The challenge

When working on hazardous equipment it is necessary to make sure that everyone is protected from any potential source of energy that could cause harm, such as electricity, heat, toxic chemicals, high pressures etc.   In a typical industrial operation, multiple people might be working on the same processing unit or in the same area, and teams might inadvertently try to start up the equipment being worked on, restart the process or run tests.   If this takes place while someone else is working on the same piece of equipment there is a chance of an accident.

Energy isolation

To prevent accidents all equipment being worked on needs to be isolated from any potential energy source that could cause harm.   As part of the preparation of the area for safe work,  isolations are put in place and verified by the responsible persons. Maintenance teams then check the isolations before doing any work. Mechanisms need to be in place to make sure that the isolation is not compromised while work is taking place.   Physical locks and keys are typically used for this.  During work it might also be necessary to test the equipment for which a temporary removal of isolations is required, and this must be strictly controlled.

At the end of the job the locks are removed before the plant or equipment is restarted.   These processes are typically controlled using the permit to work (plant clearance) system.

Managing isolations using IntelliPERMIT

IntelliPERMIT features a comprehensive isolation management system  and solution integrated into the permit to work.  Some of the features of IntelliPERMIT’s isolation management include:

• Preconfigured approved isolation lists that embed and enforce isolation procedures
• Isolation procedures that are linked to equipment type, equipment and/or activity
• Prompting with the relevant isolation lists when preparing a permit
• Automatic printing of weatherproof tags used to identify isolations, locks or keysafes.
• Isolations can be verfied and confirmed in the field using mobile devices
• Management of lock boxes and dependencies between master and slave permits with the associated isolation lists
• Extensive isolation cross referencing between permits, master permits, templates and adjacent permits

Used daily in the most demanding environments

There is no environment more demanding in terms of safety than a nuclear power station.   IntelliPERMIT software is used to manage isolations for maintenance work at the Koeberg power station near Cape Town in South Africa.   The high integrity of the system is relied on to make sure all maintenance work on process equipment and electrical installations conforms to procedures and the requirements of the nuclear regulator.

IntelliPERMIT isolation management is used extensively in energy, process manufacturing and mining sectors.  In many situations the isolation management is the main focus of the permit process.   The system manages isolations from the simplest to the most complex situations involving master/slave permits, lock boxes and key safes and tagging.

For more information

Adapt IT Manufacturing provides digital solutions that enhance safety performance and operational excellence to help industrial companies achieve more.

For more information on how IntelliPERMIT and OpSUITE can help you better manage your process safety please contact the team at Adapt IT.