Risk is a measure of the chance of loss. In our industry, the loss could be damage to natural gas pipelines causing damage to nearby buildings, the environment as well as injuries to people.

At TransGas, we make a special effort to prevent damage to our pipelines and to keep the chance of loss very low. This requires that we find places where risks are greatest and focus our attention on maintenance action (inspections and repairs) required at those locations.

Risk assessments are done first to find locations of greatest risk. Maintenance actions are then prioritized based on the results; the higher the risk, the higher the priority for maintenance action. This is known as ‘risk-based maintenance’.

Even though TransGas’ safety objectives require all pipelines to be maintained in a safe condition, it is still necessary to focus our attention on the locations where risks are greatest.