Work Permit during Turnaround 1

C4Reactor,

I can't make any suggestion re extending non-critical permits, but in a general sense changes attract extra risks. Not saying you nusn't make changes but accompany them with increased alertness. Make sure you can't get burnt through any changes to normal practice.

CHANGE + COMPLACENCY = CATASTROPHE

Cheers,
John.

Hi,

Usually in a turnaround, a permit coordinator is assigned for specific area to oversee all works in that area. The normal practise is to have the night shift prepare the equipment and get them ready for handover to mtce for work.
I dont encourage lengthening the validity period of permits. Usually permits last for the whole shift (depending what your plant practise - 8 hr or 12 hr shift cycle) It can further be extended for another shift i.e. max 24hrs based on 12 hr shift cycle.

we are able to overcome this problem somewhat by having a slight overlapping of shift personnel, especially on the maintenance side, so that the job continuity is not affected.Also we have man-to-man relieving with jobs & work scope well defined.

Recommend having area and equipment checked for flammable vapors at the beginning of the shift and also at the end of lunch prior to stating work in the afternoon.

There are also circumstanses where a contineous monitoring must be done.

On shutdowns, we minimized the loss time by having the shift supervisors get to site on time, and chase down the safety officer authized to write WP's. This was the first item of business when the super arrived on site. Since no one worked until the permits were issued, the shift supervisor made sure the permits were issued. He did not leave the safety officer's side until he got his permit to work. After a day or two of this everyone falls into a routine unless a new person is authorized to write the WP. We would take 30 minutes to write out up to two dozen permits for the work area. If one permit took longer to perform, we prioritized based upon the circumstances. Sometimes during mid shift, we would obtain a confined space permit for internal inspections after everyone in the crew was set up to work. If we were working 12 hour shifts, both supervisiors would be present going over work packages and the WP would expire. Then, the working super would go to the operations station and find the person writing the WP. At times we had two or three men writing permits and perfoming safety inspections during the work. This system worked very well and when it did not, the Plant Manager knew about it. We were there busting a gut (as professionals)to help them minimize downtime and all they needed to do was make sure WP's were a priority with everyone. Thankfully everyone understood and WP's represented the least of our troubles.

Good Luck