Pressure Vessels and Piping for Refineries and Oil Production Facilities Inspection - RBI - Fitness for Service

On July 26, 2006, the State of California revised its Petroleum Safety Orders. The Petroleum Safety Orders are part of the California Code of Regulations Title 8 and address the health and safety requirements for places of employment in the State of California.

The Petroleum Safety Orders are broken into two Subchapters. Subchapter 14 regulates drilling and production and Subchapter 15 regulates refining, transportation and handling. Essentially, Subchapter 14 concerns the oilfield industry and Subchapter 15 the refining industry. Revisions were made simultaneously to both subchapters.

The State of California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board was petitioned by the Western States Petroleum Association to update the reference in the Petroleum Safety Orders from the 1992 Editions of the API 510 Pressure Vessel Inspection Code and the National Board Inspection Code (NBIC). In March of 2003, an advisory committee was created to develop language that could be adopted into the Petroleum Safety Orders. The advisory committee consisted of nearly 30 members from the petroleum refining and production industries, pressure vessel repair and manufacturing companies, insurance and inspection agencies, represented and management employees, and state jurisdictional representatives.