Plant statutory examinations

Legislation introduced the requirements for statutory examinations by a competent person , the responsibility for ensuring the competence of the examiner resting on the plant owner. There is no requirement for the competent person to be independent of the owner s organization, but independence does have clear advantages. 

Chapter 4.5 Statutory examination of plant and equipment (J. McMullen and updated by Cameron Sinclair)... 

Other inspection services available include the examination of steel structures (new and existing), electrical wiring installations, containers (to meet Statutory Instm-ment No. 1890), dangerous substances (carriage by road in road tankers or tank containers) to meet Statutory Instmment No. 1059, examination of second-hand plant prior to purchase, plant undergoing repair or modification, the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazard Regulations (CIMAH) Statutory Instmment No. 1902 and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) and Pressure Systems Regulations. 

Boiler Feed Water System—Check the demineralised water plant units, water piping, operation of water pumps, condensate recycle lines, deaerator tank, drain lines, calibration of Boiler Feed Water tank, operation of level indicator, external insulation, location of temperature indicators, etc. Get examined the hydraulic test certificates for all pressure parts and subsequentiy obtain permission from Statutory Boiler Inspection Authority to commission the boiler. Note BFW pumps shall be run one by one to feed water into the boiler. Backpressure shall be created by throttiing overflow from WHB. Water flow... 

The frequency of thorough examinations for a hoist or lift by a competent person under the FA and OSRP Regulations is six months. In the case of continuous lifts and manual service lifts the frequency is every 12 months. It should be noted that escalators are non-statutory items of plant but, under the Health and Safety at Work Act, owners would be well advised to have them inspected at regular frequencies. 

A thorough examination is a detailed visual examination, both stationary and under working conditions, carried out as carefully as the conditions permit in order to arrive at a reliable conclusion as to the safety of the plant or machinery and hence an assurance that the operation of the plant will be safe until the next statutory inspection. 

The completion of a report of an examination is a statutory requirement in respect of certain types of plant and it can be made by separate reports or by annotating the register of plant, or a combination of both. 

Statutory reports have to be in a special format, sometimes on prescribed forms which must contain certain particulars specified by legislation. The reports of an examination usually indicate the condition of the plant, e.g. in good order, list the defects requiring correction or place restrictions on the use of the plant because of its condition. Where defects are found a copy of... 

Although the primary containment is closed up when the plant is in operation, access can be gained within a few hours of shutdown. Examination of circulators, valves and other remotely operated equipment is not then difficult. Also inspection of major pressure circuit components, such as the steam drums, does not require other plant to be disassembled. Though such operations will need to be done under health physics control, there is no reason why statutory and any other regular inspections should not be carried out comparatively swiftly and readily to a planned schedule. 

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