Safe Work Practices and Rescue Planning for Vertical Column Work during Turnaround: A Case Study

摘要

Managing long term turnaround programs to carry out maintenance on offshore facilities can be rewarding for safety system companies and its customers because it maximizes efficiencies in the delivery of services by allowing continuity of learning and improvement. A 60-day turnaround for an offshore facility gave a safety company and its customer in Angola the opportunity to improve processes and skills in emergency rescue operations. One of the work activities involved opening, cleaning, inspection and repair of a vertical Deethanizer Column that is over 60 feet high and only three (3) feet in diameter. At the top of each of three packed sections of the column is an 18" diameter man-way. This man-way is the only entry and exit point on the column which sits on the corner of the offshore platform, 52 feet above sea level. For the safety provider, a major concern was how to rescue a crew member from inside the column, if injured or incapacitated considering the vertical column’s narrow diameter. The team needed a safe rescue procedure prior to the turnaround. With support from the Facility Engineers, a mock-up structure was designed to simulate one ring section of the column, using a section of 36” pipe with 18” man-ways. This mock-up provided many benefits including the opportunity to install one of the trays as would be performed in the field, the familiarity with the installation procedures by allowing trial runs, and pre-fitting trays in the mock-up that ensured parts fitted and the dimensions were correct. Most importantly, it gave the rescue crews a chance to practice a rescue operation on the offshore platform. This paper takes a detailed look at the best practices, lessons learned and steps undertaken to develop safe work practices and rescue operations during a turnaround in an offshore facility in Angola.