This session at Hazardex Live 2025 will see William Hair, Integrity Management Principal Consultant with TÜV Rheinland, help delegates make sense of EC&I ageing and obsolescence.

It is incumbent on duty holders of high hazard sites to demonstrate that the threat to the integrity of safety critical equipment is actively managed over the plant lifecycle. As well as the onerous requirements of BS EN 60079-17, and SIF Proof Testing, ageing and obsolescence must also be effectively managed with a balanced mitigation strategy.

A key aspect of a safety management system (SMS) framework is the adoption of risk-based asset integrity and inspection principles which among other criteria would include equipment ageing and assets which may have exceeded their design life. The use of an existing detailed EX asset register and SIF register can be fully leveraged as part of the development of an obsolescence study risk assessment. The TUV heat map and story on a page methodology provides an easy to follow (for all stakeholders) visual assessment to enable targeted, data driven, effective risk mitigation against the threats from ageing and obsolescence.

About the author:

William Hair is an Integrity Management Principal Consultant with TÜV Rheinland Industrial Services. He is a Chartered Electrical Engineer and has worked at TÜV for over 8 years primarily in the Oil & Gas sector as an Electrical, Control (Industrial Automation) & Instrument specialist. William is also a Certified Safety Engineer TUV FS Eng, Complex EX 14 Responsible Person and Lean Six sigma Black Belt. Prior to joining TÜV, William worked globally in numerous sectors including Power Generation, Paper Industry, and Metals processing holding various roles in Corporate Manufacturing, Engineering Management and Asset Reliability.