Implementing a task approval model in safety critical environments - a case study in oil refinery turnarounds

摘要

During the autumn of 2003 ChevronTexaco's Pembroke Refinery executed the largest Inspection & Turnaround ever undertaken during the forty-year history of Pembroke Plant. Faced with the scenario of over three thousand maintenance contractors arriving at the Refinery to undertake in excess of 1.3 million man hours of planned maintenance, the desire to preserve an already impressive safety record was paramount. This paper will demonstrate the approach adopted by ChevronTexaco (Pembroke Refinery) to address the issue of Competence in the domain of Safety Critical Tasks, with specific emphasis on the integrity of bolted flanged joints to achieve leak-free plant commissioning. It will track the implementation of a process of "task approval" from its concept design through to application and evaluation. Importantly, the paper will emphasise the benefits of a collaborative approach to developing robust training interventions designed to support the task approval process. The paper will acknowledge the contributions made by specialist contract companies and consortia (Hedley Purvis & HBCCF), regulatory bodies (HSE, CAA) and other safety critical industries (Aviation Maintenance) in formulating the process model. The paper will demonstrate how the approach to managing contractor competence during the 2003 Turnaround is now being developed into a site- specific policy.