Page 374 - Pipeline Risk Management Manual Ideas, Techniques, and Resources

Program administration 151349
be essential in overcoming resistance from any individual or Management Program Standard documents, which recom-
group to fully participate and contribute to the effort. A certain mend that administrative aspects be established for program
amount of momentum is required to entrench a new philosophy elements as well as forprocess elements, as described below.
into an organization. The keys to obtaining the momentum for a
successful implementation usually involve strong upper man- Program elements
agement support, some amount of training and communications
across the entire workforce, and a “champion” individual or This section describes the organizational infrastructure and
group who can overcome the commonly encountered obstacles. activities that support and ensure the viability of the risk
The roles and responsibilities for the department responsible management process. The technical aspects of the process are
for the RMP generally involve the following: covered in the next section on process elements.
The following are section or document titles that should be a
Ensure that the RMP is a useful and efficient program. part of the control documentation for the risk management pro-
Develop and maintain data collection processes. grain. A brief description or sample content follows each title.
Develop and maintain risk assessment algorithm and soft- These are samples only and not necessarily recommendations
ware tools. for specific position titles and roles.
Provide decision-support information to all parties.
Conduct ongoing evaluations and improvement for the RMP. Administrative procedure
Enhance communications, both internal and external, of pro-
gram. This document serves as the overall control document for
Ensure that the appropriate RMP knowledge and training the RMP. It states the purpose and background of the program
levels exists in all departments with responsibilities under and identifies the other documents that control the entire
this document. program.
The RMP could logically reside in any of several departments Roles and responsibilities
within a typical pipeline organization. Although the leadership
abilities of the specific individual or group responsible for the Specific job titles and general job duties are described here.
effort are the largest detennining factor of success, some gen- Note the potential training and knowledge benefits of making
eral advantages and disadvantages can be identified for each some tasks a rotating job responsibility. Some example content
group. is shown below.
A group that routinely acquires and handles a lot of the infor-
mation required for the risk model is a candidate for ownership RMP manager This manager is charged with responsibility
of the RMP. This might point to a corrosion, engineering, or for and overall management of the RMP, including
information technology (IT) department. On the other hand, a
group that will make most use of the RMP results might be a Efficient use of risk concepts within the organization
good choice. This might point to a planning, projects, or opera- Application of RMP outputs to day-to-day activities.
tions/maintenance group. Especially in the early stages, the Communications, both internal and external, of program
RMP will need to be set up and run with project management (see paragraph below)
controls similar to a construction project, as discussed begin- Ongoing evaluation and improvement of the RMP
ning on page 38. This implies that a group with experience in Support and direction of RMP coordinator.
managing projects would be a likely candidate.
Regardless of who “owns” the RMP, many different people
in any organization will hold key information and knowledge RMP coordinator It is the responsibility of this position to
on which the RMP is very dependent. The RMP owners’ ability oversee all technical aspects of the RMP, including
to efficiently coordinate with many different groups within the
company will often be essential to the success of the program. Maintain risk assessment algorithms; conduct annual algo-
Technical and information management expertise are also rithm tuning sessions.
essential but do not necessarily have to reside with the pro- Maintain software tools.
gram-owner as long as such expertise is made available to the Maintain current section risk rankings and project cost!bene-
program-owner. fit rankings.
Maintain all database structures and report deficiencies
Control documents promptly to the department responsible for the affected data.
Ensure that costs are appropriately captured.
The format and hierarchy of RMP control documents can Ensure that risk reduction activities are accurately modeled
take many forms. lf a company has already established a pre- in appropriate spreadsheets.
ferred system of such documents for controlling procedures, Submit to manager(s) RMP-related reports and other
processes, roles, responsibilities, training requirements, etc., requested documentation for decision support.
then the RMP control documents can be incorporated into that Ensure that the appropriate RMP knowledge and training
existing structure. levels exist in all departments with responsibilities under this
The following procedures present a possible outline for doc- document.
umentation to administer the risk management program. They Provide tools and procedures to area supervisors to collect
are organized as recommended by U.S. DOT Pipeline Risk necessary information.