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Categories
Category Archives: Eng’g philosophy
A Hierarchy of Good Intentions
Many parents will be at least vaguely aware of Piaget’s theory of moral development in children. Kids up to about age 10 tend to think that right and wrong are defined by rules and punishment, regardless of context. Older children … Continue reading
Posted in Eng'g philosophy, Research, Standards
3 Comments
Gaining wisdom
I have written on a few occasions in the past about how engineering is not absolute and requires a sensible attitude to rules, the ability to be comfortable with uncertainty and some degree of professional wisdom. That was all just … Continue reading
Posted in Eng'g philosophy, Research
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Safety in Design
“Safety in Design” is a research project within the public safety program of the Energy Pipelines Cooperative Research Centre. The focus is on public safety and the research involved interviews with a few dozen engineers from the design teams in … Continue reading
Posted in Eng'g philosophy, Pipeline design, Research
2 Comments
Perfectly safe …
Yesterday I went to the funeral of a friend from university days. That’s not particularly relevant to pipeline engineering, except that he was the source of the punchline I use almost every time I talk to a group or a … Continue reading
Think like the judge
One way of thinking about the validity of your actions as an engineer is to imagine how they would be perceived by the inquiry following a disaster involving your work. A while ago I used to be a bit apologetic, … Continue reading
Posted in Eng'g philosophy, Operations, Pipeline design, Risk assessment
8 Comments
Deviant engineering
I have just finished reading a dense but interesting book on the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster [1]. In a nutshell, the craft was destroyed 73 seconds after launch by a seal failure on one of the solid rocket boosters. … Continue reading
Posted in Eng'g philosophy, Risk assessment
6 Comments
Pipeline QRA (quantitative risk assessment)
Recently I had to review a quantitative risk assessment for a pipeline. QRA is not much used for pipelines in Australia, apart from WA, so I only see such reports infrequently. I am consistently underwhelmed by the approach taken and … Continue reading
Posted in Eng'g philosophy, Risk assessment
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Risk-based design: normal and abnormal loads
Four weeks since my last post – apologies. I blame an interacting combination of busyness, short holidays and temporary lack of inspiration. When do you consider a possible but improbable scenario as a design case (for which the design must … Continue reading
Posted in Eng'g philosophy, Pipeline design, Risk assessment, Standards
4 Comments
Procedural controls
I reported recently on a couple of very nasty near misses, and if you look at the comments at the end of that post there is another scary story about someone who thought he did not need to follow the … Continue reading
NTSB findings on Enbridge Kalamazoo spill
Almost exactly 2 years ago there was a massive spill of crude oil from an Enbridge pipeline in Michigan. Ultimately about 3 ML of oil (a good couple of Olympic pools) was released and entered the Kalamazoo River, with short-term health … Continue reading
Posted in Eng'g philosophy, Incidents
5 Comments
Pipelines OZ 