Our founder, Kevin Graham, has spent more than 30 years supporting clients in the area of HSE regulatory compliance. The majority of his career has been spent in the oil and gas industry – primarily in the pipeline and offshore E&P segments of the industry. In 1998, he founded Veriforce, a company which focused on contractor management/regulatory compliance in support of DOT/PHMSA regulations, specifically related to the Operator Qualification Rule. He participated in dozens of regulatory compliance audits where he helped represent pipeline Operators being audited by regulatory agencies. He sold that business in 2009 (it continues to grow and continues to be a significant player in the industry). Between 2011 and 2014, Kevin served as Director of Compliance for a Houston, TX – based engineering and consulting firm, where he built an auditing organization focused on the DOI/BSEE SEMS Rule. He went on to oversee more than 1/3 of all SEMS audits conducted in the Gulf of Mexico through 2014 – several of which were audits directed by BSEE in response to various incidents. In 2015, Kevin joined a Lafayette, LA company where he worked to build SEMS consulting services and managed the work of OQSG, a company which offers OQ services to pipeline operators and contractors. He managed OQSG until the fall of 2024 (during his tenure he helped to navigate the sale of OQSG on 2 different occasions – both to Private Equity Sponsors/Investors.
Since leaving OQSG, Kevin has dedicated himself to establishing Systemic Compliance. Today, Systemic Compliance is focused on providing consulting services and support related to OQ and API RP 1173, Pipeline Safety Management Systems. Over time, Systemic Compliance will dedicate itself to bringing about a whole new approach to OQ, and compliance strategies in general. Our guiding principles will be:
Focus on minimizing risk – With a smart approach to minimizing risk, compliance can be a result rather than the aim;
Focus on the unique culture and processes of each operator – “One size fits all” is not the correct answer for anyone – solutions must be built around the operator;
Focus on practical solutions – If a solution is not practical (for the operator as well as its contractors), it won’t be successful;
Focus on being cost efficient – cost-effective solutions are more likely to be successful solutions in the long term;
Focus on integration – solutions should not be built into a silo, they should be integrated into a management system framework – one that features a strong approach to identifying linkages and managing change in a broader, smarter way.
Systemic Compliance works toward, and is dedicated to, these guiding principles. It is our unwavering belief that compliance should be a result – not the goal. Smart systems can achieve this. In other words, “COMPLIANCE SHOULD BE SYSTEMIC”.