API RP 585

Description

The purpose of this document is to provide owner-operators with practices for developing, implementing, sustaining, and enhancing an investigation program for pressure equipment integrity (PEI) incidents. This recommended practice (RP) describes how an effective investigation could be structured so organizations can learn from PEI failures, near misses, or discoveries. This RP is not intended to define or supplement criteria for compliance with regulatory requirements for which companies already have defined investigation processes. Instead, API 585 focuses on investigating PEI failures, near misses, or discoveries that are precursors to potential failures that could have a significant impact on safety, health, and the environment. As such, this RP can add value to process safety incident investigations by helping to focus specific investigative techniques that would enhance learning and value from PEI incidents.

Significant pressure equipment mechanical integrity incidents are rarely the result of one isolated problem; there are almost always less-severe precursors to an equipment failure. These precursors are frequently called “near misses” or “discoveries” when they occur. Additionally, this document highlights the value of recognizing these precursor occurrences and promotes investigating them to determine the immediate, contributing, and root causes. If these precursor occurrences are uncovered and investigated, and the contributing and root causes are resolved, major catastrophic failures of pressure equipment could be minimized or prevented.