One simple idea, although it's expensive, would be to have a state office in Deadhorse, near Prudhoe Bay, for all agencies to share. Working in the same office would facilitate communication.
Another PSIO objective is to encourage the use of quality management systems not only in industry but also by the state. The agency sponsored a major conference on quality management in Anchorage Dec. 9 and 10, which included industry but was also aimed at state agencies. The conference featured experts in the field both from the public and private sector.
"Our goal is to have state personnel get a better understanding of what quality management is. Most people in the agencies do not use quality management principles," Engblom-Bradley said.
Even veteran industry managers often lack a clear understanding of what quality management really is, he said.
"Too often, people think it's just making sure the machinery is being oiled properly," he said. "It's much broader than that. It's really about leadership to ensure productivity, safety and protection of the environment. Without a good management system those things don't happen."
Dan Rice said PSIO won't demand companies use uniform quality management systems, but just that they have one and that it is followed.
Meanwhile, the Department of Environmental Conservation has a separate, but related, initiative underway. It is a major petroleum infrastructure risk-assessment project.
Iversen said the two efforts are intended to complement each other because DEC shares certain types of regulatory authority with DNR over producing oil fields.
"Until we fully understand where the highest risks to the state are, we can't know which gaps to fill or overlaps to delete," Iversen said. "The PSIO needs the risk assessment to determine what next steps are appropriate once we identify the gaps and overlaps."
When it is complete, DEC's risk assessment may be the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in the world. Risk assessments have been done for major parts of the state's petroleum industry -- the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, for example -- but there has never been anything that covers such a large geographic area or so many complex systems.
Doyon-Emerald, a consulting company, was retained by DEC to do the study, said Ira Rosen, DEC's manager for the project. An initial phase involving consultations with industry, agency and public stakeholders is complete and the contractor is now in phase two, developing a method to actually do the analysis, Rosen said. The methodology will be reviewed with stakeholders when it is complete.
The final phase is obtaining information and development of the model to be used. The end result will be a risk profile of all of the petroleum production and transportation systems in the state, from the North Slope to Cook Inlet, Rosen said.
Tim Bradner can be reached at tim.bradner@alaskajournal.com">tim.bradner@alaskajournal.com.
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