Maintaining Operational Integrity
Nexen is committed to conducting operations in a safe manner. One of the tools we use to maintain operational integrity is to apply the principles of process safety management to the day to day management of our businesses.
Process safety incidents are unplanned hazardous releases of material or energy that could result in harm to people, the environment or assets. The use of process safety management is intended to help us reduce the frequency and severity of such incidents.
Building on Best Practice
Nexen has adopted the process safety framework developed by the Center for Chemical Process Safety. Building on the experiences and best practices of the chemical and oil and gas processing industries, the framework encompasses four foundational areas and 20 elements (below).
Currently we’re working on implementing the final six elements of this framework throughout our businesses. These elements are:
- Process Safety Information
- Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis
- Management of Change
- Asset Integrity and Reliability
- Operational Readiness
- Conduct of Operations
Enhanced Incident Recording
Beginning in January 2010, Nexen adopted a new method for reporting process safety incidents, based on the American Petroleum Institute recommended practice (API RP 754) definition which identifies process safety events as:
- recordable
- non-recordable
- near misses
In 2011, three recordable process safety incidents occurred at Nexen. No one was injured in those incidents.