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Services
Expert
Witness
Expert witness service is provided for litigation involving natural gas
and LPG distribution systems, for gas and liquid transmission pipelines,
and for related systems. Accidents may involve fire or explosion, damage by
third parties, leaks, overpressure situations, corrosion damage, pipeline
rupture, failure of pipe joints, acts of vandalism, outside forces, or
improper procedures.
Assistance is provided regarding industry standards,
federal and state regulations, and commonly accepted practices. Excellent
credentials are provided, along with over 40 years of industry experience.
Audits
Identify potential weaknesses and determine how your company compares
to commonly accepted industry practices by means of a non-adversarial audit
conducted by a team of experts. Oleksa and Associates can provide verbal
reports or detailed documentation that can be used for management purposes
and planning for future actions.
Audits may be limited to procedures and manuals, or they
may extend into all operations and maintenance activities, including the
associated documentation.
Procedures and
Manuals
Procedures and manuals can be reviewed to identify weaknesses or
updated for better organization and compliance. Fully electronic procedures
can be developed. Extensive use of hyperlinks makes cross referencing easy.
Indexes can be developed to guide even novices to the appropriate locations
within the manuals.
Wording is carefully chosen to comply with regulations and
standards, and to provide appropriate direction to field personnel while
minimizing exposure to liability.
Procedures can be arranged in a way that makes sense to a
company’s unique organization, and cross-references can be
established to link the procedures with Code requirements.
Mechanisms can be established to review procedures on an
annual basis, and to provide documentation for the reviews.
Emergency Response
Planning
Emergencies require quick response and well-thought-out procedures.
Because each emergency is unique, there must be provision for use of
judgment. Communications are critical. The first person on the scene may
have an important role, and follow-up personnel with specialized equipment
may be required. Oleksa and Associates can help to review or to establish
an emergency response plan that is customized to fit each company’s
needs.
Incident
Investigation
When an accident happens, there is a very short window of opportunity
to initiate an investigation. Decisions made within the first few hours can
have a significant effect on a company’s ability to defend itself in
later litigation. Appropriate personnel should be involved.
Oleksa and Associates can help develop a plan of action to
be used for investigating accidents. Such a plan can be initiated at a
moment’s notice. It is too late to begin planning after the accident
has happened.
Pipeline Safety Code
Compliance
With excellent credentials and over 40 years of experience, Oleksa and
Associates can provide assistance with establishing appropriate positions
for the design, construction, testing, operation, and maintenance of gas
and liquid pipeline systems.
Compliance with state and federal regulations is essential.
It is equally important to provide appropriate direction to personnel, and
to limit risk and liabilities. Companies should be aware of how their
positions relate to commonly accepted industry practices.
Training
Oleksa and Associates can provide training on pipeline safety issues at
a company’s own location, eliminating the need for employee travel.
This training can be adapted to cover a company’s own procedures, and
to meet the specific needs of the personnel involved. Training for various
groups within a company can be modified to meet the needs of those groups.
Specialty areas include training for accident investigation
and preparation of procedures and manuals.
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