Whitney Vandiver, Ph.D., Compliance Specialist, NuGen Automation, LLC, USA, discusses how operators can develop a successful compliance-driven initiative when it comes to CRM audits.
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he term audit has become a four-letter word in the oil and gas industry and often sends operators into a frenzy to catch up on the little things that have been left for the last minute. Unfortunately, for most operators, those little things add up to the big requirement of compliance, and not all operators are learning from their auditing experiences, especially when it comes to control room management (CRM). However, there are several steps that operators can take to prepare for a CRM audit and shift their focus to the effectiveness of their compliance efforts. Most operators will find themselves leaps and bounds ahead of where they started if they take an honest look at their documentation and consider three primary questions.
Are operations driven by compliance – or is compliance a supplemental feature? Operators must recognise the importance of, and develop, a compliance-driven initiative within their corporate environment. Due to the nature of oil and gas operations, there are times when decisions are made and compliance is consulted or considered at a later time, which can create a negative attitude toward compliance. The result is that compliance measures are often viewed as tedious activities that must be performed to avoid being caught out – some operators see them as keeping the wolves at bay. This perspective, however, lends itself to an undesirable perception
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