API releases pipeline safety recommended practice

July 8, 2015
The American Petroleum Institute released a pipeline safety recommended practice that it developed with engagement from the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, and other key stakeholders.

The American Petroleum Institute released a pipeline safety recommended practice that it developed with engagement from the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, and other key stakeholders.

RP 1173 will build upon existing safety requirements to further monitor and measure the effectiveness of pipeline activities with a “plan, do, check, and act” philosophy that requires periodic reviews and applies changes or corrections to activities as needed, API Midstream Director Robin Rorick said.

“This new standard gives operators a holistic framework to identify and address safety concerns for a pipeline’s entire life cycle,” Rorick said.

API released the standard on July 8, one day after the US House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy and Power Subcommittee announced it would hold a pipeline safety hearing on July 14. PHMSA proposed new federal pipeline accident notification requirements on July 1 (OGJ Online, July 2, 2015).

RP 1173 was developed and published using API’s American National Standards Institute accredited process that is open, transparent, and ensures that the best minds from government, academia, industry, and the public fully participate, the association said.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].