Ankaa Consulting has been entrusted to deliver the Safety Cases and supporting technical safety studies for an offshore oil and gas facility in Nigeria. The engagement covers the development of both Design and Operations Safety Cases for a Wellhead Platform (WHP), supporting safe and reliable upstream field operations in alignment with regulatory and industry requirements.
As part of this project, Ankaa Consulting will perform a comprehensive set of Formal Safety Assessments (FSAs) to systematically identify hazards, evaluate risks, and define effective mitigation measures throughout the facility lifecycle.
Scope of Work
The overall project encompasses a multi-disciplinary assessment, including:
- Hazards and Effects Register (HER) – Systematic identification and documentation of hazards, associated threats, consequences, and safeguards.
- Safety Integrity Level (SIL) Classification – Determination of required integrity levels for Safety Instrumented Functions (SIFs).
- Safety Integrity Level (SIL) Verification – Validation that the safety systems meet the required SIL targets.
- Safety Studies Assumption Register – Consolidation and tracking of key assumptions adopted across all safety studies.
- Fire and Explosion Risk Analysis (FERA) – Assessment of fire and explosion scenarios and associated risks.
- Dropped Object Study – Evaluation of risks related to dropped objects impacting personnel and equipment.
- Ship Collision Study – Analysis of potential vessel impact risks to the personnel and platform.
- Non-Hydrocarbon Hazards Analysis (NHHA) – Identification of hazards (Occupational risk, Structural failure) not related to hydrocarbon releases.
- Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA) – Quantification of individual and societal risks.
- Emergency Systems Survivability Analysis (ESSA) – Evaluation of critical systems under emergency conditions.
- Predictive Noise Study – Assessment of noise levels and potential impact to personnel.
- Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM) Study – Analysis of system performance and operational uptime.
- Safety Critical Elements (SCEs) & Performance Standards – To ensure required functionality, reliability, and effectiveness in preventing or mitigating Major Accident Hazards (MAHs).
- Escape, Evacuation and Rescue Analysis (EERA) – Assessment of emergency response and evacuation provisions.
- Bowtie Analysis – Visualisation of hazard pathways, barriers, and controls.
- ALARP Demonstration – Demonstration that risks are reduced to As Low As Reasonably Practicable levels.
- Design Safety Case – Development of safety justification for the design phase.
- Operations Safety Case – Development of safety justification for the operational phase.
Structured Approach to Technical Safety
Ankaa Consulting applies a systematic and risk-based methodology to ensure robust and consistent safety outcomes:
- Data Collection – Gathering engineering data, layouts, design basis and key project documentation required for analysis.
- Stakeholder Engagement – Facilitating workshops and aligning deliverables with project stakeholders.
- Assumption Management – Tracking and validating assumptions across all safety studies.
- Hazard Registering – Identifying credible hazards associated with normal operations across all systems and activities.
- Hazard Screening – Filtering and prioritising hazards based on potential risk significance.
- Scenario Development – Establishing credible worst-case and representative scenarios for analysis.
- Frequency Analysis – Estimating event likelihood using historical data and industry databases.
- Consequence Modelling – Performing fire, explosion, dispersion, and impact modelling where applicable.
- Risk Assessment – Evaluating likelihood and consequences of identified scenarios.
- Risk Quantification – Conducting QRA to evaluate individual and societal risk levels.
- Safeguard Identification – Identifying existing prevention and mitigation barriers.
- Safeguard Evaluation – Assessing adequacy, reliability, and independence of safeguards.
- SIL Assessment – Determining required Safety Integrity Levels for instrumented protections.
- SIL Verification – Confirming that proposed systems achieve target reliability levels.
- Interface Management – Ensuring alignment across process, mechanical, electrical, and control systems.
- Performance Standards Development – Defining functional and performance requirements for SCEs.
- Emergency Response Assessment – Evaluating escape, evacuation, and rescue arrangements.
- ALARP Evaluation – Demonstrating that risks have been reduced to acceptable and practicable levels.
- Integration of Studies – Ensuring consistency and alignment across all technical safety deliverables.
- Compliance Review – Ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements and industry standards.
- Recommendations Development – Proposing practical measures to enhance safety and operability.
- Documentation and Reporting – Preparing comprehensive and auditable technical safety reports.
Commitment to Safety and Operational Excellence
Through the delivery of comprehensive safety studies and the Safety Case development, Ankaa Consulting supports informed decision-making to ensure safe, reliable, and sustainable offshore operations. This project reinforces the company’s commitment to upholding the highest standards of technical safety, thereby positioning the company as a trusted partner for the delivery of risk management services.
For more information or to discuss your requirements, contact us at sales@ankaaconsulting.com.