Operator Qualification (OQ) Enhancement Practice.

As our clients develop practices and procedures to stay on top of industry regulations, we help their people meet the challenges.

Our U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Gas Operator Qualification (OQ) expertise helps utilities comply with the regulations in Sections 106 and 205 of the Pipeline Safety Act of 1992 and Section Four of the Accountable Pipeline Safety and Partnership Act of 1996. The DOT, through its Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), adopted regulations requiring that all individuals who operate and maintain pipeline facilities:

» Be qualified to operate and maintain the pipeline facilities

» Have the ability to recognize and react appropriately to abnormal operating conditions that may indicate a dangerous situation or a condition exceeding design limits

Operator Qualifications Program

We created an Operator Qualification Program that used sustainable processes and transitioned employees for this Utility to a new OQ model. This enabled our client to ensure that their employees who performed tasks covered under the regulations were aware of the regulatory requirements and their individual responsibilities. We used industry best practices to develop and implement an evaluation and mediation process, along with training programs that included detailed checklist job aids.

For example, to meet the engineering objectives that ensured operators and technicians could perform assigned tasks correctly under a wide range of common and abnormal operating conditions, the following activities were completed:

Job aids identified and created
High-level strategies and plans were developed for:

OQ documentation record keeping
Training including sustainability and remediation
Evaluation processes including training and assessment of evaluators
Classification of personnel performing cover tasks
Re-evaluation intervals