As part of our team’s review of the 2020 PHMSA Enforcement Actions pertaining to the pipeline control room, we identified a handful of fatigue management violations of the PHMSA Control Room Management Rule (CRM Rule). The violations regarding Section D…

Trust the process. It’s an oft-repeated phrase that has tremendous application for pipeline operators, especially in the area of supporting your regulatory compliance program. This is because validating compliance is not something that merely happens. It is the result of…

Managing Hours of Service (HOS) in the pipeline control room looks very different in 2021 than at the beginning of last year. The pandemic created new challenges around how to schedule shifts that protect the health and safety of controllers,…

In October 2020, I had the opportunity to present at the GPA Midstream 2020 Virtual Fall Technical Conference on how to prepare the control room for a PHMSA audit. As we enter 2021, this topic is increasingly relevant as PHMSA…

This year was unprecedented. The pandemic forced pipeline operators and control room managers to make critical decisions to support business continuity and continue to maintain compliance with PHMSA requirements. One of our colleagues, Charles Alday of the Pipeline Performance Group,…

Paperwork. Records. Documents. Teams. These are all very difficult to pull together to satisfy a PHMSA CRM audit. That’s why we recently introduced a new package of software tools, implementation support, and training to help pipeline operators and midstream companies…

Managing the pipeline control room requires a tremendous amount of logging and recordkeeping to support safety and to meet compliance requirements. The question is, what tools are you using to support this function? Paper recordkeeping, outdated software, or software that…

Managing the pipeline control room has proven to be a challenging task in 2020 due to the interruption of the COVID-19 global pandemic. At the peak of the pandemic in March and April, we took a deep dive into health…

Pipeline control room managers and supervisors have a unique perspective on pipeline safety that can be utilized across the operation. Specifically, how your control room has used technology to operate safely and in compliance with regulations and best practices. The…

Pipeline control room shifts are the subject of much debate and discussion in the industry. While the majority of pipeline controllers prefer a 12-hour shift schedule, other stakeholders in the control room may prefer their crews to work an 8-hour…