Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02476636 2004-07-30
Automated Permit-To-York System
Submission
Permits Are Submitted 24 Hours in Advance
Under the proposed system, permits are submitted foir approval 24 hours in
advance. Automated conditional approval is then issued instantly, and the
Issuer grants
final approval. This has several advantages.
If the Issuer chooses, he can view the permits before his next shift to have a
better
idea of what work are planned to be going on under his watch. This is a
benefit because
the reliance on memory tends to be less significant. This also allows the
Issuer to flag
important, integral or critical work, ensuring that less important work does
not interfere
with key permits.
Another advantage of 24-hour notice is the ability of key players to view
permits
and plan their work accordingly. Because of the size of projects, not all the
players can
have in-depth knowledge of others work. The capability to view other permits
allows
these managers and supervisors to have a greater grasp of the organic nature
of
commissioning operations.
Not only does this increase efficiency, but also has a side effect of reducing
stress
and improving interpersonal relations within the project's sphere. This stress
is caused
by a lack of knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of different
departments. For
example, there quite often is friction between Operations, l~Iaintenance,
Construction and
Commissioning departments. The cause of this friction is often an incorrect
assumption
that other departments are intentionally causing delays; when, in fact, extra
time is
needed to perform functions that other stakeholders do not understand.
Anecdotally, it is
common for managers in meetings to become irate and even hostile because they
perceive other managers of deliberately slowing their work. The proposed
permitting
system would thus serve as an educational tool, allowing other departments to
learn what
is required to perform other tasks, and hopefully this will improve
interpersonal
relationships and create a greater atmosphere of teamwork.
CA 02476636 2004-07-30
Key Players and Planners Keep Informed of All Progress and Plan in
Advance to Prevent Scheduling Conflicts
One of the greatest strengths of this system is to allow all the key players
and
planners to have a real time view of ongoing work and work that is scheduled
to take
place in the next 24 hours.
This allows planners to plan in detail, and to react more quickly to problems
and
delays. Currently, planners must wait until an end-of day or end-of week
meetings, or
conversely, to track department mangers, superintendents and supervisors to
find out
exactly what is happening at a specific time. These methods are inefficient
because of
sheer volume and still do not always give an accurate picture of ongoing
tasks.
Elimination of Time Wastage of Crew Manpower
Another great waste that tends to occur in the commissioning process is the
inactivity of work crews. Crews are planned and booked according to schedule,
but if an
event takes place that hampers the ability of the crews to work, (such as a
critical job not
succeeding, delays, or equipment failure); these crews must wait, while being
paid for
their,time. This is a gross misuse of resources that could perhaps be abated
by a greater
grasp on current processes and the scheduled tasks of the immediate future.
There are several costs associated with the inactivity of crews. Contracting
crews
generally result in the overall labor costs; however in an environment with a
labor
shortage (especially in skilled trades), these costs can skyrocket. Crew
personnel have
several costs attached, including wages, employee maintenance (such as
housing, travel
etc.), and the overall cost-benefit result of non-work.
Non-work is an issue in regards to both contracting and in-house: crews
because it
has the double negative result of costing money in terms of labor, and pushing
the
schedule back. The greater cost is effect on the schedule because much of the
work in the
commissioning process is organic. If one critical path task is delayed,
typically many
other tasks are also delayed in a chain reaction style.
Advance Submission for Permits Allows the Commissioning Supervisor to
Plan for Work Day
The advance submission allows the Issuer to plan his workday arid sort any
potential work conflicts. When a permit is submitted, quite often the work
requires other
CA 02476636 2004-07-30
small jobs to occur before the main task can be started. Sometimes these tasks
conflict
with each other.
Quite often, safety is impacted by work conflicts. As an example, air blowing
is
used to clean impurities from piping. This is a very important and dangerous
task, and
because of the interconnected nature of piping systems, many plant sections
rnay be
affected. Depending on the size of the pipe and the required pressure, there
may be a
great risk to workers near flanges and valves, or whose work requires the
intrusive
opening of piping. An exhaustive process involving the Operations or CoW
missioning
Departments must take place, including blinding, monitoring for excess
pressure, valve
lock outs and tag outs, barncading of area and system walk downs. Because it
usually
takes several months to complete air blowing, some workers develop a laissez
faire
attitude regarding the task, which can result in serious injuries or
fatalities. If the Issuer
does not recognize that requested work is going to be done on a system that is
live or
under pressure, fatalities can result. When the Issuer has an opportunity to
view permits
in advance, he can see if any work is going to be done on an affected system
and
postpone the work or specify that extra precautions need to be taken before
the job can be
done. 1 s
Issuance
Commissioning Supervisor Electronically Authorizes Majority of Permits
Using the proposed system, the Commissioning Supervisor is able to authorize
the
bulk of permits electronically, when the permits have satisfied all
conditions.
In the new system, a supervisor creates a new permit and fills out all the
appropriate information electronically. When the applicant is satisfied that
all the
information is complete, he forwards the permit to his departments designated
foreman
responsible for permit vetting. If the department's foreman responsible for
obtaining the
permit feels that more information is needed, he sends the permit back to the
supervisor.
Once the supervisor and foreman concur, the permit is forwarded to the Issuer.
When the Issuer receives the permit, he evaluates it for completeness. If
information is lacking, the permit is returned to the applicant with an
explanation. If the
permit is complete, the Issuer then evaluates the need for any additional
special
conditions or restrictions. The Issuer may choose to use an electronic
signature and
electronically authorize the permit, or alternatively opt for a handwritten
signature if he
deems a pre job tailgate meeting with the crew foreman or department
supervisors is
required.
- 3-
CA 02476636 2004-07-30
The bulk of permit appli<rations in Commissioning can most likely be instantly
approved. It is difficult to have an accurate estimate of the amount of
permits can be
issued this way, but a conservative estimate is at least 60% of total permits.
Most of
these permits can be approved before the regular shift begins, resulting in
massive
manpower savings. Jobs in congested areas, areas where sensitive or critical
work is
taking place, or inherently dangerous jobs will require face-to-face approval
or a meeting
to ensure the workers understand any risks or dangers.
Maintenance Supervisor TJ'iat Receives Electronic Permit Must
Acknowledge Any Conditions, Limitations and Instructions
After the Issuer authorizes the permit, the Maintenance Supervisor who
receives
the electronic permit must then acknowledge any conditions, limitation s and
instructions
sent by the Issuer. If the Issuer requires it, the recipient may have to send
a form back, or
check some boxes signifying that the conditions are understood and will be
followed.
This step ensures that the recipient follows all conditions and place
responsibility for
conformity to standards and procedures on the recipient.
Compliance is consistently regarded as one of the biggest problems surrounding
Permit-To-Work systems. Most industrial accidents occur because of non-
compliance.
Forcing individuals to formally acknowledge and accept all important
conditions and
exceptions helps to guarantee compliance. Only when all requirements have been
met
will the permit be officially issued.l~
Under this system, verbal conditions are limited; therefore, any confusion
that
may result is reduced. Bad authorizations are alsa sometimes issued; they
allow work to
go forward that violate company policy or safety standards with an implicit
understanding that the violation will take place, but will be tolerated.
Because of the
written nature and the instant and permanent record kept of the documentation,
this
lessens the likelihood that any Work that violates standards and policy would
be
authorized and takes place.
Permits That Require Tete-u-Tete Consultation Can Be Processed and
Ready For Issuance at the Permit Desk
After most of the permits are electronically authorized, some permit
applications
will still be outstanding. These include Hot Work, Open Flame, Confined Space
Entry,
work for systems under pressure, critical systems work, and work in congested
areas.
The Issuer can specify that applicants seeking these permits must meet the
Issuer for
special instructions, limitations or conditions. These meetings usually
consist of a Crew
Foreman, Departmental Supervisor, and the Commissioning Supervisor.
_,
CA 02476636 2004-07-30
However, before the meeting takes place, the Issuer may treat these permits as
all
other permits, following the same vetting and control formulae, but can then
specify
handwritten authorization andlor a face-to-face meeting. This still
significantly reduces
the permit preparation time, and the Issuer knows why will be meeting him at
the Permit
Desk and what kind of work they want to perform.
This process also has an added benefit in that it allows the Issuer to flag
higher
risk types of work or congested areas in which it is important for special
precautions to be
taken.
All of these benefits combine to increase safety and to help increase
efficiency for
permits in which the Issuer deems that it is important for the key players to
meet.
V~ork Tracking
Graphical Representation ef Open Permits On Site
The new system has an integrated electronic graphical representation of all
open
permits on-site. This new development will allow the Issuer and other l~ey
players to see
all open permits with color-coded flags that differentiate between types of
work.
The graphical representation is a rnap of the plant site that is displayed on
a large
screen in the permit office and available on the company intranet. Operations
personnel,
project and department managers, sub-contractor supervisors and the Issuer can
then
quickly see what work is being carried out in the plant, where the work is
taking place,
and if the permit is still valid.
When a permit application is sent, it includes the grid axis area of the plant
plot
plan that drills down to specific equipment numbers or piping codes and
categories of
work.
Once a permit is approved, the Issuer assigns a level of risk associated with
the
type of work that the permit authorizes. Certain types of work that carry a
high level of
inherent risk, (Hot Work, Open Flame, Confined Space Entry), are flagged with
a red
marker and appear on a map of the plant site. In most cases, this happens
automatically;
a request for a Hot Work Permit automatically creates a red flag, and upon
authorization,
the red flag permit appears on the map in the area in which the work was
requested.
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CA 02476636 2004-07-30
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CA 02476636 2004-07-30
the proper security clearance can view the map from a desktop computer in his
or her
office or via the project intranet.
Accurate Head Count Ability
Along with the graphical representation system, the proposed Permit-To-Work
system includes a work tracking system. Because of the size of the project and
vast
amounts of labor that are needed for these projects, the tracking of workers
becomes an
issue. The work tracking system is a simple yet effective way to keep a head
count in
case of muster drills, fires, explosions or other incidents in which it is
important to
evacuate the plant site.
When a permit application is made, included in the information should be a
list of
workers. At a minimum, the number of workers should be included; but ideally
would
included name and/or employee ID number. This would give the Issuer,
Operations staff
and the Project Management Team the working location and muster list for every
person
on the plant site.
An added benefit is the fact that this system can add in tracking of hours
charged
for payroll. This system can be utilized to cross reference hours charged for
work against
the work permit tracking system. This helps to prevent billing abuses and will
give a
more accurate picture in terms of labor cost associated with the project Work
Breakdown
System.
~.2econeiliation and Confirmation
Open Permits Are Cancelled At the End of Specif ed Time Period and
Must Be Returned To Office
When work is completed or the shift ends, all permits are to be returned to
the
permit office for reconciliation and filing. This is an important feature of
any Permit-To-
Work system for several reasons.
At the end of work, the return of permits signifies the status of the work;
that the
work is complete and that the equipment or systems on which the work was
performed
has finished and the systems are ready for inspection or are ready to be
brought into
service; or the work is still in progress. When this occurs, the workers leave
the job site,
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CA 02476636 2004-07-30
are not supervised by the Issuer, and are not covered by the Permit-To-Work
system.
Thus, it is very important for permits to be returned upon the completion of
the workday.
If work has not been completed by the time of shift change, there are two
options.
The Crew Foreman may re-apply electronically for a new permit or permit
extension.
This has to happen because a new shift will include new safety personnel and a
new
Permit Issuer. When the shift ends, there will be a set amount of time in
which all
permits must be returned by the Crew Foremen, in order for reconciliation and
filing to
occur. If the permit does not return within this period, an alarm will sound
at the permit
office and control room. At this 'time the Issuer or Safety and Operations
personnel will
seek out the crew in violation and demand that work stop until a new permit is
issued.
The Issuer may also choose to recommend recertification to the next shift if
the work is
sensitive, to expedite renewal of the permit.
This system prevents work from occurring or continuing that the Issuer has no
knowledge of, and which may create a dangerous situation for workers.
Permits Are Cross Referenced With Associated Work Docu~cents
One of the major hurdles of the EPC Commissioning process is the location of
documents and filing procedures. There are literally tens of thousands of
documents that
need to be retained and presented to the client at the time of hand over. .An
asset of the
proposed Permit-To-Work system is the integrated on line document repository.
When a permit is reconciled at the permit office, relevant work documents such
as
quality control and assurance forms, P&ID, commissioning and start-up
procedures can
be entered into the document repository. All these forms can then be found by
various
key words or codes, including the unit name and number, the work permit number
or
corresponding P&ID.
The online repository can also sort documents filed in chronological order, so
retrieving work documents is much easier than current filing systems, and the
reliance on
hard copy filing systems will be reduced. l $
. rt
CA 02476636 2004-07-30
Advantages of Proposed ~.S'ystem
Scheduling
Contractor Supervisors Can See Proposed and Current Tasks and Any
Possible Conflicts
Not all work crews working onsite belong to the client or the EPC. Most of the
general labor crews and highly specialized crews belong to third party
contractors or
vendors. These organizations are contacted and hired by Procurement
Supervisors.
In the traditional permitting system, ideally, the Procurement Supervisor
would
discuss hiring contract crews with the Commissioning Manager, to ensure that
it would
be possible for the crews that would be hired will be allowed to perform the
intended
work. However, quite often, discipline managers would call the Procurement
Supervisor
and request that third party contractors be sent. The discipline managers
rarely have an
accurate, complete picture of all work taking place or when it will be
happening.
This sometimes results in crews and equipment, which are being paid, sitting
and
waiting for other work to complete. The Procurement Supervisor will have the
ability
under the proposed system to view all ongoing wark and to be able to see if
proposed
tasks will result in any possible canflicts with ongoing work or work permits
that have
been applied for in the previous 24. hours.
This will reduce some of the wasteful spending regard third party contractors
that,
until now, has been considered impossible to lessen.
Management from Other Departments Can See Proposed and Current
Tasks and Any Conflicts
An attractive feature of the proposed system is that managers from different
disciplines can view work from different departments.
Any organization has issues with different departments. These issues are
manifested in different ways, with resulting problems such as insularity and
groupthink.
The fact that different disciplines may view issues in a different light is
a~z attractive
quality. Slightly hackneyed phrases like "Think outside the box" have become
cliche;
g_
CA 02476636 2004-07-30
however, there can be great advantages to having fresh eyes and a fresh
prospective on
how things are done.
Under the new permitting system, managers can view the work that different
departments are undertaking, creating benefits in two ways. First, conflicts
may be
avoided if managers see that work their department is scheduled to
perf°orm cannot take
place because of other ongoing or scheduled work. This increases work
efficiency and
economical allocation of resources. Secondly, different managers with a
different a
perspective may see a better or more effective way to accomplish tasks. The
free flow of
information sparks creative and new ways of accomplishing tasks that
previously have
been done in the same manner for years.
Control
Planners and Project Management Can Track Progress in Real Time and
Make Revisions
Utilizing the work tracking features that are integrated into the proposed
Permit-
To-Work system, planners and members of the Project Management Team can view
ongoing work, track available labor and create new plans or revise existing
plans.
Planners and Project Managers currently have the mandate to maintain and/or
revise the project schedule. However, the time gap between incidences that
affect the
project schedule and revision of the project schedule can be very short (if
the ineident is
significant) or can be up to a week in some cases. This happens principally
because
planners and project managers do not have access to real time information.
Unless an
incident is deemed sufficiently important enough to notify the Proj ect
Management Team
immediately, quite often the incident is not reported until and end-of day or
end-of week
meeting; sometimes, small incidents are totally forgotten until they become
larger issues.
Allowing the Project Management Team and Planners access to real time work
data can be considered akin to preventative medicine; an ounce of prevention
can be
worth a pound of cure.i~
Commissioning Supervisor Can Easily See .Proposed and Current Tasks
for Exact Areas in Real Time
1 P -
CA 02476636 2004-07-30
Control via real time updates and work tracking allows the commissioning
supervisor to schedule and permit tasks as he sees fit. This allows critical
path tasks to be
prioritized, ensuring that the most important jabs will be finished in an
appropriate order.
This addresses one of the largest drawbacks of the current Permit-To-Work
system. In passing, a suggestion to track work was to use a map and push pins
to track
on-going activities. The result was a board full of pins, which had no useful
informational value. This meant that an audit of ongoing work was only
available in two
ways: asking the Commissioning Supervisor, who was forced to recall from
memory, or
manually read all the issued permits. Quite often, a true assessment of what
was
happening in any given day had to wait until the end-of day meeting occurred.
Another issue the new system addresses is that the Issuer's ability to
instantly
recognize, and halt in an ad hoc fashion any possible conflicts. If it becomes
evident that
a job needs to be done that has not been scheduled, the Issuer can instantly
assess which
job may need to halted in order for the unscheduled work to take place.
Management and Other Key Players Stay Better Informed, increasing
Information Flow and Holistic O~~ganizational Knowledge
The notion of free and open information flow is now receiving greater notice
and
praise in the academic world of strategic management. Cisco, which has
abundantly
embraced the idea of open information flows, has had enormous success
recently, and
their employees, management and vendors all agree that the experience has been
greatly
beneficial.
This permitting system hopes to capitalize on free information in much the
same
way. When all players have a greater understanding of the day-to-day
operations of the
project, they can plan accordingly, and understand the underlying causes of
issues. This
has a dynamic impact on inter-personal relationships and allows all the
participants to
gain a sense of control over the project.2o
Nevertheless, management gains even more control over the day-to-day
operations of the project, simply because they know more about what is
happening
regarding tasks in a real time basis. A manager who understands exactly what
is
happening on his job site can make better-informed decisions.21
This also gives people who normally have little input into the direction of a
project a voice, and allov~rs them to comment on systems or procedures which
they work
with everyday, and perhaps have a different autlook or insight than
managers.za
CA 02476636 2004-07-30
Conclusion
The Permit-To Work system may be greatly improved through some simple
changes in the way that permits are issued. The changes that have been
suggested
throughout the body of this paper may be implemented for an increase in safety
and
efficiency.
Following the approach outlined, the layers of the permit system that have
been
implemented over time to control. safety, still remain in place; in some cases
these layers
and mechanisms have actually been strengthened. However, some of the
inefficiencies
that accompany these safety instruments will be decreased.
Work tracking and control features, strengthened individual worker
responsibility and
greater project managerial controls give added safety to the project. The
result of these
additions will likely mean that the safety record of projects that implement
this kind of
system will increase.
Inefficiencies that are inherent due to paper controls will largely disappear,
which will
influence the project's bottom line. Increased actual work time, fewer
scheduling
conflicts and greater control of project scope will all contribute to a more
positive project
outcome. The expectation is that this type of permit system will aid projects
to
completion on schedule, with a greater chance of remaining within the set
budget.
~ 2-
