Allnorth’s acquisition of Dynamysk adds to our bench strength, enhancing our ability to deliver engineering and field services.
About Gibson Energy
Gibson Energy is a Canadian-based liquids infrastructure company with its principal businesses consisting of the storage, optimization, processing, and gathering of liquids and refined products. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, the company’s operations are focused around its core terminal assets located at Hardisty and Edmonton, Alberta, and include the Moose Jaw Facility and an infrastructure position in the U.S.
The Challenge
As a Safety Codes Council (SCC) accredited corporation, Gibson is responsible for managing their own safety programs, including all regulatory inspections. However, challenges with their existing inspection agency had created some compliance issues. “We needed better record keeping and better reporting,” said Matthew Stefanic, Electrical & Instrumentation Technical Specialist with Gibson. “In the past it was challenging to keep track of non-compliance issues, and the reports were difficult to understand and follow.”
The Solution
SCC Regulatory Inspections
We were selected to manage Gibson’s safety inspection program for all facilities located in Alberta, according to their previously established Quality Management Plan. This includes scheduling, conducting inspections and reporting for all three inspection categories:
- Category 1 – day to day routine electrical corrective maintenance not requiring infrastructure modifications; 30% of this work is inspected.
- Category 2 – internal projects including new installations not normally requiring external engineering as well as equipment installed in accordance with existing or typical drawings; 100% of this work is inspected.
- Category 3 – projects that use an external EPC, including large, pre-engineered projects managed by either the corporation, or an engineering consultant, in accordance with a unique set of plans, generally covering construction of facilities designed by professional engineers; 100% of this work is inspected.
Managing COVID Challenges
During the COVID-19 pandemic, new challenges were introduced due to the need to implement heightened health and safety measures at site locations. As a result, the SCC relaxed requirements for Category 1 inspections for the 2020 calendar year.
In spite of the significant challenges, Dynamysk was able to help Gibson maintain an almost normal inspection schedule throughout the pandemic.
Stefanic noted that Dynamysk’s inspectors always arrived at site fully prepared for COVID protocols and ready to get to work.
Accreditation Training Program
After taking over management of Gibson’s inspection program, Dynamysk’s team worked with them to update their QMP, then developed a training program designed to educate employees about obtaining and maintaining SCC accreditation.
Two training streams were created, one for field personnel which focused on inspection requirements and the most common code violations, and the other for managers which focused on the SCC guidelines.
This program is now part of Gibson’s mandatory internal training requirements, and is being updated and expanded to make it applicable to a wider audience.
CMS Reporting Tool
Dynamysk uses their proprietary cloud-based inspection software tool, Compliance Monitoring System (CMS), to track and report on Gibson’s inspection progress and results. Gibson personnel have access to the software, which provides audit level recall, non-compliance alerts and reporting on all inspections.
All the data in the system is stored permanently, and historical records can easily be accessed if there is ever an incident.
This level of transparency and detailed documentation is recognized by Gibson as being a significant value-add to the program.
“The software solution that Dynamysk provides is very impactful in streamlining our recordkeeping,” Stefanic commented. “Now photos are provided, customer sign-off is added, nothing is being missed and non-compliance items are being completed on schedule.”
Dynamysk’s structured approach, experienced inspection team and dedicated use of CMS for all tracking and reporting provides Gibson with significant risk reduction in managing their regulatory inspection requirements and maintaining code compliance.
Since 2022, Gibson has extended the inspection program to all assets outside of SCC jurisdiction. This includes inspections of all packaged equipment and skids to ensure code compliance before being shipping to site. It has also allowed all Gibson assets to be tracked the same way using CMS, giving Gibson a clear picture of their facilities’ safety.