You might be able to do quite well not knowing about the industries related to your industry. But you’re a more well-rounded worker if you understand the interactions amongst what you do, and who else might be affected by what you do.

For pipeliners, it’s useful to at least know about exploration and production, and network distribution.

Even more important, these days, is also knowing about the product you’re shipping. That might all be changing, or, it might not within your career duration. Either way, knowing the who, what and why of the related industries is part of being competent.

Well, yes, of course. Of course, a set of competencies for Australian pipeline engineers has to include, as one of the core topics, a general competency for knowing AS2885.

“Knowing” AS2885 (or any standard) requires skills in applying and interpreting the content. We say it often: AS2885 is not a textbook to learn by. It won’t teach you about pipeline engineering. The Standard is the minimum requirement to operate by.

It’s a reasonable amount of work required to *really* understand AS2885. It doesn’t happen just by reading it. It’s better to be read with an actual pipeline situation in mind.

A key aspect of project management, quality management, and even risk management, is understanding the business context. The context is the ‘environment’ in which a business or industry operates. The context of, say, fast-moving consumer goods businesses is very different to, say, the pipelines industry.

Knowing an industry’s structure and its participants sets the context, and helps a worker in the industry to see the big picture.

The pipeline industry has upstream participants (producers), midstream participants (transmission) and downstream (distribution). There are direct participant and indirect participants.

Knowing the context of your industry builds a good network, and promotes engagement.

It makes sense to start with the fundamentals. The fundamentals are the basics, the principles, and that which additional knowledge is built upon.

Given that the competency framework I’m working from here is a Pipeline Engineering Competency framework, a fundamental in this case is to have an engineering degree.

And after that, the fundamentals for pipelines do seem so basic, but that’s the point. Still, someone not in pipelines wouldn’t be able to describe the basics, like the typical materials used; the key bits on the ends and in the middle; the varieties of pipelines; and a pipeline’s lifecycle phases.

I’ve been writing lately about pipelines, pipeliners, and pipeline engineers. And then I wrote about relevant Australian Standards related to pipelines. Now I’m going to write about pipeline engineering competencies.

Australian pipeliners are fortunate to have access to the Pipeline Engineering Competency System. It was developed about 10 years ago, and, like Australian Standards, the system is reviewed and revised at regular intervals.

Competency is the bedrock of any engineering or technical field. With the (important) focus turning to non-technical skills (leadership, communication), it seems competence is just ‘expected’. But we all have experiences where that was a flawed assumption.

There’s an Australian Standard for natural gas quality, once it’s processed for use, in homes, power stations, and industry.

That Standard is AS4564 (not to be confused with AS4645, the distribution network standard). The “General purpose natural gas” Standard gives certainty of quality, so that it’s a consistent and reliable fuel.

I know you’re all wondering, so I’ll answer the question: at this stage, no, it doesn’t specifically recognise hydrogen in the fuel mix.

Australian Standards are updated regularly and when they need to be. Once the knowledge around hydrogen is certain enough to write into Standards, the committee will.

There are pipelines, and then there are pipelines. Some are long and thin, and some are short and wide. Another differentiator is what pressure the stuff inside is at, as it wings its way from source to use: is it at high or low pressure.

While AS2885 outlines requirements to allow pipeline operation at high pressures, the requirements are different for operating at low pressures. That’s why we have the Australian Standard AS4645: Gas Distribution Networks. AS4645 sets out the requirements for the reticulation system bringing gas into homes and buildings.

It’s another case where pipelines are similar, but different.

Something that you don’t think about when you think about pipelines (!), is to think about the bit between the individual (coated) pieces. It’s the bit that’s the welded bit, where there’s no factory-applied protective coating.

There’s some bare pipe there, after you’ve welded the separate bits together. Now what? Well, we apply “FJC” – Field Joint Coating. And that’s where Australian Standard AS4822 comes in. AS4822 provides requirements for products and the tests required to assure us the applied FJC will stand the test of time. Then those field joints get buried along with the rest of the coated pipeline.

Associated with the AS2885 suite of standards for petroleum pipelines is AS3862: External Fusion-Bonded Epoxy (FBE) Coating for Steel Pipe.

Bare steel buried underground has a tendency to corrode. Fortunately, the pipeline industry has developed excellent coating products, like FBE, to protect the pipelines from corrosion.

The local AS3862 standard carries over from when Australia had its own steel pipe mills and coating plants to match. Those left us 10 years ago, and now our pipe is made and coated overseas. But AS3862 still has very useful local requirements around mandatory tests, and for transporting the coated pipe long distances.

I’ve had the great fortune to have spent the past 20 years working on committees that are responsible for the AS2885 suite of standards, for Australian petroleum pipelines.

There are seven parts to the series, covering General Requirements, Design&Construction, Welding, Operations&Maintenance, Subsea, Pressure Testing, and Pipeline Safety Management.

If you add them all up, there are over 1000 pages in the series. Those pages set out minimum requirements and expectations, and guidelines and background information.

But it is not meant to be a textbook: its purpose isn’t to teach. But that’s becoming a very grey area. Hence the 1000 pages.

Standardisation just makes sense. Having an agreed set of minimum requirements, from pool fences to electrical installations, and thousands of other things in between, is the best way to strive for consistency, value, and safety. A strong, used set of Standards underscores confidence and reliability for users of the item.

I have been involved in Australian Standards (AS2885 in particular) for almost 20 years. The suite of Standards for petroleum pipelines are well-written, usable, and kept current through frequent updates. There are several committees looking after the pipeline Standards. Committee work is hard and challenging work, but fun, as well.

One of the difficult things about being an engineer (…besides everything you’ve just thought of…) is being able to recognise competency.

Knowing your own competency is essential, especially in high-risk endeavours like pipelines and other potentially hazardous industries. Similarly, knowing the competency of the others around you is essential too.

Not often contemplated is that there are two kinds of competencies: knowledge, and behavioural competencies.

A person can be very competent in knowledge, but behave terribly: unethically and without principles. On the other hand, you can have an ethical, principled person who keeps making mistakes. Neither is a good situation.

When I went to university, at the University of Alberta, there were only a handful of engineering disciplines to choose from: civil, mechanical, electrical, mining, or chemical engineering. I chose civil (and loved it). My first job out of university was with a pipeline operations company.

I’ve met all types in this industry, and each engineering discipline brings a unique spin on the problem-solving and trouble-shooting that any kind of engineering involves.

Working in the pipeline industry isn’t something most of us daydreamed about, but those who end up here find it to be fun, challenging, and worth the effort.

The contents of pipelines are, more often than not, flowing under pressure. A factor in the design and operation of pipelines, is whether it is designed to operate at “high” pressure or “low” pressure. The lines into our houses operate at a very low pressure. The cross-country transmission lines flow at a high pressure.

Those of us who work with pipelines are also, often, under pressure. Sometimes low pressure, and sometimes high pressure. There are budgets, schedules, compliance, and safety issues to face. It’s a pressure we are proud to bear: we are serving society and responding to customer needs.

People who work with pipelines understand that the pipeline goes through other people’s backyards. The ‘people’ working with pipelines could be engineers, technicians, lawyers, construction workers, administrative staff, and so on.

And by other people’s backyard, that means the public. The ‘innocent bystander’: they don’t do a hazard analysis or risk assessment before stepping out their front door to walk the dog.

We have a deep ethical requirement to consider public safety in our work. The goal every day is that ‘nothing happens’. The pipelines are safe and are basically invisible to the public. And they should stay that way.

You might be a pipeliner if you:

• know the difference between piping and a pipeline

• have a sticker that announces “I heart pipelines”

• have stood in a paddock looking around and towards the horizon

• know what the dope gang, pig launcher/receiver, scraper station, and joints are

• have a picture on your phone of a really steep slope. Bonus points if there’s a sideboom in the photo too

• miss the heady days of the expansion of 2010-2015 (that one’s Australia-specific

• can’t help but notice the “Danger- Pipeline” signs when you’re out driving

• know there’s more to pipelines than you’ll ever know

Many years ago, when I had been working as a pipeline engineer for about 10 years, I started asking the question, “just what is a pipeline engineer?” I wasn’t really sure if I was one. Because I was doing so many different things on so many (pipeline) projects.

Pipeline engineering isn’t an engineering discipline, like civil or mechanical engineering. It’s a combination of all the engineering disciplines, as well as land management, environmental studies, sociology, and economics. The most ambiguous statement you can make is, “I need a pipeline engineer for this”. You’ll need to be more specific than that.

Pipelines are buried out of sight and out of mind. They crisscross our cities and farmlands and deserts. They carry energy or water or slurries or other liquids and gases from source to destination. Designing, building, or operating a pipeline should be straightforward: dig a trench and put the pipe in it and let the contents flow. And yet it is much more complex than that.

Steel pipelines for the transport of energy have had a stellar century, with millions of kilometres of pipelines now installed all over the world.

It’s a fascinating time to be in the pipeline industry.

July 1st is the national day for Canada, recognising the creation of the country in 1867. I know there are some tough times going on there, with some deep introspection underway about its history. It is a journey that many modern societies are going through.

The forming of countries is only a recent phenomenon in the realm of humankind. In creating a country, we establish a boundary, and a governance framework. It also establishes an identity and a way to pigeonhole (apply biases) when you meet someone new.

Bring on the hockey, maple syrup, and getting oot and aboot, eh.

It’s been noted a few times, by a few different people, that while lessons learnt sessions are valuable, the greater challenge is the storage and sharing of the outcomes of those sessions.

Ideally, the lessons learnt are recorded in a record-keeping database, which is easily searched and sorted to find the exact right lessons for the next project.

While good in theory, the reality is that database lists and libraries lack context. And dare I say, they lack the humanity of the lesson. The lessons are related to a story. Get the story told, as well as the data captured.