Performance Standards As an Instrument for Managing Critical Elements of Operational Safety: An Analysis Applied in an Offshore Production Unit

Major accidents hazard (MAH) continue to occur and are the subject of study by organizations focusing on the continuous improvement of their processes. Regulatory authorities such as the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) in BRAZIL, have established the need for the regulated agent to maintain an Operational Safety Management System (SGSO), which has the robustness to guarantee prevention, mitigation and appropriate response to events that may cause accidents that put the installations, human life or the environment at risk throughout the entire life cycle of the installation. This work aims, through a bibliographical review, to identify good practices for managing critical elements, correlating them to the causes of the accident on the PETROBRAS P-20 platform in 2013. In this sense, performance standards emerge.
The initial proposal for Brazilian SGSO regulation, already suggests its use, thus constituting a new resource for managing critical operational safety elements and barriers. Their application appears as an identified good practice already used in several operators of oil and gas production units and aligned with other international regulations. In this work, performance standards were developed for the barriers that failed in the accident on the P-20 platform and requirements of these standards were highlighted, which, if well applied, could minimize or guarantee the non-recurrence of an accident of that nature. In the examples prepared, essential requirements for a performance standard were highlighted, such as functionality, availability, reliability, survivability, dependence, compatibility and interaction with other elements and the unit as a whole. For each requirement, a response criterion was exemplified. In the standards drawn up and objects of this work, the following were included: Relief System by Atmospheric Vent for Combustible and Flammable Products, Open Drainage System in classified areas, Fire Fighting System (Deluge and Pumps). The work concludes that performance standards constitute a good reference for measuring, monitoring and testing the effectiveness of a critical element or barrier throughout the entire life cycle of the installation.