How we prevent incidents:
For Enbridge, keeping people and the environment safe and maintaining the reliable flow of energy we all count on comes before anything else. That means anticipating and preventing incidents long before they occur. This mindset guides us when we plan new projects, it’s with us as we build and maintain our system, and it drives our decisions every day.
Advancing Technology to Make Pipelines Even Safer
At Enbridge our safety success comes from paying close attention to what’s working correctly and even closer attention to what could go wrong.
Focusing on how our systems might fail is the key to keeping them in top shape, running safely and reliably. It’s a mindset that drives our focus on prevention.
We build prevention into our systems from the very outset, selecting routes that maximize safety, designing and building our pipelines and facilities according to strict specifications using high quality materials, and then operating them carefully and thoughtfully, to maintain their health over the long term.
To build on our already strong safety record, we also pay attention to how our pipelines might fail – from threats of cracking, metal fatigue and corrosion to third-party damage and ground movement. And we dedicate a tremendous amount of time and resources to scan the horizon for potential problems and proactively nip trouble in the bud to make our prevention programs even better.
Case in point: inline inspection.
Inline inspection is a key part of our ongoing effort to keep our pipelines operating safely and smoothly. The tools we send through our pipelines use sophisticated technology including ultrasound and magnetic flux leakage to scan the pipe walls from the inside out, millimetre by millimetre, and detect microscopic features long before they become a problem. Think of it as a regular health check-up for our energy infrastructure using cutting-edge diagnostic imaging.
We’ve long been a leader in using inline inspection on our pipelines and over the last number of years we’ve ramped up our already strong focus even further.
In early 2017 Enbridge contributed more than $7 million to a multi-year partnership with NDT Global, a leading ultrasonic pipeline inspection service provider. The initiative will develop the next generation of inline inspection tools and bring them into service by 2019, boosting the industry’s capability to reliably detect microscopic cracking in crude oil pipelines.
“We’re working to create the next generation of inspection tools that make even the tiniest imperfections in a pipeline, most of which are benign, more understandable,” says Trevor Grams, Enbridge’s Director of Research and Development. “The more clarity we have on those features within a pipe—the better information the tool gives us, and the more reliable that information is—the better we can manage our infrastructure.”
“With this project, we’re talking about a step change—a big leap ahead in technology,” says John Fallon of NDT Global. Working closely with industry partners to advance pipeline technology and safety is nothing new for Enbridge.
We have a 15-year track record of fruitful collaboration with NDT including partnering on the 2012 development of an innovative ultrasonic inspection tool for dual-diameter pipelines and a program of sharing the data from our verification digs back with NDT so they can compare field results with the data from more than 100 inspection runs.
“Many of the latest inspection improvements from NDT Global have been first validated with Enbridge,” Fallon says. “Generally speaking, Enbridge has the biggest and most complete integrity program of any pipeline operator worldwide, with a long-term perspective of driving technology forward. It’s very influential in the industry.”
Our collaboration to advance pipeline inspection technology doesn’t stop with NDT. Click here to find out more about how we work with industry on pipeline inspection research and development.
Focusing on Process Safety
The importance of a strong – and safe – start
You might think that starting up a new facility or one that has just been through a shutdown and maintenance would be straightforward and safe. After all, everything is new, and should be shined up and ready for service, right?
The short answer is yes. The longer – and safer – answer is: it’s not quite that simple. Which is why Enbridge pays close attention to the issue.
“Experience has shown us that we need to take special care to ensure safety during start-ups. New equipment may operate differently, processes and procedures may have changed, there may be schedule pressure, and start-ups are relatively rare, unlike normal day-to-day operations,” says Ron Lewis, a Specialist in Operations Programs. “Safety is our Number 1 priority all the time, and in such a complex environment, with so many people involved we know that we need to be especially vigilant when we bring a facility or pipeline into service.”
Which is why in 2016 Ron was part of a team that developed an industry-leading, detailed pre-start-up safety review process, or PSSR, to make the process even safer. “The PSSR helps us anticipate trouble and get ahead of it. The process represents Operations’ last line of defense in ensuring a safe start-up, makes every team member’s responsibilities clear and literally gets everyone on the same page,” Ron says.
Which page? The approval page in the document which operations’ representatives sign to confirm that their area is ready to go.
“It’s a disciplined process and we back it up with personal accountability,” Ron says. “We know that safety is at stake, we take it seriously and we put our names on it.”
Visit the @enbridge Blog to learn more about how we strive to prevent all incidents.