Systems Reliability Section (SRS)
When BSEE determines a piece of equipment or system doesn’t perform safely offshore, technical staff from the Systems Reliability Section (SRS) collaborates with operators, industry professionals, and subject-matter experts to conduct and/or oversee challenging technical equipment evaluations. The section assesses fitness for service, or/and the root causes of incidents and near-miss events.
Under the Emerging Technology Branch, the Systems Reliability Section (SRS) observes and oversees quality-assurance and quality-control testing of offshore equipment. BSEE assembles a team of experts for the study, the Quality Control-Failure Incident Team (QC-FIT).
The team evaluates and develops recommendations for the following:
- Notices to Lessees and Operators (NTLs), Regulations, Policies, Procedures - Recommends changes to BSEE policy, procedures, NTLs and/or regulations that promote continuous improvement in offshore oil and gas operations.
- Industry Standards - Recommends changes, improvements, requirements to industry standards promoting Quality Assurance andd Quality Control improvements of equipment or systems’manufacture, performance, reliability and safe operation.
- Safety Alert - When applicable, recommends Safety Alerts to address QC-FIT findings.
- Best and Available and Safest Technology (BAST) - Recommends improvements for the use of best available and safest technology (BAST) in accordance with OCSLA during all phases of offshore oil and gas operations on the OCS.
- Research – recommends applied research studies for improvements.
Root Cause Analysis
The team determines the root cause of component and equipment failures, and identifies quality-assurance and quality-control issues, which may contribute to accidents, events, and near-misses during offshore drilling and production operations.
These QC-FIT technical evaluations are separate and distinct from BSEE’s District Form 2010 Incident Investigations, or regional panel investigations, which focus primarily on field operational procedures, regulatory compliance, plans and permits. Instead, QC-FIT evaluations may recommend a need for further applied technology study to address quality-assurance, quality-control and performance-reliability concerns of new equipment or technology. For example, some equipment used on the offshore wasn’t available or existing when the initial industry standards and/or regulations were created, and the QC-FIT team examines these equipment and manufactured parts to identify indications that the equipment isn’t "fit for service," or to identify a critical gaps in the standard or regulation. In this case, the team may recommend a revision to an existing rule, or the creation of a new industry standard, or manufacture and performance requirement.
Life Cycle Evaluations
Another way SRS supports safety offshore is through SRS life-cycle evaluations, which focus on the independent validation and verification of manufacturer’s recommendations and system-user requirements. The SRS has associations with independent-third parties, certified verification agents, classification societies, academia, and national or private laboratories.
The SRS makes recommendations based on the findings of these evaluations, and when appropriate, BSEE may initiate standards-development work, conduct further applied research studies, and direct other improvements.
All reports are submitted to BSEE’s director. Once assessed, and if approved, a decision may be integrated into the bureau’s regulatory program, as part of a new, modified existing requirement, development and subsequent consensus-based standard, Notices to Lessees and Operators, or changes to permit conditions or approvals. The goal of the SRS is to improve the overall safety, reliability and performance of offshore equipment, and to protect and conserve environmental resources during offshore oil and gas operations.
Systems Reliability Section (SRS) Goals, Process and Evaluation
Systems Reliability Section (SRS) Findings and Recommendations