Page 23: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jun/Jul 2014)

22 24

environmental management into the operation and maintenance of offshore exploration and production operations.

It is fully aligned with the inter- national standard on environmental management systems ISO14001, which features the continuous improvement concept and includes a commitment to comply with perti- nent legislation.

The environmental management plan

Figure 2: Environmental management plans ofer a path towards unlocking the benefts of

Due to the way the environmental goal setting regulation and away from prescriptive regulation.

Graphic from Xodus.

management plans are developed, they offer a structured approach to creating better alignment in the management of environmental The need for environmental protection is generally not issues and increased confdence in compliance with legislative disputed and much has been done to reduce industrial and frameworks and corporate requirements. consumer related pollution. However, building an effective

Central to the method is a single document detailing the tech- environmental management system according to the “plan, nical scope description, purpose, and methodology, as well as implement, check and review” ISO 14001 cycle is not easy and the environmental management planning and implementation. is not as simple as writing a policy and ensuring its execution.

The document is essential to the company’s environmental Effectively implementing such a system requires alignment management system, as it bridges the gap between operational with other company commitments, such as structural integrity objectives and stakeholder expectations, and provides an audit and fnancial liability. In reality, enhancing environmental trail between high level objectives and individual tasks and performance is limited by the opportunities for improvement. responsibilities, depicted in Figure 2. Forcing through improvements generally results in tension

The outputs from the assessment, as illustrated, are used to within the organization, lack of alignment and buy-in, and inform and populate the tools, systems, and processes that drive bulky procedures that gather dust on the shelf. and control operations on the asset. The environmentally criti- This approach encompasses a side-by-side assessment of the cal/important equipment are captured differing societal perspectives by compiling a list of issues (or within the maintenance management environmental business risks) from a comprehensive analysis system, with appropriate levels of main- of interactions between activities and environmental and social tenance and inspection applied to each. sensitivities; the equivalent of a safety HAZID (hazard identif-

The roles and responsibilities (either cation study), with a twist. onshore or offshore) that are necessary For each of the resulting 40-60 environmental issues, an to ensure that the “issue management” objective assessment of ecological impacts is prepared, while strategies are implemented and followed being conscious of the limitations of environmental science, are captured in the job descriptions for such as its struggle to assess cumulative impacts. On the more each position. The training and compe- subjective side of the equation, the expectations of stakeholders, tence requirements for each position, such as their motivation and infuence is considered. Finally, in order that these individuals are able legislation and company standards are reviewed to ascertain to fulfll their roles and deliver on their any differences in these three assessments.

responsibilities, are captured in the Two main response strategies are distinguished: impact training and competency management reduction, which is reducing the physical environmental system. impact by, for instance, reducing the use of resources, by reduc-

The actions that are required to ensure ing emissions or discharges, or by reducing noise emissions. that the plant and equipment on the asset The other response strategy is risk communication, which is are operated in line with the issue man- increasing the acceptance of the risk by better explaining the agement strategies are then incorporated acceptability of the risk, by challenging the motives of stake- into the relevant operating procedures. holders, or by sharing control with stakeholders. A combina-

The focus of the asset management team, as well as those in tion of the two strategies is often required. compliance assurance roles, is therefore on ensuring that main-

Issue management tenance and inspection routines are carried out, personnel are managed in line with HR processes, and operating procedures One answer may be to shift and widen the perspective of envi- are followed. ronmental management from impact reduction to issue man-

Plan, implement, check and review agement, as shown in Figure 3. This can have wide-ranging implications.

Figure 1: The Cygnus feld is the sixth largest gas feld in the

By changing the objective of environmental management southern North Sea and the largest to be discovered in the last to issue management, everything that is part of the issue 25 years within the southern North Sea gas basin. is managed under the heading of the issue, including the

Image from GDF Suez.

oedigital.com June 2014 | OE 25 000_OE0614_HSEQ1_Xodus.indd 25 5/22/14 9:36 PM