Creating an Effective Asset Integrity Management Program

Establishing an effective asset integrity management (AIM) program begins with the creation of a leadership team at the appropriate level of management. The team membership should encompass all areas of responsibility for asset integrity. Management at the corporate level needs to provide support, but cannot effectively drive execution of the details. Program oversight at a low level in the organization can result in inconsistent policies being implemented across the enterprise or in not having sufficient resources to fully implement the AIM program.

The AIM program should drive overall risk management for all assets. Regulatory covered processes may have higher safety risks, but non-covered assets may still pose significant business risk that require elevated coverage.

The AIM program should be established as a full life cycle program, from design to decommissioning. Defining and documenting standards for each phase of the life cycle in an AIM procedure is critical. Clearly defining the roles and responsibilities at each phase is also essential to an effective AIM program. The roles need to be filled with the correct subject-matter experts who are actively engaged with the leadership team.

A successful AIM program can improve existing risk management and reliability efforts through appropriate management direction, thoughtful application of the program to all assets, and clear documentation of the expectations for the full life cycle of the equipment.