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NAVIGATING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS MANAGEMENT: ENSURING SAFETY, SUSTAINABILITY, AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN ENERGY ASSET DECOMMISSIONING
Sep. 2 2024
Quick Read Essential Insights
Critical Role of IHM: The Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) is vital for safe, compliant, and sustainable decommissioning of energy assets, enabling effective hazardous material management and supporting circular economy opportunities.
Risk Mitigation and Management: Bureau Veritas' IHM services reduce environmental and personnel risks by accurately identifying, quantifying, and managing a wide range of hazardous materials, ensuring safe and sustainable disposal.
Overcoming Decommissioning Challenges: Through expert training, advanced data management, and tailored solutions, Bureau Veritas has solutions to addresses challenges like aging infrastructure, complex material identification, and stakeholder coordination.
Global Best Practices and Innovation: By identifying and handling hazardous materials, regions like Australia demonstrate how hazardous materials can be repurposed for new uses, such as in pharmaceuticals, showcasing the circular economy's potential in the energy sector.
In the complex world of energy asset management, whether onshore or offshore, decommissioning presents unique challenges, particularly when it comes to identifying and handling hazardous materials. These materials, like asbestos, heavy metals, and radioactive substances, pose significant risks if not properly managed. This is where the Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) becomes indispensable. At Bureau Veritas, our IHM expertise goes beyond regulatory compliance. We ensure safety and sustainability, whilst also unlocking the full potential of a circular economy. By thoroughly categorising hazardous materials, we help you safeguard decommissioning activities and unlock opportunities for recycling, repurposing, and reusing resources - benefiting not just the energy sector but multiple industries.
To explore how a comprehensive IHM can embrace opportunities across sectors and transform your approach to asset management, we speak to Nicola Stephen, Client Development Manager and IHM HAZMAT expert at Bureau Veritas. Read on to discover how we can guide organisations through this essential process and help drive positive change across industries.
What is the Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM), and why is it critical for Onshore and Offshore energy assets?
IHM is a mandatory process already established in the Shipping Industry in order to conform with the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (2009) and the European Ship Recycling Regulations (SRR). The ships' structures and equipment are sampled for potentially hazardous substances which are then categorised in the IHM, providing complete transparency for managing maintenance and recycling processes.
A thorough categorisation of the hazardous materials will allow operators to determine potential recycling, repurposing and reusing strategies by carrying out an inventory of onshore and offshore energy assets' composition from a decommissioning stance.
How does Bureau Veritas’ IHM service reduce risk to personnel during the dismantling of the asset?
Applying the IHM process identifies, quantifies and locates the as-found condition of potentially hazardous materials throughout the asset, allowing the operator to successfully put in place adequate safety measures to protect decommissioning personnel from contact with hazardous substances as well as allowing the development and construction of appropriate safe and sustainable removal methods.
What hazardous materials are typically found in energy assets, and how does Bureau Veritas identify and manage them?
The IHM service is applied to test, log and map hazardous materials such as asbestos, heavy metals (lead, mercury), ozone-depleting substances, radioactive substances, persistent organic pollutants, and many others.
Bureau Veritas' hazardous material experts are deployed to an asset before any dismantling activity starts. By taking samples from strategic points throughout the structure, our appointed laboratories then provide accurate details of the makeup of the materials at each sample location.
All sample points with material makeup are logged via our cloud-based software tool, enabling all stakeholders to navigate the results against the asset's layout. With the makeup of the assets materials now known, Bureau Veritas can provide consultation to recommend the most appropriate removal and sustainable disposal methods, such as recycling, repurposing, and reusing.
What are the challenges in creating an IHM for energy assets, and how does Bureau Veritas help overcome them?
Creating an inventory of hazardous materials for energy assets is a complex and challenging task due to several factors. However, Bureau Veritas has the varying expertise and tools in place to overcome these issues.
Click below to see our solutions to these complex challenges:
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Diverse Range of Materials:
Diverse Range of Materials: Energy assets, including offshore topsides, power plants, refineries, and pipelines, involve a wide variety of hazardous materials, such as chemicals, fuels, radioactive materials, and asbestos. Identifying and categorising all these materials can be difficult, especially when they exist in complex mixtures or are part of large, integrated systems.
Solution: Our experts are trained in a comprehensive range of hazardous materials, but before attending onboard, a risk assessment is made with the clients to explore the build and historical operation of the asset to identify other potential hazardous materials that may be present, and to deal with these accordingly.
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Aging Infrastructure:
Aging Infrastructure: Many energy assets are decades old and detailed records of the materials used may not be available. Over time, materials may have degraded or been replaced, making it hard to accurately assess what hazardous materials are present.
Solution: Our process of sampling and logging the material specifications allows us to establish the as-found condition of the asset material makeup.
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Data Collection and Management:
Data Collection and Management: Gathering accurate data on the types and quantities of hazardous materials across different sites can be difficult, especially when dealing with large and dispersed energy assets.
Solution: We ensure this data is correctly managed by using our bespoke cloud based system and processes to collate and communicate our findings.
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Training and Expertise:
Training and Expertise: Properly identifying and cataloguing hazardous materials requires specialised knowledge and training.
Solution: We have developed our training and competency assessment process to ensure that personnel are extensively trained and therefore equipped to handle this task.
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Regulatory Compliance:
Regulatory Compliance: There are numerous regulations governing hazardous materials which can vary by region and type of energy asset. Ensuring that the inventory meets all applicable regulatory requirements, such as those set by OSHA, EPA, or other local bodies, adds to the complexity.
Solution: Our process provides us with comprehensive knowledge to allow our consultants to support you in decision-making and ensure compliance.
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Access and Safety Concerns:
Access and Safety Concerns: Accessing certain parts of energy assets to assess hazardous materials can be dangerous due to the presence of toxic substances, radiation, or high temperatures. This makes it difficult to conduct thorough inspections and inventories.
Solution: Our experts are thoroughly familiar with the potential hazards on energy assets, since all our experts have a deep safety background and many years of experience working offshore and with complex assets.
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Stakeholder Coordination:
Stakeholder Coordination: In large energy projects, multiple stakeholders, including contractors, government agencies, and local communities, may need to be involved in the inventory process. Coordinating these groups and ensuring that everyone has access to accurate information can be logistically challenging.
Solution: By using a cloud-based software system, we can give all stakeholders the appropriate level of access to the asset IHM data, ensuring everyone has visibility of the most recent and accurate data.
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Environmental and Health Impacts:
Environmental and Health Impacts: Understanding and mitigating hazardous materials' environmental and health impacts is a critical aspect of the inventory process. This requires a detailed understanding of the materials' properties, potential exposure scenarios, and the effectiveness of existing control measures.
Solution: Our surveyors are extensively trained and proven competent in the materials they will likely encounter and how to sample them safely.
How does Bureau Veritas help mitigate environmental and operational risks through their IHM management activities?
Bureau Veritas mitigates environmental and operational risks by ensuring comprehensive and accurate IHM management. Inadequate IHM’s can lead to the mishandling of hazardous materials, posing serious risks to safety and the environment. Our meticulous process identifies, quantifies, and locates these materials, using advanced technologies and cloud-based software to document and manage them effectively.
This approach helps operators develop safety protocols, avoid regulatory issues, and implement sustainable decommissioning strategies. By providing a clear roadmap for managing hazardous materials, Bureau Veritas ensures that operations remain safe, compliant, and environmentally responsible.
What advantages does Bureau Veritas bring to the decommissioning process of energy facilities through their IHM expertise?
Identifying and understanding decommissioning risks from hazardous materials is key to project management of complex projects. Understanding the risks and reducing the cost of the management of hazardous materials at the early stage of a project will have significant efficiency benefits. Independent third-party Verification of this risk management will assist in regulatory approval and in cost reduction.
As the energy industry matures globally, are there decommissioning and circular economy processes that should be adopted by other regions?
We only improve our processes by learning from others and adapting.
A great example is a decommissioning process that is being utilised in Australia - a number of decommissioned assets have been found through the process of IHM to incorporate naturally occurring radioactive substances in their structures. These naturally occurring substances have been safely extracted and are being trialled within the pharmaceutical industry as a component of cancer drug treatment. Circular Economy at its best!
Meet our expert
Client Development Manager
Bureau Veritas UK
I am a Client Development Manager and IHM HAZMAT expert at Bureau Veritas, with over twenty years of experience as an engineer in the energy sector.
Early in my Bureau Veritas career, I worked as a Lead Verification Engineer, attending offshore assets within the North Sea and Mediterranean, conducting independent inspections and assessments. This hands-on experience provided me with invaluable practical knowledge about the unique challenges faced by energy companies, including the effective management of hazardous scenarios and materials.
In 2024, I transitioned into my current role as a Client Development Manager. Drawing on my years of practical experience, I now support energy companies navigating operational complexities, such as the Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) process. I work closely with clients to identify, quantify and manage hazardous substances, ensuring safe and sustainable practices, as well as unlocking circular economy opportunities during asset decommissioning.
My deep technical expertise, combined with my client-centric approach, makes me a trusted advisor to energy companies seeking to drive positive and sustainable changes across the industry.