Taking a long view of engineering

The need for a high level of health and safety within the workplace is as pertinent in today's process plants as ever before.

Businesses that fail to ensure that there are adequate safety levels risk falling foul of the law. Health and safety has become a topical issue for today's commercial enterprises. Apart from the personal tragedy, behind every serious accident is a story of cost, disruption, adverse publicity and as often as not, prosecution. If you also consider the government's intention to make firms more accountable for workplace safety with a new corporate manslaughter bill, the argument for high safety levels is compelling.

It is fair to comment that most process engineers understand and appreciate the points raised above. However, what are the safety issues affecting modern industrial processing and chemical plants and how are they best addressed? Of course, there is no simple answer to this question.

There are so many different types of plant in terms of their modus operandi - across anything from types of machinery, to the processes deployed, to the skill levels of the staff involved in the production process. Often managers are faced with processes, machinery and staff that are completely unique and require a bespoke regime that meets safety requirements as laid down by law.

Expertise and experience

Engineering insurance and inspection firms offer plant and process managers a wealth of expertise and experience in the health and safety field, via the Engineer Surveyor. Independent third party inspection and examination, by qualified engineer surveyors in partnership with the client, will ultimately result in a higher level of reliability of plant and equipment.

Engineer surveyors are able to take a step back from the day to day pressures of business and production, so they can focus solely on the safety performance of the machinery, plant or equipment. They also bring a vast base of knowledge, both collective and individual, of similar types of plant and equipment operating across a huge range of conditions. They have seen similar makes of equipment through many different stages of its working life.

From a process engineer's point of view, the engineer surveyor is an invaluable source of knowledge. A thorough examination or rigorous inspection can ascertain that a piece of plant of machinery either is, or is not, fit for continued safe operation. If it is, there is certain peace of mind that comes with the engineer surveyor's report and, in many cases, the technical compliance with relevant regulations or legal requirements.

Modern health and safety regulations have been written to lead the way in helping ensure that firms adopt sound business practices. Traditionally, regulations were very prescriptive in their nature - giving specific time periods between inspections for various types of machinery. But in recent years, health and safety legislation has been driven from Europe in the form of LOLER and PUWER 1998.

These risk-based regulations allow the engineer surveyor to take a more holistic view not only of individual pieces of machinery and equipment but also the wider context of the operational regime.

Consequently, the traditional nature of engineering inspection based on prescriptive legislation is being rapidly updated. This has led to the adoption of global risk management techniques to complement the drive to improve standards via European regulations.

So, aside from conforming to regulations and the law, what additional benefits can be derived from obtaining engineering inspection and examination of plant, equipment and machinery? Firstly, a business interruption survey helps minimise disruption to plant and improve its long term efficiency. Specialist engineer surveyors can advise organisations involved in production processes how best to plan a maintenance regime in the long term to protect the viability of the business. As a consequence, clients can plan their own maintenance budgets cost effectively.

Adding value

Similarly, engineer surveyors can determine a risk-based inspection regime with clients to provide added value in the long term. It may well be the case that in-house maintenance teams may concentrate resources on items of plant and machinery that do not require such detailed attention.

A risk-based survey by the engineer surveyor assesses the plant and machinery and then focuses on the items that pose the highest risks. This minimises the time being devoted to items that require little or no examination. An engineer surveyor will pay heed to the age of the item examined, its use in operational process and the skills and experience of the staff.

Similarly, an independent third-party examination incorporating risk assessment can include items of machinery and equipment that the client may not have even considered need inspection. An in-house team that is over familiar with the plant and machinery is unlikely to recognise or understand the extra risks that may exist.

For instance, many businesses running high-volume process plants depend on using steam as a vital part of the operation. A change in the operating regime of the boilers for such a plant may result in serious problems if knock-on effects of such a change are not considered.

For example, changing the requirements for a boiler's on/off load cycle may affect its water treatment. This can result in unpredicted and rapid deterioration of boilers through corrosion. The costs to the business in terms of replacement of parts or indeed the entire boiler and for the disruption to business activities may be crippling.In the process industry, process engineers tend to look at the process and whether it is likely to fail and consider the plant and machinery within this context.

However, many accidents in this sphere may not be linked to the process element of the plant. For instance, engineer surveyors are able to advise on the general utilities of the workplace that are linked to process plant and consequently recommend appropriate safety regimes. An example of this could be the racking used in a high aisle store. Instances where the racking has been poorly designed or installed have led to serious accidents - again, personal injury, cost and disruption are the consequences.

In summary, engineering inspection and insurance firms can potentially offer businesses involved in processing valuable expertise and experience. Engineer surveyors can provide added value services to help businesses not only comply with the law but also improve the long-term safety of the workplace, deploy cost- effective maintenance regimes and minimise disruption to activities. A strategy of 'prevention is better than cure' will help process managers secure the long term viability of the business and obtain a reputation for best practice.

Sidebar: Safety by belt, braces... and books

'You can make better pumps, better heat exchangers, better distillation columns,' noted veteran safety expert Trevor Kletz at this month's Euopean exhibition, 'but there's only one Mark I human being. You have to understand that, and you have to understand that they make mistakes.'

Visiting the IChemE's stand to sign copies of the new edition of his book, 'An engineer's view of human error', Kletz told PE why he believes that advances in technology do not necessarily lead to fewer accidents.

Kletz's book was originally published in the 1980s, and is now in its third edition. 'The subject moves on, and ideas move on as well,' he says. The section on errors in computer-controlled plants has been expanded considerably, for example. 'Computers provide new opportunities for familiar errors,' Kletz comments.

A firm believer in the adage 'the accident is more important than the advice', Kletz has been careful to give as many examples of accidents in his book as possible. 'A picture of a big fire or an explosion attracts people's attention to what can go wrong in a plant,' he explains.

'If you don't like my advice, fine; but don't ignore the accidents. They happened, and in many cases could have been prevented. Engineers have to learn from those mistakes.'

Phil Wright is chief engineer at Allianz Cornhill Engineering