This paper will provide a practical overview, based on the authors' field lifecycle experiences, to the consideration of Human Factors in hazard analyses to support the design and operation of oil and gas installations. In the development of oil and gas projects, human factors issues is informally addressed through the design development but recently the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's (BSEE) promulgated the rule on Safety Environment Management Systems (SEMS), API RP 75, in 2010, which now formally recognizes human factor during design lifecycle. In particular, for the element of hazard analysis the SEMS regulation states, "human factors should be considered in this analysis". Over the last 10–15 years, there have been industry papers that have discussed this topic at a high level, mostly about integration with Hazards and Operability Studies (HAZOPs). However, Oil & Gas Producers (OGP) Report No. 454, Human Factors Engineering in Projects (2011) provides appropriate guidance within the HAZOP framework to address human factors in hazard analysis. Despite this history and guidance, it is evident that the lessons learned during the application of HFE in design continue to evolve with more engineering design. This paper discussed the OGP report and other guidance on Human Factors in hazard analysis along with practical lessons learned and challenges from the authors' experiences on major offshore design projects on a range of hazard analyses such as HAZOPs, Hazard Identification Studies (HAZIDs), Qualitative Risk Assessments (QRAs) and Escape, Evacuation and Rescue Analyses (EERAs), etc. The challenge continues in integrating more HFE during hazard and risk management activities in all engineering design activities. This paper has provided the impetus, guidance and momentum to address the human element in hazard analysis during the design of oil and gas facilities; this is just "the tip of the spear".
Due to high risk nature of the maritime and offshore industries, it is crucial to consider human factors (HF) as part of the system design and operation in order to adequately affect safety, operations, process, and ultimately total ownership costs (TOCs). The defence, aerospace and nuclear industries historically have led the initiative to integrate HF into the acquisition, design, and operation of large complex systems. In response to this global initiative, the maritime and offshore industries are progressing in efforts to recognize and integrate considerations for the human element and incorporate HF principles consistently and comprehensively. Federal government entities, like the US Navy and Coast Guard, initially addressed HF ad hoc from project to project. In addition, the government's expectations for HF efforts (i.e., standards, requirements, and responsibilities of the contractor or designer) were not adequately communicated. As a result, standardization and formal guidance on HF integration slowly evolved. Some key practical components to come from this evolution were a combination of policy, adequate resource allocation, meaningful and appropriate requirements, and clear expectations between roles of oversight and execution. This slow evolution helped facilitate effective HF integration that is applicable to the oil and gas industry. One element that the US government experience could not provide was the consideration of HF in risk management and management systems to support the design and operation of oil and gas installations. There have been oil and gas projects that have included HF in their development, but the adoption is still evolving. This is illustrated by the formal promulgation of Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's (BSEE) rule on Safety Environment Management Systems (SEMS) in 2010. However, this approach needs to be comprehensive and treated as part of a management system. The latter half of this section addresses the elements of management systems and organizational factors as they relate to the human element where both process and personnel safety are critical. The goal when authoring this section is that the human element is considered throughout the lifecycle of systems that are developed in the marine and offshore industries. A systematic and comprehensive approach will ensure that industry to be more proactive in affecting the reduction of hazards in design and operation through the appropriate consideration of human element. The section is divided into the following areas: what is HF; history of HF; purpose and benefits of HF; goals of integrating HF into the project lifecycle; HF in design; integrating the human element in risk management; HF in management systems; and organizational factors.
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