50-70% of HCR’s are linked to human factor errors. Although many industries have robust controls and measures in place to manage this risk HCR’s still present a large challenge. In recent years many advancements have been made to instrumentation and tubing systems to mitigate oil and gas leaks, however, despite these improvements, incorrectly assembled small bore tubing (human factor errors) is the second biggest cause of HCR’s.

SBT systems are classified as safety critical items of equipment. Traditionally the assembly, inspection and management of industrial fluid systems has been difficult to manage, once assembled undetectable issues create a gap in inspection information leading to unplanned HCR’s and shutdowns increasing risk and environmental impact.

Despite robust measures being put in place to prevent, detect, control and mitigate hydrocarbon releases, unfortunately issues around small-bore tubing systems continue to present a significant challenge to businesses. Over £500 million is lost annually in the UK due to SBT issues causing unplanned shutdowns.

Asset owners have a requirement to demonstrate to regulators that a formal process and controls are in place to maintain SBT integrity with regular inspection and maintenance throughout their lifecycle. Although most inspection procedures are based around the Energy Institute Guidelines for the management of small-bore tubing assemblies SBT visual inspection is limited, and random disassembly has been found to create further issues whilst substantially increasing costs.