Review of workflows of emergency shutdown systems in the Norwegian oil and gas industry

The emergency shutdown (ESD) system is widely used as a key safety function in the process industries, including oil & gas (O&G). Most studies related to ESD have focused on solving such specific challenges as the estimation of unreliability, definition of the safety integrity level, and so on. However, current developments within the industry and new challenges clearly indicate the important need for better and broader awareness of complex systems such as ESDs to prevent unwanted situations. Hence, this paper attempts to develop a holistic framework to systematically identify gaps during the operation and maintenance of ESD systems, based on a field study in Norway. The suggested framework reflects the complex nature of the system from both technical and operational perspectives, to raise awareness of the various improvements required: something which has not yet been fully captured through traditional studies in the O&G industry. As a part of the study, real business cases were collected and analysed to map the most critical gaps and challenges during the implementation of various workflows around the system. The proposed framework can help companies to gain a better understanding of ESD systems, as well as other safety systems, and to become aware of potential solutions to close gaps and to improve the performance of critical assets.