisions, etc.

Asset register
A complete record of an asset, which can include
service delivery functions, physical properties,
technical data, safety and integrity data, key
operational data, maintenance data performance
records and financial information.

Active errors
Active errors are associated with front line operators
of a complex system, whose effects are felt almost
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immediately e.g. what may actually go wrong on a

particular day. Active errors are said to be the result
of latent failures.

Inherently safe design

Eliminate hazard completely or reduce its magnitude
sufficiently to eliminate need for elaborate safety
systems and procedures. Preferably by means that are
inherent in process and thus permanent and
inseparable from it.

Barriers
These are measure put in place to diminish or reduce
the possible maximum consequence that might be
caused by an incident and may be prevention,
detection, control, mitigation or emergency response
measures.

Value assurance/tollgate reviews

The idea is before we proceed to the next phase of a
particular project that we understand the risks and
what the controls need to be throughout, that we've
got the controls and that they continue to function in
the way we expect/

Accident pyramids
The accident pyramid proposes that for every 300
non-injury accidents, there are 29 minor injuries, and
1 major injury. These finding suggest that if a
company can control unsafe behaviours, they can
eliminate major injuries.

Safety case
A Safety/HSE Case is a detailed document
demonstrating that formal risk assessments have
been carried out, hazards are being managed, and
providing assurance that gaps are being addressed,
that risks are managed to ALARP.

Swiss cheese model

This risk analysis model likens human systems to
multiple slices of Swiss cheese, stacked together, side
by side. The holes in the cheese slices represent
weaknesses in individual parts of the system, and are
continually varying in size and position in all slices.
The system as a whole produces failures when all of
the holes in each of the slices align.

Risk assessment techniques

There are numerous techniques available for
assessing risk, some qualitative, others quantitative the key is to select the right one for the job (all
techniques have advantages and disadvantages).

Spinning disc model

This is different from the Swiss cheese model in that it
recognises that our risk control and management is
forever changing and is a dynamic process. It is based
on the same concept that we have hazards contained
by multiple barriers which have 'holes' and when the
'holes' align, the hazards can pass through then
potential harm can be a result.

Quantitative risk assessment

A risk assessment technique which aims to determine
robustness of design by performing a numerical risk
assessment of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon
hazards for a facility.
Qualitative risk assessment
A risk assessment methodology that permits system
personnel to use their knowledge and experience to
assign values on a sliding scale. It may be difficult to
audit whether or not a wide range of factors were
considered in decision-making.

The bow tie Model

The bow tie model was developed by Shell to meet
the requirement for risk assessment whilst integrating
the understanding of how accidents happen derived
from the Swiss cheese model. It also combines the
concepts of fault, and event trees as used in
quantitative risk assessment.

Semi-quantitative risk assessment

Semi-quantitative risk assessment provides an
intermediary level between the textual evaluation of
qualitative risk assessment and the numerical
evaluation of quantitative risk assessment, by
evaluating risks with a score.

Risk control hierarchy

Where a risk assessment has identified hazards that
require control, there are some considerations which
should be addressed before going on to setting
priorities for controlling them.
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Quantitative cost-benefit analysis (CBA)

A CBA reduces everything to a monetary value. So the
reduction of harm to people will be associated with a
numerical value. Like for example the average value
that can be assumed by preventing a fatality.

plant/equipment that performs to specification when

inspected or tested.
Lagging Indicators
These are more reactive and are based on incidents
that have already occurred, e.g. LTI (Loss Time
Injuries). A Lagging Indicator is the number of
unexpected loss of containment incidents due to
failure of equipment.

System criticality
Modern facilities have a large number of risk control
systems that could be deemed Critical. Identifying
those that are truly critical allows us to concentrate
our efforts (design, maintenance, etc.) on those
systems.

Verification scheme
This is a written process implemented to confirm, or
otherwise, that Critical Risk Control Systems are
suitable and remain in good condition. It also
manages the Critical Risk Control Systems assurance
during the asset lifetime.

Safety critical element

A system, equipment or structural item which could
cause or contribute substantially to; or the purpose of
which is to prevent/detect; or mitigate the effect of; a
major health, safety or environmental accident
hazard.

Asset integrity audit

This process helps owner/operators determine
whether an asset integrity management system is
performing effectively and helps them identify areas
for improvement moving forward.

Critical risk control systems

You must be able to judge if a piece of equipment is
fit for purpose and whether or not you are managing
your risk effectively. Do you know what the
equipment has to do? This is the essence of a critical
risk control system.

Safety critical elements (SCE) performance

management
This involves using maintenance, test, inspection and
failure histories to identify whether risk control
element or systems have passed performance criteria,
and been maintained, tested, etc. at the required
frequency.

Performance standards
A Performance Standard is a statement, either
qualitative or quantitative, of the performance
required of a HSE critical system or item of equipment
and which is used as the basis for managing the
hazard through the installation life-cycle.

Management review
These regular audits assess the overall effectiveness
of the asset integrity management system and help
identify possible improvement opportunities in asset
integrity, including lessons learned, benchmarking and
objective setting.

FARSI requirements
Performance standards criteria for safety critical
elements - FARSI includes Functionality,
Availability/Reliability, Survivability and
Interdependence.

Process safety cultural ladder

Culture is an outcome of the climate created by
executive decisions and leadership practice - moving
up the cultural ladder to improve safety
performance requires acceptance that there are more
advanced cultures than your own.

Maintenance management system

Maintenance Management System (MMS) is a
database that produces bills of work detailing at set
intervals preventative maintenance, inspection
requirements and testing requirements.
Leading indicators
These are a proactive way of measuring risks before
they occur. This is the percentage of safety critical
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Asset Integrity Implementation

This is the process of putting into action an asset
integrity management plan this in turn is a
continuous process applied throughout design and
operations to ensure facilities perform safely and
function as intended.

risk related to a concrete situation and a recognized

threat (also called hazard).
Hazard and Risk Assessment
A hazard and risk assessment is a critical input to
integrity implementation planning. Any
implementation plan must maintain safety critical
elements. Performance standards for safety critical
elements also must be considered in the plan

Major accident hazard (MAH)

A hazard with significant consequences, managed by
Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH)
regulations which ensure measures are taken to
prevent major accidents and limit the consequences
of any accidents which do occur.

Performance standards
Functionality: what it has to do; Reliability: the
required probability of it functioning correctly on
demand; and Survivability: if it is necessary to survive
an incident to complete its protective function

Hazard identification
A Hazard Identification Study (HAZID) is a tool for
hazard analysis, used early in a project as soon as
process flow diagrams, draft heat and mass balances,
and plot layouts are available.

Simultaneous operations
Simultaneous Operations (SimOps) is defined as
performing two or more operations concurrently.
SIMOPS refers to two or more potentially clashing
operations occurring, for example, at the same
time/same place.

Hazard and operability (study)

A hazard and operability study (HAZOP) is a
systematic examination of a planned/existing process
or operation in order to identify and evaluate
problems that may represent risks to personnel or
equipment, or prevent efficient operation.

Key performance indicators

Key Performance Indicators, also known as KPIs, help
an organization define and measure progress toward
organizational goals. As such, they represent a key
way of managing the success of an integrity
implementation.

Risk-based inspection (RBI)

A risk based approach to prioritizing and planning
inspection which analyses the likelihood and
consequence of failure of an asset to calculate its risk
of failure. The level of risk is used to develop a
prioritised inspection plan for the asset.

Corrective action plans

This term refers to the corrective actions from KPIs,
integrity studies, management visits, and audits. They
should have due dates and firm closure deliverables.

Reliability centred maintenance

Reliability-centred maintenance, often known as RCM,
is a process to ensure that assets continue to do what
their users require in their present operating context.

Technical Authority (TA)

The technical authority reports to the senior integrity
technical leader and is responsible for the technical
lead in an area of expertise; they should be up to date
on standards and specifications and participate in
integrity processes.

Fitness-for-service (FFS)
FFS is a Quantitative engineering evaluation to
determine if an in-service equipment is safe and
reliable to operate at specific conditions during a
determined time

Emergency Response (ER) and Contingency Planning

(CP)
ER is generally concerned with personnel safety and
asset protection whereas CP is generally concerned
with business continuity, i.e., recovery of production.

Quantitative risk assessment

Quantitative risk assessment is a step in a risk
management procedure. Risk assessment is the
determination of quantitative or qualitative value of
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Integrity performance metrics

Integrity performance metrics consist of businesscritical integrity management data, operations
important integrity management data, and locally
specific integrity management data.

Protective Systems
Those safety systems, devices and controls which
make a primary contribution to preventing, detecting,
controlling or mitigating a major accident, or ensuring
the escape and survival of people.

Plant and Process Integrity

The assurance of fitness for service by Construction /
fabrication to a suitable design, materials and
workmanship, in accordance with recognised codes
and standards commissioning and Operation within
approved design parameter.

Safety Integrity levels (SIL)

Defined as a relative level of risk-reduction provided
by a safety function, or to specify a target level
of risk reduction. In simple terms, SIL is a
measurement of performance required for a Safety
Instrumented Function (SIF).

Anomaly Processing
Logs of defects maintained, fitness-for-service
analyses performed, corrective actions recommended
with due dates defined. Corrective work orders
entered into maintenance management system.
Action accountabilities assigned.

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