Risk Management and Gas Detection in Oil and Gas Industry

The provided document is a solved assignment on risk management and gas detection in the oil and gas industry. It discusses the various types of risks present in processing areas, including health problems faced by personnel due to prolonged exposure to toxic vapors. The document also highlights the importance of deploying risk analysis and integrating detection technologies to reduce human casualties. It concludes by emphasizing the need for effective risk management and gas detection in oil and gas processing areas.

Running head: APPLIED RISK ANALYSIS
Risk Analysis
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1APPLIED RISK ANALYSIS
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Risk analysis....................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
Reference.........................................................................................................................................6

2APPLIED RISK ANALYSIS
Introduction
Qualitative risk analysis (QRA) provide a balanced, informative and broad picture of the
risk in order to properly assess the support decisions. The proper analysis can be done only when
the uncertainties are treated properly. In QRA risk is typically described through the usage of the
expected values and the probabilities. The different approaches applied in order to assess the
uncertainties are totally based on the thinking that the uncertainties can be calculated through the
expected values and the calculated probabilities. The leads to the increase in difficulties when the
results of the calculations are conveyed. An alternative approach can be included which will
encompass the uncertainty instead of the probability as the vital component of the risk. The most
commonly used personnel risk indices with respect to the offshore QRA are the fatal accident
rate (FAR), potential loss of life (PLL), individual risk (IR) (Flage and Aven 2009). This study is
based on the description of a Norwegian offshore quantitative risk analysis (QRA) along with the
detailed information of the engineering phases with respect to the personnel risk from the ignited
gas release in the processing area and the headlines are to be in accordance with the ISO 31000
standard.
Risk analysis
The assignment talks about the personnel risks arising from the ignited gas release in the
process area. An example can be cited which will give a better picture of the ignited gas release
from the processing area. The risk of the explosion from the compressor area at the gas and oil
installation. The probability of determining ignition (event A) can be related to the gas leak
(initiating event 1). It is assumed that the pattern of the gas dispersion from the point of the gas
leakage is very crude and simple. Dispersion of the gas is an uncertainty factor in the background
of the knowledge and any information regarding the dispersion must be reported when the
probability of the occurrence is highlighted. The human factor can also be included in the
assessment and the number of the personnel working in the processing area can also be taken in
to account. The reason being the assessment is based on the impact of the ignited gas release on
the humans that are working in the offshore oil rigs (Flage and Aven 2009). For the purpose of
the calculation of individual risk, it is assumed that the employees that are working on the oil rigs
are spending a certain amount of time in the processing area. This also summarizes that a certain
number of persons are present at the time of the occurrence of an accident. The uncertainty
factors are both considered to be a vulnerability and the risk. The effect of the vulnerability and
the risk depending on the two dimensions: uncertainty degree; the sensitivity of the vulnerability
indices and the relevant risks that change in uncertain quantities. The elevated levels of
uncertainty paired with the high sensitivity can lead to a conclusion that the factors of
uncertainty do have a significant effect on the risk. It is also noted that, if the uncertainty degrees
are high and the indices of vulnerability are considerably insensitive to further changes then
chances of the risk can be moderate or minor. The classification and the (significant, moderate,
minor) will depend on a specific case and the will depend on the judgement passed by the analyst
(Flage and Aven 2009).
The case of personnel risk arising from the ignited gas release in the process area will be
in accordance with the 2017 draft version of the ISO 31000 standard.
Communication and consultation- the sole aim of the communication and the
consultation are to convey the risk to the relevant stakeholders based upon which the necessary
decisions are to be made. The external stakeholder is the management authorities, while the

3APPLIED RISK ANALYSIS
internal stakeholders are the workers that are working in the processing area. Communication
will promote the awareness and the necessary steps can be taken in a time bound manner to
mitigate the issue and prevent further occurrence of any accident or mishap. The communication
and consultation will bring the people that exhibit the different areas of expertise together and
will help in the management of the risk. The different view put forward is considered appropriate
when the risks are evaluated. Also, a vital part is to facilitate a sense of ownership and
inclusiveness among the people affected by the risk (Iso.org, 2018).
Establishment of the risk- the main aim of establishing a context is to customize the
management of the risk which will further facilitate the risk assessment and the proper risk
treatment. The main risk identified is the personnel risk arising from the ignited gas release in the
process area.
 Defining the scope and the purpose- this is must for the organization to describe
the scope and the purpose of the risk management strategies.
 Context- the internal and the external context here is the environment and a clear
understanding of the internal and the external environment is needed in order to
promote a proper risk management process. Proper risk management is possible
when the activities and the objectives are properly defined by the organization;
certain organizational factors also contribute to risk.
 Defining risk criteria- these are the important aspects and the organization must
specify whether they are ready to consider the type and the amount of the risk.
One of the vital parts of the risk assessment is that they can be set at the beginning
of the of the risk assessment process and thus due to the dynamic nature of the
risk nature of the risk assessment. Risk criteria can be added in the later part
(Iso.org, 2018).
Risk assessment- the overall process of the risk assessment includes the identification of
the risk, analysis of the risk, and the evaluation of the risk. Risk assessment is done
collaboratively, iteratively and systematically by drawing on the views of the stakeholders. An
organization must make the best use of the information that it already possesses.
 Risk identification- in this study, the personnel risk arising due to the ignited gas
release from the process area. During the petrochemical processing vapour and
gases are released from the gas and oil. This increases the harmful effects on the
workers that are constantly inhaling, and such vapours are persistently being
absorbed by through the skin; there are also increased chances of swallowing. The
worker that is constantly getting exposed to such toxic vapour and harmful
substances for several years have the increased chances of developing cancer and
other types of illness. The substances that are toxic to the health are actually
dangerous even at the low levels like low ppb (parts per billion) and low ppm
(parts per million) concentrations. It is also important to note that ten thousand
ppm is equivalent to one percent of any space. Such low concentration can even
be extremely dangerous and also can present serious health problems.
 Risk analysis- it is important to note that majority of the gases that are
inflammable pose serious hazard for an individual and when the concentration of
the vapours and the gases rise to ten thousand ppm in air or more. The detection

4APPLIED RISK ANALYSIS
of the toxic gases should be done below the 100 ppm levels in order to protect the
personnel.
 Risk evaluation- the main purpose of the risk evaluation is to support the
decisions already taken. Evaluation of the risk includes the comparison of the risk
analysis results along with the risk criteria and this helps in determining the risk
significance (Iso.org, 2018).
Risk treatment- detection of the toxic gases are advancing rapidly. The fixed- detector
technologies are best suited with respect to the other technologies. The metal oxide
semiconductors and the electrochemical sensors are the best detection technologies available.
The processing areas are the most potential areas of gas detection and thus these sensors can be
fitted to detect the toxic gases especially the hydrogen sulphide (Halma plc 2018).
Monitoring and review- the hydrogen sulphide gas detector can be detected freely
without any interruption from the other hydrocarbon gases. The monitoring system will be
standalone and will not trigger the false alarm (figure 1) and figure 2 shows a centralized
monitoring of the hydrogen sulphide via a central control room (Jayapalan, Konkati and Bangari
2016).
Figure 1: Hydrogen sulphide monitoring system [source: Jayapalan, Konkati and Bangari 2016]

5APPLIED RISK ANALYSIS
Figure 2: centralized gas detection and monitoring [source: Jayapalan, Konkati and Bangari
2016]
Recording and review- the risk management process must be well documented by a risk
assessment manager and will be kept with proper tags so that they can be analysed in future.
Conclusion
From the above study, it can be concluded that there are different kind of risk that prevail
in the processing area of the oil and the gas industries. The majority of the health problems are
faced by the personnel that work in such environments and prolonged exposure leads to disease
in future. Cancer and other kinds of illness are rampant among the workers in the processing.
This calls in for the deployment of the risk analysis and the proper integration of the detection
technologies so that human casualties can be reduced.

6APPLIED RISK ANALYSIS
Reference
Flage, R. and Aven, T., 2009. Expressing and communicating uncertainty in relation to
quantitative risk analysis. Reliability: Theory & Applications, 4(2-1 (13).
Halma plc, 2018. Gas hazards in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries - Crowcon News.
[online] Halmapr.com. Available at: http://halmapr.com/news/crowcon/2011/02/21/gas-hazards-
in-the-oil-gas-and-petrochemical-industries/ [Accessed 17 Mar. 2018].
Iso.org, 2018. ISO 31000 Risk management. [online] Iso.org. Available at:
https://www.iso.org/iso-31000-risk-management.html [Accessed 17 Mar. 2018].
Jayapalan, G., Konkati, S. and Bangari, P., 2016, November. Cost Effective Detection of H 2 S
Release in Oil Well Locations. In Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference.
Society of Petroleum Engineers.