MI Capability and Competency Development

Introduction

Earlier this year in Seattle, Inspectioneering and Pinnacle had the privilege of co-hosting our 11th “Meeting of the Minds” (MOTM) roundtable discussion, complete with stunning views and cuisine only the Pacific Northwest can provide. For over five years, this bi-annual meeting has brought together a select group of leaders in mechanical integrity (MI) to discuss pertinent issues related to fixed equipment reliability and to share their personal experiences and opinions. This diverse group of participants comes from various sectors of the industry, including oil refining, petrochemicals, offshore production, and chemical processing.

Recap articles from each of our previous MOTM discussions are available in the IJ Archives, and summarize key takeaways from our discussions on corrosion under insulation (CUI) programs, emerging inspection technologies, integrity operating windows (IOWs), corrosion control documents (CCDs), risk-based inspection (RBI), mechanical integrity project hit lists, and more recently, data collection, analysis, and validation.

The theme of this discussion centered around Organization Capability and Competency Development. First we polled the group on if and how they were assessing their fixed equipment reliability team’s capabilities. Next we discussed the steps each organization is taking to develop and enhance the competency of its MI/Reliability personnel. Finally we briefly talked about how recent advancements in inspection technologies, software, and data management have changed the roles and responsibilities of MI/Reliability personnel.