Engineering firms offer crucial insights to both the blast-resistant building (BRB) industry and the oil and gas sector, ensuring the safety of workers in hazardous environments and supporting vital functions like facility siting studies (FSSs) and quality risk assessments (QRAs). These engineering firms provide a wide range of consulting services to enhance overall industry safety.
With cutting-edge tech and innovative solutions, these are the top firms in 2023 that led the way, providing assessments of hazards on oil and gas sites and evaluating blast-resistant design.
Omega-Risk: Advancing Blast and Fire Engineering Excellence
When it comes to blast and fire engineering consultancy services, Omega-Risk stands out as a leader in the field. Based in Houston, Texas, Omega-Risk specializes in providing innovative, cost-effective, and high-quality services to a wide range of industries, including the onshore and offshore oil and gas sectors.
Omega-Risk's services encompass a wide spectrum, including blast engineering (blast wall design, blast retrofits, and blast chambers), fire engineering (passive fire protection optimization and structural fire analysis), seismic analysis, structural integrity assessments, and facility siting studies. Its lean management system sets Omega-Risk apart. This minimizes overhead costs and ultimately reduces project budgets, making services exceptionally competitive.
With a team of engineers boasting around 20 years of experience in engineering consultancy, Omega-Risk excels in tackling both small and large projects. Their global presence, led by professionals like Dr. Ali Sari, ensures that they can handle complex structural analysis, building retrofits, and cost-saving strategies for clients worldwide. Dr. Ali has provided a third-party perspective to the RedGuard team on many projects, including our 2020 blast test.
BakerRisk: Pioneering Technical Risk Management
Founded in 1984 as a retirement project by Dr. Wilfred Baker and his wife, BakerRisk has since evolved, with more than 175 employees and offices in the US, UK, and Canada. The firm is known for providing risk solutions and consultations and working with clients to ensure the safety of people and facilities. BakerRisk's experienced team combines industry knowledge with research and technical tools to offer risk management services and consultancy.
Until recently, BakerRisk had teamed up with steel blast resistant building manufacturers to provide risk consulting, and third-party testing and engineering. However, in 2020, they pivoted their focus and created "Fortress," a blast resistant building company that specializes in offering multi-hazard protection solutions for hazardous work sites. They differ from other engineering groups, in that they engineer, design, test, and sell their own solution.
ABS Group: Data-Driven Solutions for Risk and Reliability
ABS Group is another key player in the BRB industry that stands out for its data-driven approach to risk and mitigation. With more than 1,000 professionals worldwide and headquarters in Houston, London, Shanghai, and Singapore, ABS Group delivers a comprehensive suite of services.
Their offerings include inspecting and verifying technology and equipment designs, providing safety, risk, and compliance services, optimizing asset performance, offering advanced engineering support, and certifying management systems. One distinctive feature of ABS Group is that they combine hazard identification and testing under one umbrella, streamlining the risk management process for clients.
SciRisq: Innovative Risk Analysis and Consultation
SciRisq specializes in identifying, analyzing, and solving specific problems accurately and cost-effectively. While they offer risk analysis consultancy services, they also provide software modeling technology that empowers clients to conduct in-house risk assessments.
SciRisq leverages the latest analytical and computational models to pinpoint a site’s greatest risks accurately. They can customize their software to suit the specific requirements of a hazardous area, providing clients with an efficient analysis tool tailored to the situation.
SciRisq primarily focuses on facility siting work and hazard identification and quantification, with the ability to adapt and customize their solutions to meet client needs efficiently.
When to Get a Second Opinion on Your FSS Results
If your facility siting study results are complex, confusing, or present only one proprietary solution, consider seeking a second opinion from an engineer. Doing so can provide a more comprehensive understanding of your results and available solutions.
At RedGuard, we are committed to ensuring your facility's safety and integrity. To support this, we offer to cover the cost of a 30-minute consultation with an engineer who can delve into your FSS results. These experts will analyze your findings and present safety alternatives that you may not have previously considered.
