ATA Associates, Houston, Texas, announced a major expansion of ATA Critical Event Services. The initiative has grown from three original partners to a network of more than 20 companies and professionals. This growth follows a noticeable increase in inquiries from oil and gas industry clients seeking coordinated support for serious incidents. The expanded network gives clients broader access to specialized expertise through a single ATA-led resource.
ATA Critical Event Services began with a practical need identified by Bob Swint, CEO of ATA Associates. After a major incident, companies often must locate and manage several specialists while evidence is changing and operations are disrupted. The initial group brought three partners together to improve incident documentation and causation investigation. As client interest increased, ATA Associates added organizations and professionals with complementary expertise. The network now brings together engineering, forensic, scientific, environmental, fire-investigation, security, visualization, and consulting resources for a more unified response.
“I saw a clear need in the oil and gas industry for a resource that could arrive early and document the incident properly. The right technical disciplines also needed to work together to determine what happened and why. ATA Critical Event Services was created to meet that need. Through one coordinated resource, we can help clients protect evidence, reduce uncertainty, and make better decisions from the first response through recovery,” Swint said.
Each new partner has added depth or a new discipline to the service offering. Capabilities now extend well beyond incident documentation and causation investigation.
- Response services include: rapid deployment, scene inspection, evidence preservation, incident reconstruction, and root cause analysis.
- Technical services include: fire and explosion investigation, engineering analysis, materials failure analysis, laboratory testing, and loss-of-containment investigation.
- Cybersecurity services include: incident analysis to determine the nature, scope, and operational impact of a cyber event.
- The team also conducts post-incident plant and equipment security assessments to identify vulnerabilities and guide corrective action.
- Additional capabilities include regulatory review, risk analysis, drone imaging, photogrammetry, 3D modeling, animation, claims support, expert consulting, restart readiness, and operational recovery support.
ATA Associates’ innovative model coordinates multiple technical disciplines from the outset to manage complex industrial incidents. Traditional responses can become fragmented when separate firms collect information for separate purposes. ATA Critical Event Services improves continuity by preserving a reliable factual record. It also aligns field observations with engineering and laboratory work. The resulting findings can support operational, regulatory, insurance, and legal decisions.
ATA Critical Event Services supports upstream, midstream, and downstream operations. It also serves chemical and petrochemical facilities. Its capabilities apply to drilling and production incidents. They also apply to gathering, pipeline, terminal, and storage events. Other applications include refining and processing losses, chemical releases, equipment failures, control-system failures, fires, explosions, and transportation incidents. The team can respond when an event affects people, property, operations, or the environment.
For more information:
ATA Associates
https://ataassociates.com/
