I recently found the article titled 'Oil & Gas Isn't Just One of the Richest Industries, it's Also One of the Safest' on Forbes relating to the oil and gas industry. What do you all think? What are the best examples of automation being utilized in the industry to increase safety?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertbradley/2013/03/25/oil-gas-isnt-just-one-of-the-richest-industries-its-also-one-of-the-safest/
Natalie Namisnyk
It is an enlightening article, and not entirely surprising. Most companies know they must pay more than lip service to safety and have known this for a while. Some people in some companies inevitably take risky short cuts, but most of us want to go home at night to see our families. The consequences for companies who fail to manage for safety can be extremely costly in terms of actual dollar losses, fines and penalties, reputation and PR as well as risking their employees and neighbors. The bigger the company, the greater the magnitude of costs associated with an incident. Safety Instrumented Systems are the obvious examples of automation being used to increase safety. But there are a whole list of ways in which automation and automation professionals including technicians, engineers, and consultants are working to increase safety. In a shameless plug for Emerson, I think the focus on pervasive measurement and its affordability with technologies like wireless will have as much impact on safety as anything besides training and SIS. In the realm of training, OTS is a cornerstone of many corporate efforts to increase safety.