Managing Seismic Risk across Process and Manufacturing Facilities

Abstract

To manage seismic risk at large Process and Manufacturing Facilities requires a PCBU to understand the compliance requirements from legislation. However this is not an easy task as there are multiple Acts, Regulations, Standards, and Guidelines that will apply to the various existing and new assets at the site. These have differing requirements for Certification and Building Consent. They also allow differing degrees of compliance below 100% of Current Standard or the application of generally accepted design practice. Throw in the need to comply with the Major Hazard Facilities Act and all of the “what if’s” and it makes for a challenging situation. For example in assessing the risk for a pipe-bridge that carries hazardous substances under pressure across from storage tanks through and near buildings to processing areas one needs to apply the whole suite of compliance requirements from legislation. Fonterra and Beca have had to cross this bridge and it has certainly not been easy. What has helped is breaking down this complex linkage of legislative documents and their specific requirements into a simplified and understandable step by step process.