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CSA Standards announces North America's first oil & Gas pipeline security standard |
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Written by REM
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Calgary, AB - CSA Standards officially announced a new, comprehensive publication designed to help manage the security of land-based pipeline systems and assets from vandalism, sabotage and other security threats. Transnational pipelines connect across much of the Canada-U.S. border with more than 540,000 km of pipelines in Canada and nearly 805,000 km of oil and gas pipelines in the U.S. The first standard of its kind in North America, Security Management for Petroleum & Natural Gas Industry Systems is designed to help protect and secure industry systems located in Canada.
Canadians recognize the importance of a safe, secure and reliable energy supply and that any prolonged interruption in the supply of energy due to sabotage or vandalism, would undoubtedly harm the economy. Even more important is protecting the wellbeing of workers, families and surrounding communities. With six bomb attacks on pipelines in B.C. occurring last year alone, vandalism, sabotage and attacks on oil and gas assets here in Canada have illustrated the need for a national security management standard. The new CSA standard takes all of these factors into account and applies specific security risk reduction measures to help reduce potential harm.
"The CSA Security Management for Petroleum and Natural Gas Industry Systems standard is designed to help ensure the safety and security of Canadians," says Suzanne Kiraly, President, CSA Standards. "Together with the National Energy Board and leading security experts, CSA developed this innovative standard to help mitigate threats to the energy supply systems. Organizations that implement this standard can confidently say that they are on the forefront of workplace health, safety, and security management."
The development of the standard was initiated when the National Energy Board Act was expanded to include "security" within the Board's mandate. The NEB then approached CSA to develop a consensus-based standard which would outline the requirements of a security program.
"The NEB is proud to be partnering with CSA Standards in developing a security standard that is comprehensive, thorough and incorporates established best practices in the pipeline industry," said NEB Chair and CEO Gaétan Caron.
"Having said that, I think it's important to remember that at the heart of this standard is our shared commitment to protecting what Canadians value most: our families, our homes and our businesses," he said.
CSA's Security Management for Petroleum & Natural Gas Systems standard uses a risk management and performance-based approach to help identify and reduce threats to oil and gas industry assets. It assists in enabling owners and operators to establish governance, conduct planning, implement security operations (including detection and mitigation practices), and refine the security program through change management and audit processes.
The standard applies to land-based pipeline systems for oil and gas, as well as liquefied gas production, storage and handling facilities, underground hydrocarbons storage, petrochemical installations, oil and gas treatment, production processing, storage operations and related assets. To help introduce this new approach to industry, CSA Standards is offering seminars that will provide users with a solid foundation of the full range of security and risk management considerations.
Further information on training is available at https://learningcentre.csa.ca/.
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