Work permit

When large numbers of people are in the area of the work that is being done, barrier tape and/or physical barriers should be put around the controlled area. Yellow tape warns an individual that he or she needs permission to enter an area or needs to get the attention of an individual inside the area to determine if entry is allowed. Red tape warns that a person may not enter an area because of potentially hazardous conditions that exist inside the zone. Violation of the space inside the red construction barrier tape is not acceptable and may lead to serious disciplinary consequences. 

Work permits are crucial to the safe operation and maintenance of process facilities. (They are also discussed in the section to do with job hazards analysis (JHA) forms in Chapter 2.) They can be divided into three categories general, hot work, and confined-space entry. Permits are signed by both the operations and maintenance personnel involved in the work, and by their supervisors. The permit will have the following features  

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Readings acceptable for entry shall be recorded on the Safe Work Permit and sh assure that the oxygen content is 21 percent plus or minus 0.5 percent. 

Safe Work Practices including Hot Work Permits... 

Safety procedures for lockout, tank entry, hot work permits, and excavation written First aid and medical assistance available First-aid kits, blankets, stretchers, antidotes, and resusci-tators on hand... 

Unit checkout Check that required mechanical work has been completed, tags and blinds pulled, and temporary piping disconnected. Plant supervision must certify completion of work. Cancel all entry and work permits. Utility system has been commissioned. Check blind list and inspect lines close bleed, drain and sample valves. 

Figure 13.4 (facing page) Hot work permit. Part 1 records conditions and steps required Part 2 authorizes work and specifies precautions. 

Work planning and control processes include the use of job hazard analyses (JHAs), job safety analyses (JSAs), task analyses, safe work plans, safe work permits, or procedures. 

Is the hot work permit eonspieuously posted in the area in whieh work is being performed ... 

Do employees know the identities of supervisors or others authorized to issue hot work permits ... 

The employer issues a hot work permit for hot work operations conducted on or near a covered process. The permit documents that the fire prevention and protection requirements in 29 CFR 1910.252(a) have been implemented prior to beginning the hot work operations it indicates the date(s) authorized for hot work and identifies the object on which hot work is performed. The permit is kept on file until completion of the hot work operations. 

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. 

Isolations should not be removed until maintenance is complete. It is good practice to issue three work permits—one for inserting slip-plates (or disconnecting pipework), one for the main job, and one for removing slip-plates (or restoring disconnections). 

Incidents like these and many more could be prevented by fitting a numbered tag to the joint or valve and putting that number on the work permit. In incident (c), the foreman would have had to go up onto the scaffold to fix the tag. Accidents have occun ed, however, despite tagging systems. 

In all three cases the lines were correctly isolated from operating equipment. Work permits specified that goggles should be worn and stated, Beware of trapped pressure. ... 

Occasionally, however, it may be impossible to be certain that a piece of equipment is spotlessly clean, especially if it has contained a residual oil or a material that polymerizes. If this is the case, or if there is some doubt about its cleanliness, then the hazards and the necessary precautions should be made known to the workshop or the other company. This can be done by attaching a certificate to the equipment. This certificate is not a work permit. It does not authorize any work but describes the state of the equipment and gives the other company sufficient information to enable it to carry out the repair or modification safely. Before issuing the certificate, the engineer in charge should discuss with the other company the methods it proposes to use. If the problems are complex, a member of the plant staff may have to visit the other company. The following incidents show the need for these precautions. 

This section describes incidents that occurred because of loopholes in the procedure for issuing work permits or because the procedure was not followed. There is no clear distinction between these two categories. Often the procedure does not cover, or seem to cover, all circumstances. Those concerned use this as the reason, or excuse, for a shortcut, as in the following two incidents ... 

It is bad management for those issuing work permits to cover themselves by asking for more protective clothing than is really necessary. They should ask only for what is necessary and then insist that it be worn. 

The person doing the job is exposed to two distinct hazards those due to the contents of the pipeline (these are understood by area A foreman) and those due to work going on in area B (these are understood by area B foreman). If the work permit for the pipeline is issued by area A foreman, then area B foreman should countersign it. If it is issued by B, then A... 

It was never discovered who installed this unauthorized substandard drain point. An attempt had been made to publicize the lessons of Feyzin, the company s standards, and the reasons for them. However, this did not prevent the installation of the drain point. Note that a number of people must have been involved. Besides the man who actually fitted it and his foreman, someone must have issued a work permit and accepted it back (when he should have inspected the job), and several persons must have used the drain point. Many must have passed b. If only one of them had recognized the substandard constmction and drawn it to the attention of those responsible, the fire would not have occurred [10]. 

Every day, in every plant, equipment that has been under joressure is opened up. This is normally done under a work permit. One man prepares the job, and another opens up the vessel. And it is normally done by slackening bolts so that any pressure present will be detected before it can cause any damage—provided the Joint is broken in the correct way, described in Section 1.5.1. 

Pre-Startup Safety Review Mechanical Integrity Hot Work Permit Management of Change Incident Investigation Emergency Planning and Response Compliance Audits Trade Secrets... 

A plumber foreman was given a work permit to modify a pipeline. At 4 00 PM. the plumbers went home, intending to complete the job on the following day. 

The pump had been awaiting repair for several days when a work permit was issued at 8 00 AM. on the day of the fire. The foreman who issued the permit should have checked, before doing so, that the pump suction and delivery valves were shut and the drain valve open. He claimed that he did so. Either his recollection was incorrect or, after he inspected the valves and before work started, someone closed the drain valve and opened the suction valve. When the valves were closed, there was no indication on them of why they were closed. A worker might have opened the suction valve and shut the drain valve so that the pump could be put on line quickly if required. A complicating factor was that the maintenance team originally intended to work only on the pump bearings. When they found that they had to open up the pump they told the process team, but no further checks of the isolations were carried out. 

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