FSA stage 1 of subsea well intervention system

MAR consulting AS performed a functional safety assessment (FSA) stage 1 of a subsea riser less well intervention system. The system will have two SIL2 safety instrumented functions (SIF), based on the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (guideline 070) and IEC standards (61508 and 61511):

  • One emergency shutdown (ESD);
  • One emergency quick disconnect (EQD).

Following IEC 61508/61511 safety lifecycle, stage 1 covered:

  • Hazard analysis;
  • Allocation of safety functions to protection layers;
  • Initial version of safety requirement specifications (SRS);
  • Management of functional safety and verification and validation.

Documentation was readily available to demonstrate compliance with functional safety requirements at this stage of the project. However, various important aspects of the functional safety management plan were missing. For example, proper planning with regards to responsibilities and follow-up of risk/hazard assessments findings or verification and validation activities.

Functional safety management during a project is fundamental to guarantee that systematic errors are minimized. Such errors can be carried out to the operational phase with dire consequences. (Similarly, a SIS lifecycle plan is essential during operations for the same reasons).

The design phase of this project is undergoing and MAR Consulting will perform an FSA stage 2 when this phase is finalized.

At MAR Consulting, we have developed and assessed multiple project functional safety management plans (FSMP) and operational SIS lifecycle plans during the past 10years. Feel free to contact us if you require assistance to reduce the likelihood of systematic errors propagating into your safety automated systems.

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