Glossary

An individual's formal acceptance of their obligation to justify decisions, actions or outcomes.

As low as reasonably practicable. A fundamental principle in health, safety, and environmental management. Risk must be reduced to the lowest level possible by weighing the risk against the time, trouble and cost of reducing it further.

An evaluation or audit of an activity or asset to determine whether performance objectives have been achieved or management system expectations correctly implemented.

The cumulative outcome of processes, including assessments, audits, performance reporting, benchmarking, reviews and learning. The processes provide confidence and confirmation that the management system (or any part of it) is achieving its purpose and expected performance.

A formal, scheduled evaluation of an activity or asset with pre-determined objectives, criteria and protocols to test compliance against management system expectations, implementation and/or performance.

A person with appropriate competence who is formally granted the power to make judgements and take decisions on technical or resource issues within a defined scope.

A risk control that seeks to prevent unintended events from occurring, or prevent escalation of events into incidents with harmful consequences.

A process of assessing relative performance against a group of peers.

The collective expertise and capacity of the workforce to perform activities within an asset, business or company.

Stated in such a way that it can be interpreted in only one way. Avoid placing rationale statements in requirement statements. Use active form; minimise use of passive form.

The combination of skills, experience and knowledge of a manager or member of the workforce that has been confirmed through assessment.

Confirmation that a defined requirement has been met.

An ongoing effort to achieve better management system performance by application of a systematic process of planning future activity based on results and feedback from prior plans.

A statement within a management system element that describes an anticipated outcome of management system implementation.

Can be achieved within known constraints (e.g., technical, legal, cost, schedule).

A characteristic of an operating management system that is essential to the effectiveness of every part of the system.

"Must", "needs to" and "is to be" are commonly used as if they were requirements but carry no normative force in IOGP documents. They should not be used in place of "shall". Using them introduces ambiguity about whether a deviation is permissible.

An event or chain of events that has resulted in harmful consequences, such as injuries, illnesses, property damage or environmental impact.

Content that helps the understanding or application of normative content but does not itself contain requirements, recommendations, or permissions. Examples include notes, rationale, guidance, and informative appendices.

Use "will", "could" or "might" for informative text such as notes. Do not use "will" to imply a requirement — it is ambiguous and not binding. "Shall" is the only correct word for a mandatory requirement.

The consistent design, construction and maintenance of assets and activities to achieve safe and reliable operations and products.

Any workforce member who influences or directs the actions of others.

An incident that has resulted in multiple fatalities and/or serious damage, possibly beyond the asset itself.

The formal control and direction of activities within an organisation. Management is carried out under a company's governance by the board who appoint one person — the managing director or chief executive — with overall responsibility for the direction and control of the whole organisation.

A systematic and documented framework of processes used by managers and the workforce at all levels in a company's organisation to plan, direct and execute activities.

The management of change (MoC) process identifies risks arising from changes. It manages these risks before and during execution of the changes, ensuring they do not inadvertently increase risk for personnel or assets.

A standalone specification style with sequential clause numbering that does not mirror an industry standard. Industry standards may be referenced but the document is self-contained.

Adds specific value to business delivery. If not included, a deficiency in capability will exist which cannot be fulfilled by implementing other requirements.

Content containing shall, should, or may statements (requirements, recommendations, or permissions). A scope section is also considered a normative element.

A specification style aligned with and making exceptions to an industry standard. Clause numbering mirrors the industry standard. Used to amend, supplement, or make selections from that standard.

Per ISO/IEC Directives Part 2: conveys consent or liberty (or opportunity) to do something. "May" is not used as the normal linguistic way in English (might or could). Expressed using "may".

High-level statements that define general principles or rules about how a company operates.

A conventional or commonly applied method or approach that has been demonstrated to achieve one or more described outcomes.

A documented sequential description of the requirements to successfully accomplish a designated task or activity.

A defined series of repeatable tasks, methods or actions to systematically achieve a purpose or specific objective.

An oil and gas-derived material output from the company's activities for supply by the company to its customers.

Per ISO/IEC Directives Part 2: conveys a suggested possible choice or course of action deemed suitable without necessarily mentioning or excluding others. Expressed using "should".

Per ISO/IEC Directives Part 2: conveys objectively verifiable criteria to be fulfilled and from which no deviation is permitted if conformance with the document is to be claimed. Expressed using "shall".

A process of understanding reported outcomes and assessments of activities with the purpose of learning how to improve performance.

The product of the chance that a specific adverse event will occur and the severity of the consequences of the event.

A process that provides a consistent and comparable evaluation of the relative level of different risks introduced by company activities.

A risk that has been assessed as requiring risk controls/barriers to reduce that risk to an acceptable level.

States a single capability, characteristic, constraint, or quality factor. Avoid use of "and". A single requirement reduces ambiguity and conflict.

People who affect, or who are affected by, the operating activities, products, services and/or assets of the company. Includes employees, customers, communities, contractors, suppliers, shareholders, regulators and others.

Documented requirements, rules or instructions that support company policies in relation to specific activities or to address specific risks, threats or impacts.

Requirements are unique. Each requirement has an ID so that it can be uniquely identified. In a digital environment, requirements can be stored once and reused rather than referenced.

Structured and worded such that its realisation can be proven to the satisfaction of the recipient. Each requirement is verifiable; vague terms can be defined.

A collective term for the human resources of the company, including all employees and contractors, and all managers and workers.