A System-Based Reliability-Centered Safety Framework for Preventing Catastrophic Failures in Upstream Oil and Gas Operations

Abstract

The growing interrelations and technological, human, and organisational systems in upstream oil and gas operations have increased the risk of catastrophic failures with extensive safety, environmental, and economic impacts. This paper will create a Systems-Based Reliability-Centred Safety (RCS) Framework that aims to make such failures to be avoided using an integrated, adaptive, and data-driven safety architecture. The study searched and synthesised literature in 2000 2025 using databases such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, and IEEE Xplore, where data were filtered according to the criteria of inclusion which included peer-reviewed articles that dealt with reliability, systems engineering, and safety management in petroleum operations. Comparative analysis of the traditional frameworks, Reliability-Centred Maintenance (RCM) and Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) analysis and Bow-Tie models and System-Theoretic Accident Models (STAMP/STPA) demonstrated essential gaps in dynamic adaptability, predictive capability and human-system integration. The suggested RCS framework overcomes these gaps by merging system theory, resilience engineering, and digital analytics to empower the prevention, control, and mitigation of emergent risks on both technical and organisational levels. Findings suggest that RCS model enables a greater degree of reliability assurance, i.e., it is better represented by means of the real-time feedback of data, predictive maintenance and cross-tiering of safety, and it is more effective in preventing the scenario of escalation, compared to traditional models. The paper concludes that consideration of human reliability, organisational learning, and cyber-physical intelligence enclosed in one model of reliability-focused framework is necessary in achieving sustainable safety excellence of upstream oil and gas operations. The paper provides a recommendation of strategic implementation of the requirements of RCS into asset integrity programs, and regulatory reforms that require data generating safety assurance and interdisciplinary capacity-building to effectively execute full-scale.