Continued Operation Assurance - Utilization of a Modified HAZOP Study for Continued Operation of a Facility/Equipment Beyond Their Scheduled Maintenance

Risk assessment plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety of people and operational assets. By identifying and managing potential integrity risks, organizations can enhance safety, minimize the probability of unexpected failures, and provide assurance for the continued operation of their asset beyond scheduled inspection and maintenance. A Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) study is traditionally used to identify potential hazards, operability issues, and deviations from design intent in process systems. However, its systematic approach can also be adapted to assess asset integrity and identify risks related to maintaining the asset's condition, reliability, and availability by detecting deviations from the design intent from an integrity perspective.

This paper utilizes a modified HAZOP, a Continued Operation Assurance (COA) study, to facilitate the continuation of service beyond the inspection and maintenance timeline of operational assets. These modifications incorporate deviations using parameters and guidewords specific to asset integrity, maintenance practices, and external factors. Causes that can lead to deviations from design asset intent are interrogated to determine if sufficient safeguards are in place for continued equipment or facility operations.