|
A Permit to Work is a
procedure, with a written permit form, which is used to authorize and control
work activities with high risk hazards. The Permit to Work
procedure:
- identifies the work that is to be
completed
- ensures that all potentially hazardous work is controlled and properly
authorised;
- ensures that all hazards associated
with the work have been identified;
- ensures that all necessary safety
procedures for controlling the risks are properly implemented while the
work is being completed; and,
- ensures that the worksite is left
in a safe condition when the work is completed or suspended.
A Permit to Work, when
effectively developed and implemented, serves as a checklist to ensure that
all hazards, control measures, work procedures and general safe work
requirements are identified, documented, reviewed with and understood by the
personnel who will be involved with the work activities. A Permit
to Work provides a record of the authorization and completion of the
hazardous work activities, the controls and the authorization for the
work.
A Permit to Work
should be used for all high risk work activities where existing controls have
not reduced the risks to acceptable levels. Additional risk
controls will be developed and implemented through the Permit to Work process
(procedure) to ensure that the risks are reduced to acceptable
levels. Often, a Permit to Work is used for non-routine
work. A “non-routine” task is any task that is
not described in established procedures and which involves
hazardous work that must be controlled to reduce the risks to acceptable
levels.
A Permit to Work
should be used to:
- Describe the work to be completed;
- Identify the hazards associated
with the work;
- Specify the necessary safety
precautions (risk control measures) that must be implemented to manage
the risk;
- Provide appropriate authorisation
and responsibilities for proceeding with the work within a specified
time and within specified limitations;
- Inform all affected personnel that
the work is being done;
- Ensure that the plant and equipment
are returned to a safe condition when the work has been completed or
suspended.
Types of Permits to
Work include:
Hot work is any work
that could create a source of ignition that could result in a fire or
explosion. Examples of hot work include, but are not restricted
to:
- Welding and torch cutting;
- Spark producing tools such as
grinders and chippers and power tools such as electric drills;
- Use of explosives;
- Use of non-intrinsically safe
electrical or electronic equipment.
High risk Cold Work
includes, but is not restricted to:
- Work on equipment or plant
components that are under pressure or are energized in some form (e.g. mechanical
energy);
- Work on equipment or plant
components that are at extreme temperatures (cold or hot);
- Work on equipment or plant
components that contain hazardous materials;
- Work on vessels (e.g. tanks,
pressure vessels);
- Isolations of pipe work, valves and
associated vessels;
- General construction;
- Work on de-energised electrical
circuits or on energised circuits of 120 volts or less (shop bench work
will not require a permit);
- Work performed in the immediate
vicinity of overhead power lines;
- Non-routine maintenance work.
Confined Space Entry
is any work in a confined space or partially confined space having restricted
access or egress and/or which is or may become hazardous to personnel because
of:
- The confined space design,
construction, and/or location;
- Atmosphere content (gas
composition);
- The materials or substances in the
confined space;
The work activities or
other conditions
Examples of confined
spaces include, but are not restricted to:
- Open or Closed Tanks;
- Vessels;
- Towers;
- Furnaces;
- Sewers;
- Sumps;
- Dry Wells;
- Ventilation and Exhaust Ducts;
- Flues;
- Vaults;
- Pipes;
- Reactors;
- Chambers;
- Boreholes;
Electrical work is any
work where the worker or the worker's tools will intentionally be in contact
with electrically energised circuits greater than 120
volts. Testing and/or the use of testing equipment is not
considered electrical work, unless the testing requires that the worker
and/or the worker's tools will intentionally be in contact with the
electrically energised circuits.
Trenching, excavating
or ground disturbance is any work where excavation, trenching, tunnels,
drilling, pile driving and scraping (earth removal) are done. An
exception would be routine grading of roadways where there is no potential
for damaging buried pipes, electrical cables or other sub-surface equipment
or structures.
Vehicle Entry permits
are used whenever vehicles (including heavy duty equipment such as cranes,
front end loaders, back-hoes) will be entering areas where there is:
- a possibility of volatile gas
releases;
- the potential for serious, major or
critical accidents occurring because of the vehicle entry into the area
(e.g. potential for the vehicle striking and damaging equipment).
Adequately qualified,
suitably trained and with sufficient experience to safely perform work as
outlined, without or with only a minimal degree of supervision.
Person who is given
the responsibility for planning, organizing, coaching, and guiding the manpower
and resources to accomplish the objectives and tasks to complete the job.
A Permit Issuer must
be a person who is trained, competent and authorised to issue a Permit to
Work after ensuring that all of the hazards, associated with the work being
done, have been identified and all necessary safety precautions are being
implemented to ensure that the work can be completed safely.
The Permit User is the
tradesman, work supervisor or contractor who is responsible for the work
being completed as described in the Permit to Work. The Permit
Receiver must ensure that the work being done has been adequately described
so that all associated hazards and risks can be identified.
An authorised gas
tester is a person who is trained, competent and authorised to use gas
testing instruments to measure gas concentrations in an area where people and
equipment will be working and determine whether the atmospheric conditions are
safe for doing the work. The Authorised Gas Tester must be trained
and competent to use breathing apparatus as well as the gas testing
instruments.
Electronic and
electrical equipment that has been certified by a recognised industry and/or
government Standards Association (e.g. ISO, CSA, ANSI) as not generating
electrical spark energy that could ignite volatile gases in the
atmosphere. Most intrinsically safe electronic and electrical
equipment has been constructed in a manner to prevent gases from entering
parts of the equipment where electrical sparks could be generated.
Permit validity is the
time period, specified on the Permit to Work, for which the permit is
valid. A Permit to Work cannot be valid for more than 12 hours or
for more than the normal work shift; whichever is the least time. If
the work must continue for a period longer than 12 hours or longer than the
normal work shift, the Permit to Work must be closed and a new Permit to Work
must be prepared. A Permit to Work is valid only for the
work that is described on the Permit to Work. No one can issue a
Permit to Work to himself or herself.
A Permit to Work is
not required for normal, routine duties but a Permit to Work is required for
any and all work done by a sub-contractor.
Suspended work is work
specified on a Permit to Work but which cannot be completed within the time
limit specified on the Permit to Work or work which is stopped because of
changed conditions that create hazards with unacceptable levels of
risk. The work must be stopped and the work site must be left in a
safe and secure condition until appropriate safety procedures have been
implemented and the work can resume safely. A new Permit to Work
must be written and issued before work starts again.
A process to prevent
the unintentional release of energy (e.g. electricity, forceful release of
gases or liquids) or materials. Electrical isolations are usually
achieved with disconnection, opening circuits and using locking mechanisms to
prevent unintentional re-connections or circuit
closures. Mechanical isolations are usually achieved through:
- closing valves and/or inserting
“blanks”, “spades” or “blinds” in flange connections for
pipes;
- using pins or chains with padlocks
to lock in place movable, mechanical parts such as valve handles, crane
booms or conveyors;
- disconnecting (turning off switches
and/or removing wire connections) and locking electric motors.
A system or piece of
equipment is in a state of zero energy when all sources of energy (e.g.,
electrical, mechanical, compressed gas, spring tension) are isolated from it,
or effectively blocked and all sources of stored energy are depleted.
- Ensures that a Permit to Work system has been developed and is being
appropriately implemented for all non-routine and/or hazardous work.
- Ensures that all personnel, including employees and contractors, are fully aware
of, and knowledgeable about, the Company’s Permit to Work system and the
application of Permits to Work for non-routine and/or hazardous work.
- Ensures that all personnel who are responsible for issuing, receiving and
implementing Permits to Work have received the appropriate training and
awareness to apply Permits to Work to applicable work situations.
- Ensures that there are sufficient resources, including personnel and time, to
appropriately implement the Permit to Work system
- Ensures
that there is a system to monitor the application of Permits to Work to the
work site, assess the effectiveness of the Permit to Work system and to
ensure that the Permit to Work system is used correctly and appropriately in
all situations where a Permit to Work is required.
Ensures that safe working conditions are planned and prepared prior to, and
maintained during, the entire job;
Ensures that, except for emergency situations, applications for Permits to
Work are submitted to the Permit to Work issuer at least 24 hours prior to
the requirement for the Permit to Work;
Ensures that Permits to Work are issued for all work where Permits to Work
are required and that no work proceeds until all of the requirements of the
Permit to Work have been fulfilled;
Ensures that personnel who are working on jobs and tasks where Permit to Work
conditions apply, are fully aware of their respective responsibilities as specified
on the Permit to Work;
Ensures that, where necessary, a hazard identification and risk assessment
process, such as job safety analysis, has been completed to identify high
risk hazards and appropriate risk control measures which will be implemented
to reduce those risks to an acceptable level;
Ensures
that all necessary risk control measures have been identified on the Permit
to Work:
Ensures that all of the terms and conditions are being complied with for any
work where a Permit to Work has been issued;
Ensures that work being controlled by a Permit to Work, is regularly
monitored for Permit to Work requirement compliance.
Is responsible for developing and implementing Permit to Work training
programmes for all personnel who have responsibility for managing,
supervising, issuing, receiving and implementing Permit to Work systems;
Is responsible for undertaking regular inspections of work where Permits to
Work apply to monitor the effectiveness of the Permit to Work system and its
implementation;
1. Is
responsible for periodically reporting, to the Company management and
supervisory personnel, on the effectiveness of the Permit to Work system and
its implementation and for making recommendations for improvement if
required.
- Ensures that Permits to Work are written correctly, specifying all the
necessary risk control terms and conditions that are applicable to the type
of work being completed.
- Ensures that any applicable, supplemental information (e.g. P&ID,
confined space entry checklists, isolation checklists and drawings, Job
Safety Analysis results and conditions) are attached to all copies of the
Permit to Work.
- Ensures that Permits to Work are written in a timely fashion, and wherever
possible, the work is not unnecessarily delayed because of the Permit to Work
process.
- Ensures that the permit receiver is a person who is competent to fulfil the
terms and conditions that are specified on the Permit to Work.
- Ensures that copies of Permits to Work are distributed according to the
requirements of the business entity.
- Ensures that copies of Permits to Work are prominently displayed in a central
location (e.g. on a display board in a control room or office where the
permits are issued) so they can be easily reviewed by Management,
Supervisors, HS&E and other personnel as appropriate.
- Ensures
that the original Permit to Work is retained on file for a period of at least
two years
- Ensures that Permits to Work are closed out at the end of each 12 hour work
shift.
- Reports, to Management, Supervisors and HS&E any Permit to Work system
deficiencies that are identified.
Ensures that he/she is knowledgeable about and understands fully the hazards
and risks that are associated with the work that is being completed;
Ensures
that he/she is knowledgeable about and understands fully the risk control
measures that are to be implemented prior to and during the work that is
being completed;
Ensures that he/she is knowledgeable about and understands the risk control
measures that are specified on the Permit to Work;
Ensures that all other personnel who are completing the work or will be
affected by the work, are knowledgeable about and understand fully the
hazards, risks and risk control measures which are applicable to the work that
is being completed;
Ensures that all personnel who are completing the work complies with all of
the risk control measures that have been specified on the Permit to Work;
Ensures that if there are any significant changes to the risks or to the scope
of work that is being completed that the work is stopped, personnel,
equipment and the environment will not suffer a loss and that the Supervisor,
or his/her Designated Representative plus the Permit Issuer are fully aware
of the change in the risks or scope of work;
Ensures that, if required, the Permit to Work is cancelled and a new Permit
to Work, with modified risk control measures, is issued before work resumes;
Ensures that if the work is completed, that the work site is left in a safe
and operable condition; that all unnecessary tools, equipment and materials
are removed from the site and ensures that the Permit to Work is closed;
Ensures that if the work is not completed at the end of the work shift, that
the work site is left in a safe, secure and tidy condition and that another
Permit to Work is prepared and issued before work resumes at the work site.
A Permit to Work will
be used for any potentially hazardous work or work that will be done by a
sub-contractor to the Company. When work requiring a Permit to
Work has been identified, the Permit to Work Issuer will prepare the Permit
to Work, using the Permit to Work “checklist” to identify and document on the
Permit all hazardous conditions and safety procedures that must be followed
by the persons who will complete the work. The hazardous
conditions and safety procedures will be reviewed and where necessary
modified during a Pre-job meeting.
The Permit to Work
will specify:
- the type of work being completed;
- the type of Permit to Work (hot
work, cold work, confined space entry, excavation, electrical or vehicle
entry) being issued;
- hazards associated with the work;
- safety procedures such as: isolation
requirements; gas testing; emergency response procedures; personal
protective equipment; purging; stand-by personnel; barriers; and,
- times that the Permit to Work will
be valid.
The Permit to Work
will be signed by the Permit Issuer and the Permit Receiver (tradesman,
sub-contractor or foreman).
Before the work
starts, a pre-job meeting will be held with all persons, including the
sub-contractor foreman and appropriate trades persons, to:
- Review all hazardous conditions
that are expected during the work;
- Review all safety procedures that
will be followed while completing the work;
- Ensure that all persons completing
the work are aware of and accept their responsibilities while completing
the work;
- Ensure that all other persons in
the general work area are aware of the potential hazards and safety
procedures that must be followed;
- Ensure that all of the hazardous
conditions and appropriate safety procedures are identified and
documented on the Permit to Work;
- Document the results of the pre-job
meeting (who attended the meeting, what was discussed and what
procedures were agreed upon).
Once all of the work
tasks, hazards and safety procedures have been identified and documented on
the Permit to Work, the Permit issuer must ensure that the appropriate risk
controls (e.g. isolations, purging, emergency response preparations, personal
protective equipment) have been implemented and that the work site is in a
safe condition before he or she authorises the Permit to Work. The
Permit issuer must be satisfied that all of the specified Permit to Work
conditions have been complied with before the Permit is authorised and
issued.
A signed copy of the
Permit to Work will be given to the person who is responsible for supervising
the work (tradesman, foreman or sub-contractor) and a copy will be kept by
the Permit issuer. A copy will also be given to the work
site H&S Supervisor.
The Permit copy
provided to the person who is responsible for supervising the work must be
kept at the job site while the work is being done.
After the Permit to
Work has been issued, the person supervising the work (tradesman,
sub-contractor or foreman) is responsible for ensuring that the Permit to
Work conditions are complied with. The work site Supervisor is
responsible for arranging periodic inspections of the work by himself
and/or the work site H&S Supervisor to ensure
that the Permit to Work conditions are being complied with. If
continuous or periodic gas tests are required while the work is being
completed, the authorised gas tester will perform these gas tests and record,
on the Permit to Work copies, the gas readings and the times that the gas
tests are completed.
If the Permit to Work
conditions change significantly, or high risk, hazardous conditions occur
while the work is being done, the work must stop until the hazardous
condition(s) are eliminated (or the risks are reduced to acceptable
levels).
There are situations
where isolations must be temporarily removed (e.g. when testing equipment during
the work). When isolations must be temporarily removed, the Permit to
Work issuer must be informed and checks must be made to ensure that the
isolation removal does not create any hazards for the work site and workers
before the isolations are removed. After the requirement for the
temporary isolation removal has been completed, the isolations must be
replaced and the Permit Issuer must be informed that the isolations have been
replaced.
There are situations
where work being done with a Permit to Work must be
suspended. Some examples of when this may occur are:
- High risk, hazardous situations
occur and for safety reasons, the work must stop;
- The work requires more time than is
allowed on the Permit to Work (the work isn't completed before the time
when the Permit to Work expires);
- An accident occurs while the work
is being completed;
- An emergency (e.g. fire alarm)
occurs at the plant site (e.g. compressor station);
- The work scope changes
significantly from what was originally planned when the Permit to Work
was prepared and authorised.
Whenever these and
similar situations occur, the work must stop immediately; the work site must
be made as safe and secure as possible; and a new Permit to Work must be
prepared and authorised, following all of the steps required when making any
Permit to Work. In all cases, safety procedures must be
implemented to make the work site safe before work starts again (eliminate
the hazards or reduce the risks to acceptable levels). Once the
safety procedures have been implemented and a new Permit to Work has been
issued, work can start again
Work that is being
completed with a Permit to Work must be regularly monitored by the Project
Supervisor and/or the site HSE Supervisor to ensure that the specified safety
procedures are being complied with. The Project Supervisor must
make a schedule for determining how often the work should be
monitored. For jobs where there are potentially high risks, the
work should be monitored more frequently, particularly when critical tasks
are being completed. Whenever specified safety procedures are not
being complied with, the work must be stopped until the Project Supervisor
and/or the HSE Supervisor determines that the safety procedures are being
complied with.
If the non-compliance
is very serious, a written report, describing what the non-compliance was and
why the non-compliance occurred, must be written and submitted to the HSE
Manager. A copy of the report should also be kept at the work site
field office. If a sub-contractor is responsible for the serious
non-compliance, another copy of the report should be sent to the Contracts
Administration Department and the copy should be kept in the sub-contractor's
file for future contract evaluation reference.
When the work has been
completed, the job site must be left in a safe, operating condition with all
locks, tags and isolations removed. All rubbish, surplus
materials, tools and equipment used for the work must be removed from the
work site. To the extent possible, the work site must be restored
to its original condition before the work started, unless the work was
intended to change the work site condition (e. g. construction of structures,
permanent excavations, permanent landscaping).
After the work has
been completed and left in a safe operating condition, the person responsible
for supervising the work (tradesman or sub-contractor foreman) must inform
the Project Supervisor. The Project Supervisor must then inspect
the work and ensure that:
- The work was completed as it was
specified;
- All locks, tags and isolations have
been removed;
- The work site was returned to a
safe, operating condition;
- All rubbish, surplus materials,
tools and equipment used for the work has been removed from the work
site;
- The work site has been restored to
its original condition.
|
