Mechanical Integrity Research Survey by Operational Sustainability, LLC

Mechanical Integrity (MI) is a management system or program designed to cover process safety critical equipment subject to regulatory compliance (i.e. 29 CFR 1910.119(j), EPA RMP) to prevent or minimize catastrophic release of toxic, reactive, flammable, or explosive chemicals. An MI program must have written procedures that at a minimum address static / fixed equipment, rotating equipment, relief systems, instrumented, electrical and controls systems –including emergency shutdown systems.

Equipment reliability is also key objective of MI help meet corporate financial goals. The program basis is Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices (RAGAGEP) from sources such as ASME and API that are also supplemented with company and peer learnings as appropriate. Since this is a lifecycle approach, the process starts at design and proceeds through construction, startup, operations, and eventually dismantlement/remediation.

This survey is focused on benchmarking organizations based on their existing MI programs. People who take part in this survey will receive a free copy of the report generated from the survey results. All results will be aggregated; no individually identifying information will be included in the final report.

Complete the survey to be entered to win one of several $100 Amazon gift cards that will be given away monthly.

Question Title

* 1. In what industry sector does your company primarily operate?

Oil and Gas, Upstream

Oil and Gas, Midstream

Oil and Gas, Downstream

Chemical / Petrochemical

Electric Utility / Power Generation

Mining / Metals

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 2. Roughly how many full-time employees does your organization (across all locations) have?

Less than 100

101-500

501-2,500

2,501-10,000

10,000+

Question Title

* 3. In thinking about your overall MI program (i.e. administration, quality assurance, quality control of spares, inspections, testing, repair and replacement, maintenance training), how effective are your organization’s management systems in achieving your equipment safety and reliability (including uptime) goals? Use a scale of one to five, where one means “Not effective at all” and five means “Very effective.”

1. Not Effective At All

2. Not Very Effective

3. Somewhat Effective

4. Mostly Effective

5. Very Effective

1. Not Effective At All

2. Not Very Effective

3. Somewhat Effective

4. Mostly Effective

5. Very Effective

Question Title

* 4. How would you specifically rate the effectiveness of your MI procedures for the following equipment types:

- Pressure vessels and storage tanks
- Piping systems
- Relief and vent systems and devices, including relief system design and design basis.
- Emergency shutdown systems
- Instruments and Controls
- Pumps / rotating equipment

Use a scale of one to five, where one means “Not effective at all” and five means “Very effective.”

1. Not Effective At All

2. Not Very Effective

3. Somewhat Effective

4. Mostly Effective

5. Very Effective

1. Not Effective At All

2. Not Very Effective

3. Somewhat Effective

4. Mostly Effective

5. Very Effective

Question Title

* 5. Which of the following maintenance types are a challenge for your organization in terms of program design and/or implementation? (select all that apply)

Time Based Inspection and testing

Condition Based Inspection and testing

Risk Based Inspection and testing

Identification of failure mechanisms and risks

Preventive Maintenance

Predictive Maintenance

Corrective action prioritization

Question Title

* 6. In your opinion, how effectively does your organization integrate Management of Change (MOC) into your MI Program? (e.g., changes in the field drive updates to the MI Program, and conversely changes made the MI program such as shortening inspection frequencies that are subject to MOC)

Use a scale of one to five, where one means “Not effective at all” and five means “Very effective.”

1. Not Effective At All

2. Not Very Effective

3. Somewhat Effective

4. Mostly Effective

5. Very Effective

1. Not Effective At All

2. Not Very Effective

3. Somewhat Effective

4. Mostly Effective

5. Very Effective

Question Title

* 7. Thinking about your organization, do you think critical support functions such as Supply Chain and Procurement sometimes inadvertently circumvent your MI Quality Assurance and Control processes in any of the following ways? (select all that apply)

Poor Equipment specifications on a Purchase Order

Using non-approved equipment suppliers/vendors (quality impacts due to ordering the lower price instead of the highest quality)

Lack of or inadequate equipment receiving inspections

Service contracts with non-approved quality service suppliers

Other (explain)

Question Title

* 8. What do you see as the most challenging aspect of an effective MI Program? (select all that apply)

Deferred maintenance management

Procedures development

Procedures implementation

Establishing a quality stores/warehouse equipment management system

Maintenance training

Meeting equipment uptime goals

Task prioritization

Other [explain]

Question Title

* 9. Thinking about how your organization manages MI, for what aspects do you currently depend on software (meaning not Excel spreadsheets or internal databases, but rather specific MI software)? (select all that apply)

Enterprise Asset Management

CMMS / Work Management

Risk Based Inspection

MI Incidents / Lessons Learned

Time-Based Inspection

Engineering Information Management (i.e., Isometric drawings)

Integrity Operating Windows

Stores / Warehouse parts management

Maintenance training

Other [explain]

Question Title

* 10. What percentage of your organization’s MI activities, including those listed in Question 9, are primarily managed via paper, spreadsheet, or internal database systems?

Less than 10%

10% to 25%

25% to 50%

50% to 75%

75% or more

Question Title

* 11. Please enter your email to be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card and to receive a copy of the survey results when the polling period is closed. By entering your email address, you acknowledge that you are opting-in to periodic marketing emails from OS. You can unsubscribe at any time, and OS will never sell or share your information.

Email Address

100% of survey complete.