Risk Assessment & Management for API Spec Q1- 9th Edition

 In today’s post, we would like to discuss one of the essential additions to Spec Q1-9th edition: Risk Assessment and Management.

With the Deepwater Horizon incident of 2010 still fresh in our minds, we are all aware of the consequences of failing to acknowledge and address risks. However, it’s also important to realize that catastrophic incidents are neither inevitable, nor something we should have to accept as we pursue operations. Correctly managing our technology and processes can allow us to mitigate risk without impacting productivity.

To begin, let’s take a look at the requirements of Spec Q1-9th edition standard:

The organization shall maintain a documented procedure to identify and control risk associated with impact on delivery and quality of product. The procedure shall identify the techniques, tools, and their application for risk identification, assessment, and mitigation.

        Risk assessment associated with product delivery shall include:
                a) facility/equipment availability and maintenance; and
                b) supplier performance and material availability/supply

        Risk assessment associated with product quality shall include
                c) delivery of non-conforming product
                d) availability of competent personnel

Records of risk assessment and management including actions taken shall be maintained.

Spec Q1 emphasizes the importance of managing the risks related to facilities, equipment, materials, non-conformities, and personnel. So let’s explore the concept of risk management more fully, and review some composite factors that have been identified in past incidents:  

        1.    Lack of Commitment-. Management sets the tone and culture of an organization, and there is a strong correlation between the level of managerial commitment and corresponding incident rates.

        2.    Flawed Management of Change- A large percentage of incidents take place after changes to a process or procedure.  Implementing an effective management of change procedure and, more importantly, evaluating                  those efforts can dramatically reduce incident rates.

        3.    Inadequate Focus- In the race for productive operations, organizations tend to place an emphasis on response, rather than prevention. Building risk management into your processes from the beginning can help reverse that             trend and lead to positive impacts to the corporate culture.

        4.    Ineffective Communications- In many cases, information is spread throughout the organization, with different departments having a piece of the puzzle.  As an organization grows, this problem becomes worse. An effective         risk assessment/management system reduces barriers to communication and improves communication systems.

In our next post, we’ll look at ways in which technology can be used to mitigate the items identified above and help your organization develop a world class compliance management system.

For more information on how Accupoint ‘s solutions can help your organization manage risk, contact us at 800.563.6250 or visit our website to arrange a demonstration of our flexible, cloud based API Spec Q1 management solution.