Line breaking, hazardous work

Nonroutine work eondueted in proeess areas must be eontrolled by the employer in a eonsistent manner. The hazards identified involving the work to be aeeomplished must be eommunieated to those doing the work and to those operating personnel whose work eould aflfeet the safety of the proeess. A work authorization notiee or permit must follow a proeedure that deseribes the steps the maintenanee supervisor, eontraetor representative, or other person needs to follow to obtain the neeessary elearanee to start the job. The work authorization proeedures must referenee and eoordinate, as applieable, loekout/tagout proeedures, line breaking proeedures, eonfined spaee entry proeedures, and hot work authorizations. This proeedure also must provide elear steps to follow onee the job is eompleted to provide elosure for those who need to know the job is now eompleted and that equipment ean be returned to normal. 

The hazards of management-controlled nonroutine work in the process areas must be communicated to affected individuals. The work permit prescribes the procedures that must be followed to get the permit. Work authorization procedures specify lockout/tagout, line breaking., confined space entry, and hot work authorization through clear steps leading to job completion, closure, and return to normal. 

The hazards associated with operations that involve more than one group can be reduced by the use of a permit system. O Driscoll has described the permit systems used in chemical operations many of these (hot work tank entry line breaking disposal operations excavations operation of material handling equipment and vehicles sprinkler-valve closing permit) are of interest in low-temperature plants. They are designed to permit the safe conduct of maintenance and repair functions. The use of written permits with copies to all groups concerned tends to increase the safety of potentially hazardous operations. Also, with use of written instructions, there is less chance for a misunderstanding. 

Nomoutine work which is conducted in process areas needs to be controlled by the employer in a consistent manner. Hie hazards identified involving the wmk that is to be accomplished must be communicated to those doing the work, but also to those operating personnel whose work could affect the safety of the process. A work authorization notice or permit must have a procedure that describes the steps the maintenance supervisor, contractor representative, or other person needs to follow to obtain the necessary clearance to get the job started. The work authorization procedures need to reference and coordinate, as applicable, lockout/tagout procedures, line breaking procedures, confined space entry procedures, and hot work authorizations. This procedure also needs to provide clear steps to follow once the job is completed in order to provide closure far those that need to know the job is now completed and equipment can be returned to normal. 

A specific evaluation of the work environment to determine the requirement for wearing flame-resistant garments must be based on the potential hazards workers are exposed to in their work duties, the evaluation must include among others, factors such as the proximity of the work to the flash fire hazard, the presence of flammable materials in the environment during process operations, the potential for the task being performed to increase the possibility of a flammable release, e.g., a mechanical failure such as a line breaking, etc. [Section... 

The successes of the traditional approach have largely been obtained in the area of occupational safety, where statistical evidence is readily available concerning the incidence of injuries to individuals in areas such as tripping and falling accidents. Such accidents are amenable to behavior modification approaches because the behaviors that give rise to the accident are under the direct control of the individual and are easily predictable. In addition, the nature of the hazard is also usually predictable and hence the behavior required to avoid accidents can be specified explicitly. For example, entry to enclosed spaces, breaking-open process lines, and lifting heavy objects are known to be potentially hazardous activities for which safe methods of work... 

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