Explosion prevention and protection on offshore O&G projects - your Ԑx strategy

The whole world have heard in the news about a few explosions on offshore platforms after they caused fatalities or when they were at the origin of a pollution or the loss of the asset, but this seems to me only the visible part of the iceberg. When looking more closely at the specific oil and gas industry media and networks, we easily find more examples of explosions with more of less severe consequences and if looking at the companies’ records of near-misses, we realize that explosion prevention and protection is of paramount importance on this type of assets.

This short article aims at bringing the focus on the main areas of your Project where your explosion protection strategy or “Ex” strategy can be implemented. I am not a specialist in Electrical, Instrumentation, Safety and Ex disciplines and this is why I would like to share with you my view as a project regulatory compliance manager, that may be useful for other non-specialist involved in offshore oil and gas projects. I will deliberately not go into the details of the relevant regulations, standards, and requirements. Also this article addresses electrical equipment and instruments (as opposed to mechanical equipment) in hazardous areas made of gases (as opposed to dust).