Today at my internship with EnCana, I learned how to read piping and instrumentation diagrams, or P&IDs. These diagrams show the various pipes, tanks, heat exchangers, and other processes used at an oil and gas facility. After figuring out where all the numbers and lines went, I traced all the lines with diluent running through the Christina Lake facility. Each sheet would have diluent arriving from another P&ID, travelling through pipes and other processes, and either mixing with another fluid; ending the path, since it wouldn’t be only diluent anymore, or leading off the page to yet another P&ID. Like a cross between a labyrinth and a treasure hunt, it involved great dexterity with a pink highlighter, and many trips to the printer to retrieve the next P&ID.

Other tasks involved in my role with the hazard and safety section of Integrated Oil has included finding incident reports that can be classified as process safety incidents (PSIs), and proofreading an evacuation plan and a fire policy. I guess I’ll pretty much be an expert on process safety by the end of this, I’ve been learning so much about all the things that need to be considered to keep the workplace safe.

Evangelian Collings
Hometown: Calgary, AB