A failure investigation that concludes with a component failure has not finished. The bearing failed, but why did it fail? Because it was misaligned. Why was it misaligned? Because alignment was not checked after the last overhaul. Why not? Because the procedure does not require it. The procedure is the root cause, and changing it is the only action that stops the failure recurring.

Evidence discipline is what makes this possible. Failed components get cleaned, scrapped or sent for repair before anyone looks at them; operating data before the failure gets overwritten; witnesses reconstruct events from memory days later. Preserving evidence and collecting it promptly is often the difference between a real investigation and an opinion.

Human and organisational factors are the most commonly avoided territory. Failures traced to operator error usually reveal a procedure that was unclear, a workload that made the error likely or a control that was missing. Investigations that stop at human error prevent nothing, because the next person in the same situation will do the same thing. This course covers that ground directly.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Apply a structured investigation method to production failures.
• Define investigation triggers, scope and team composition.
• Preserve and collect evidence, including failed equipment and operating data.
• Conduct effective interviews without leading witnesses.
• Apply five whys, fault tree and causal factor charting techniques.
• Analyse equipment failures across the main production equipment types.
• Identify human and organisational factors underlying failures.
• Distinguish immediate causes, contributing factors and root causes.
• Design corrective actions that address root causes.
• Track corrective action effectiveness and run a reliability improvement programme.

Organisations sending participants to this training will:

• Stop repeat failures rather than repeatedly repairing them.
• Improve equipment reliability and reduce deferment.
• Build investigation capability beyond a few individuals.
• Produce corrective actions that actually prevent recurrence.
• Create a reliability improvement programme driven by failure data.

Participants will:

• Be able to lead a structured failure investigation.
• Be able to collect and preserve evidence properly.
• Be able to apply the main analysis techniques appropriately.
• Be able to identify organisational causes without blaming individuals.
• Be able to design and track effective corrective actions.

• Production and operations engineers
• Maintenance and reliability engineers
• Artificial lift and well equipment engineers
• Operations supervisors
• HSE and quality staff
• Technical staff responsible for equipment performance

Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.

Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.