Software safety enters spotlight

Historically, systems on drilling assets were hydro-mechanical. As a result, many of today’s drilling equipment development and maintenance processes remain focused on hardware. Because software is now vital to safe and efficient operations on offshore assets, this view must evolve.

The oil and gas industry cannot afford to ignore the very real safety and operational risks that are introduced when software is treated as an afterthought. To mitigate these risks, we must work together to shine the spotlight on software by increasing education, working to establish industry standards for control systems software, and collecting more comprehensive data on software-related safety incidents and nonproductive time (NPT).

How education can help
Control systems software is very complex and is comprised of a number of components. But it is impossible to see it

Though software is invisible, costly repairs and sometimes tragic accidents can – and do - result from failures in any one control system’s component. (Graphics courtesy of Athens Group)

work or to see when it fails. Though software is invisible, costly repairs and sometimes tragic accidents can – and do – result from failures in any one control system’s component. In a recent industry survey, drilling contractors and
operators responded that 10% to 30% or more of NPT is related to software. That is unacceptably high. Increased education is necessary so all oil and gas personnel – from executives, to electrical technicians, to toolpushers
– understand the role that software plays in safe and efficient drilling operations.

Software risk mitigation practices will only be widely implemented when everyone in the industry understands the increased safety and return on investment that can be achieved through effective management of software risk.
Increased education is vital to achieving industry-wide support for:
• Adoption and greater oversight of software-related practices that have proven successful in other industries, e.g., semi-conductor and automotive;
• Development of industry-specific software standards; and
• Implementation of standardized software risk reduction initiatives.

In addition to fostering support for the preventative measures listed above, education also enables personnel

An industry survey showed software accounts for a large percentage of NPT.

to determine when equipment failures are software-related, so that they can establish more effective mitigation and remediation plans.

Shell has been able to reduce its total drilling time by 50% and its non-productive costs by 66% since 2006, when it established a dedicated team to investigate drilling tool failure. The group was trained in root cause failure analysis (RCFA) and was given the time and resources to get to the details of any failure incident. Reported success factors included:
• A manageable and focused work scope, with the highest impact events getting the most attention;
• Assignment of dedicated personnel with clear roles and responsibilities to conduct RCFA, instead of the operations
team, which needs to focus on drilling the well;
• Clearly defined vendor accountabilities and responsibilities during both failure investigation and the implementation
of corrective action; and
• Clear and timely communication among all interested parties.

Why standards?
Education will help to identify what needs to be done in the area of software safety. Industry-specific software standards and proven practices are necessary to help drilling contractors and operators not only identify areas in need of improvement, but also take action to achieve increased software quality and safety. Software-specific standards provide a roadmap for the implementation of proven methods for software quality assurance. These include:
• Standardized equipment interfaces – the weakest link in terms of reliability;
• Standardized human machine interfaces across vendors so crews going from one asset to another do not have to learn different conventions and do not potentially press the wrong button or misinterpret important information;
• Earlier implementation of software in the rig newbuild cycle to provide enough time for adequate software testing
and all integration points prior to the sail date;
• Increased risk assessment and mitigation; and
• Methodology for measuring software performance quality and performance expectations in contracts and requirements.

We must work together to establish standards that address issues listed above. In other industries, successful standards programs were driven by the key beneficiaries of those standards rather than by those who must make the greatest investment in research and development to implement them.

Associations such as the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) support committees that are working on industry-specific software standards. According to David Reid, chairman of the IADC Advanced Rig Technology Committee, “Using IADC as the mechanism, we’ll connect people together so they can have good conversations about how to improve.”

Improvement is predicated on measurement
Before anything can be managed and improved, it must be measured. In a recent industry survey, 82% of drilling contractors and operators identified the implementation and reporting of an industry standard calculation of NPT as an industry collaboration opportunity to improve drilling operations.

In the most recent IADC ASP report (which was issued before the Gulf of Mexico incident), 111 contractors, representing approximately 78% of the worldwide oil and gas well drilling rig fleet, reported 4,572 recordable incidents; 1,159 lost time incidents; and 23 fatalities across 446.34 million man hours. The report also showed that, by far, most injuries occurred on the rig floor:
• “Struck-by” and “caught between” type accidents accounted for 53% of lost-time injuries and 55% of
recordable injuries;
• Pipes/collars/tubular is the equipment category responsible for the most lost-time and recordable incidents; and
• Tripping in/out is the operation that involved the most lost-time and recordable injuries.

Statistics in the report are segmented in great detail by land and sea, region, month, time of day, occupation, body
part, incident type, equipment, operation, location, and time in service. Surprisingly, the 27-page report does not include a single mention of the drilling control system, which manages 75-95% of the movement and operation of the equipment on the rig floor – the equipment that causes the most injuries.

Looking ahead
Control systems software on offshore assets has evolved rapidly in the last decade, and development and maintenance
processes have not yet caught up. This greatly increases the risk of software-related safety incidents. The oil and gas industry can significantly improve software safety by paying closer attention to the proper testing, configuration, and management of software systems.

To achieve this goal, education regarding the role of control systems software and its connection to safety and operational incidents must be improved. This will help foster industry-wide support for the implementation of standard software risk mitigation practices and will help personnel to more effectively recognize and prevent software-related equipment failures. Additionally, collaboration is needed to establish software-related standards that will give guidance on how to achieve increased software quality and safety within the industry. Finally, more robust data must be collected on the current frequency of software-related incidents so this information can be used to continually improve software risk management and mitigation efforts.