It’s the end of the year and the deadline for the annual PHMSA F&G report is looming. You’re in charge of handing the report off to the regulator, and, even though your team has been gathering information for a month, it’s still not complete.
For many pipeline operators this situation isn’t farfetched.
You get stuck waiting on critical info, and not only is PHMSA scrutinizing your every move, so is the company—the fines for filing a late report are $100K a day, up to $1M.
In an ideal world you’d pull the information in no time, from a centralized database, with software that automatically generates the regulatory reports. That functionality alone could save your team weeks of mucking through data.
Sounds impossible, right? Like a dream that can’t be real?
The good news is automated reports like PHMSA Part F&G aren’t just a dream.
Cloud-based integrity management software like Cognitive Integrity Management™ (CIM) has compliance in mind. It creates reports, including PHMSA’s F&G, at the push of a button.
Let’s see how
The Devil’s in the Integrity Details
PHMSA’s Part F&G report is a summary of all the integrity work a liquid operator did throughout the year, and how much pipe they did it on. Of course, every integrity program tracks their miles of ILI, miles of pressure testing, and miles of direct assessment.
But when it comes to getting those details in one place, fitting it into the right format, and separating it into the required buckets…well, that’s when the right software really begins to shine.
Data challenges
Across a company it’s not unusual to encounter data silos, be it engineers with their own master spreadsheets or specialty applications with unique data formats. That isolated data creates problems.
For example, your team needs HCA information for the F&G report, but requesting this from the GIS group is time-consuming and makes for extra steps. Every data silo across an organization slows collaboration and report-creation.
Independently managed silos are also prone to duplicate information. And, with different groups on different schedules, getting an accurate and up-to-date record is both confusing and challenging.
Because of data challenges, consolidating, normalizing, and confirming integrity information consumes an integrity team’s valuable time. In fact, it can take a group of researchers three to four months just to gather the information for the yearly F&G report.
Automating PHMSA’s Part F&G with CIM
ILI tool information, corrosion feature details, HCA location data, pipe repair information… the list of data that PHMSA requires goes on.
Manually gathering this information for the F&G report is inevitably prone to human errors because, when many hands amass data, the chance of making a mistake skyrockets.
And we all know that any mistakes in the regulatory report could increase the chance of an audit.
Imagine producing an accurate regulatory or audit report at the push of a button, with practically zero effort from you or your team. That’s the power of CIM’s report automation.
When integrity knowledge is digitized and safely stored in a centralized database, there are plenty of benefits.
- Software like CIM verifies and validates integrity updates so that data is accurate and trustworthy for automated, push-button reporting
- With tailored reports, teams will always be on top of internal and regulatory obligations
- Not only are you audit-ready (all the time), work gets done faster with smooth access to, and continuous clarity for, pipeline data
Despite the many benefits that CIM provides, integrity teams are sometimes hesitant to digitize; they’re dealing with a diverse array of information formats, from ILI vendor-specific templates to paper records. Taking advantage of report automation means considering a digital transformation.
Digital Transformations
Digital transformations turn the entirety of an operator’s pipe and integrity information into data that software can consume, but the task may seem daunting. Companies like OneBridge have the experience to smooth this transition.
The rewards of going digital are undoubtedly worth the effort. With data in the cloud, there is less need for pipeline info requests or waiting for updates. After the digitization, there’s a complete catalog of integrity work, both historical and throughout the year. Groups can get appropriate access in real-time, which streamlines workflows not only for the integrity team but also company-wide.
Overall, digitization takes the pressure off the integrity team by making info more accessible. And with CIM, it’s easy to run timely, accurate reports that build the regulator’s confidence by demonstrating a deep knowledge of integrity.
Reducing the workload
A pipeline operator must file regulatory submissions on time; not doing so leads to hefty fines and erosion of the regulator’s trust. As reporting demands get more cumbersome and convoluted each year, it’s worthwhile to invest in an integrity management system that eases compliance woes.
Cognitive Integrity Management™ (CIM) is a cloud-based software that uses automation to help pipeline companies manage, analyze, and secure integrity information. Along with advanced analytics, CIM features customized reporting, including PHMSA Part F&G, for the ultimate in compliance-reporting ease.
Find out how you can take Part F&G reporting from months down to minutes with Cognitive Integrity Management “CIM” integrity software.
