Mechanical Damage Prevention

An SGA Web Conference Series of 5 Sessions

Session 1 – Monday, January 22, 2007 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM CT

• 2006 Reauthorization Act & Mechanical Damage
• PHMSA - OPS Interpretation & Implementqtion
• An Industry Perspective of Law
• MD Safety Review
• Review of Existing Regs & B31.8S re Mechanical Damage
  
  

See Key Issues Discussed

See the slides - 2 slides per page PDF grayscale (click to download)

See the slides - 1 slide per page PDF color (click to download)

Registered attendees may view the Playback with this link:
http://prod1.centra.com/GP/main/00000001c0f2e5010ff0e28a61007233

To register to view this Playback:
http://prod1.centra.com/Reg/main/00000001c0f2e5010ff0e28a61007233/en_US

The Presenters

SGA is proud to have Jeff Weise, Christina Sames and Mark Hereth as presenters for this session and thanks them for their participation -

Jeffrey (Jeff) Wiese Acting Associate Administrator - Pipeline Safety Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration - Office of Pipeline Safety U.S. D.O.T	Jeff Wiese is currently serving as PHMSA's Acting Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety. In this capacity, Jeff directs several programs for PHMSA of possible interest to our audience including: damage prevention and community involvement initiatives, pipeline safety public awareness, field implementation of the Integrity Management Program rules, and pipeline safety research and development. In the recent past Mr. Wiese also served as PHMSA's Deputy Associate Director. Prior to arriving at PHMSA, more than 8 years ago, Mr. Wiese worked for fifteen years in matters related to offshore oil and gas safety for the Minerals Management Service - including stints as Director of its Safety and Environmental Management and OCS Performance Measures Programs, as well as its Chief of Staff for Offshore Operations and Safety Management.
Christina Sames Managing Director, Operations and Engineering American Gas Association	Christina Sames is the Managing Director of Engineering Services at the American Gas Association (AGA).  Her responsibilities include pipeline safety advocacy support and implementation, damage prevention, and oversight of the AGA Best Practices Program, publications, and operations conferences and workshops. She is AGA’s liaison to the CGA and the National Association of State Fire Marshals, and works with both groups on preventing third party damage and pipeline communications.  Other duties include natural gas research and development, standards coordination, and a variety of government/industry projects.  Prior to joining AGA, Christina worked for the Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI) and spent 12 years with the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.  She holds a B.S. in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University
Mark Hereth Principal Process Performance Improvement Consultants	Mark Hereth has over 25 years of experience in the energy, chemical and environmental industries as well as the oil and gas insurance industry. He has worked in the areas or risk management, management system development, pipeline operations, project management, process plant design and environmental and pipeline safety legislation and regulations. At the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, he was the Senior Vice President and General Manager in their pipeline division. In this capacity he has worked with pipeline companies, industry trade associations and research organizations to develop and improve the management of risk and maintenance of the integrity of pipeline systems in order to improve safety and environmental impact as well as improve the cost structure and reliability of these systems. Mark presently serves as a board member for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America Foundation and is on the Faculty at the Transportation Center at Northwestern University. Mark has received numerous awards and recognitions from the Department of Transportation for his contributions in risk management and improvements to the Pipeline Safety Regulations. Mark has testified to the Congress of the United States on issues relating to pipeline Safety.

 

Learning Objectives

After attending this session the participant will -

Be able to:	Locate and understand all the existing and forthcoming regulations and standards requirements for mechanical damage.
Know:	What the requirements are and may become for meeting mechanical damage regulations. What impact MD has had on pipeline safety.
Know where to find out about:	Mechanical damage regulations and standards.

 

Prior Knowlege Recommendations

To get the most from attending this session the participant is recommended to have the following prior knowledge -

ASME B31.8	Read and be familiar with the sections of ASME B31.8S pertaining to mechanical damage.	http://catalog.asme.org/
PHMSA Advisory on construction-related excavation activities. 17 Nov 06	Read and be familiar with Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration advisory bulletin on construction-related excavation activities - locating, marking and excavating near pipelines.	http://ops.dot.gov/new/New_2006/Advisory.pdf
Notice to Operators of Natural Gas and Hazardous Liquid Pipelines 17 Jan 06	PHMSA advisory bulletin to pipeline operators to reinforce the need for safe excavation practices and recommend that pipeline operators integrate the Operator Qualification regulations into their marking, trenching, and backfilling operations to prevent excavation damage mishaps.	http://ops.dot.gov/new/ADB-06-01%20FR.pdf
PHMSA Pipeline Safety Program: Pipeline Safety Incident Reports	PHMSA is committed to a data-driven approach to developing and refining pipeline safety programs. They began collecting natural gas pipeline incident and hazardous liquid pipeline accident data in 1970. Although reporting criteria and report formats have changed over the years, PHMSA maintains the data reported by operators in the format specified at the time the report was filed. However, PHMSA has developed sub-sets of the operator-reported incident data to provide more meaningful trends in pipeline safety incidents.	http://www.cycla.com/stakeholders/reports/PSI.html

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Key Issues Discussed

Notes from Session One of the Mechanical Damage Prevention Web Conference Series

Underground Damage Prevention is a Multi-Faceted Issue
Pipeline operators digging into pipelines
People living and working near pipelines - over 14,000 schools nationwide located in the vicinity of pipelines
Growing development around pipelines
Inadequate state authority for One-Call
Testimony of Admiral Barrett, PHMSA Administrator before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation – November 16, 2006: “…the most important concern we face—the growing rate of construction-related pipeline accidents, driven by a growing economy.”

Cause of Excavation Damage Incidents
Consistent with findings of CGA - Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) - Failure to notify operator in approximately 50% of damages
Huge opportunity
1. Ensure one-call is used
2. Eliminate exemptions
Communicate at the stakeholder interfaces
1. Excavation is not a discrete set of tasks
2. Excavation is an integrated process
3. Follow-through and verify

Challenges in Preventing Outside Force Damage
Failure to mark before digging (failing to participate in One-Call)
Business pressures to put facilities into ground
Failure to use safe excavation practices (assumptions)
Proximity of pipelines to people
Susceptibility of whole system

API RP 1166 Excavation Monitoring and Observation: provides comprehensive approach to assessing potential impacts of excavation near pipelines.

PIPES – Pipeline Inspection, Protection, and Enforcement Safety Act of 2006 passed and signed by President 12/29/06. Major Provisions:
1. Significant damage prevention provisions:
ü Increased enforcement/penalties for those that do not use one-call systems, disregard location markings or fail to take responsible steps to prevent excavation damage.
ü State pipeline safety grants increased from 50% to 80%, contingent on the effectiveness of the state’s damage prevention program
ü Continued funding for CGA
ü Continued funding for One-Call Grants
2. Control room management
3. Additional inspectors
4. 811 (call before you dig) to be rolled out in 2007 (www.call811.com)

Elements of Effective Excavation Damage Prevention
Enhanced communications between operators and excavators
Fostering support & partnership of all stakeholders
Operator’s use of performance measures
Partnership in employee training
Partnership in public education
Dispute resolution process
Fair and consistent enforcement of the law
Use of technology to improve process
Analysis of data to continually evaluate/improve program effectiveness

A Poll of Participants on Session One
More than 80% of attendees have been audited on their mechanical damage program by PHMSA. Of those audited, ~50% passed the audit without comment, 50% passed with comments, no one failed the audit. This is an indication that existing programs meet PHMSA requirements, as a minimum.