1.0 Introduction
Permit-to-work (PTW) form an essential part of safe systems of work for various types tasks involving risk to people, property and environment and which are generally concerned with maintenance work, engineering work, project activities, equipment cleaning operations and other high risk non-routine tasks. This document defines the PTW procedure to be followed on identified items of equipment in a specified area and defines the ownership of the item of equipment at any time.
2.0 Purpose
This procedure has been designed to ensure that a safe system of work has been defined for the task so that work may be accomplished in a legal, safe environmentally acceptable and efficient way.
3.0 Scope
This standard applies to all company sites in HSC. It applies to all occasional high-risk process activities, such as maintenance, construction, demolition and ship cleaning, and irregular activities in high risk areas such as fuel storage areas; corrosive chemical storage area.
The procedure is applicable to all such tasks apart from the following exceptions:
Simple, low hazard, tasks carried out under the direct supervision of the person who has operating control of the asset. Such activities are specifically exempted in writing by the Unit Head after consultation with safety representative / concerned manager and carrying out a risk analysis study.
Maintenance tasks carried out within maintenance workshops / Sub-Contractor sheds.
Minor adjustments done of packing lines by the operators themselves.
Routine operations which have no specific hazards associated with them and have no effect on plant operations, e.g.
instrument chart changing
routine sampling
oiling and greasing activities
cleaning / housekeeping activities in offices and amenities.
However, it is essential that the persons carrying out these tasks are adequately trained and fully aware of hazards in their operating area. Untrained persons should never be put on such tasks.
4.0 Definitions
| Permit to Work (PTW): | A form, which sets out, agreed work to be done on identified equipment, or in an identified area, and the precautions to be taken. It is a clear record that all foreseeable hazards have been considered in advance and it provides a formal hand over mechanism of equipment / system between the owning group and another group responsible for executing this work. The formats specifying the minimum requirements are attached to this Standard and shall be used with immediate effect to replace and align with existing formats being used by the Units. |
|---|---|
| Issuing Department: | The group which has ownership and/or operating control of the asset to be worked on or area (plant block) to be worked in e.g. Production department for production halls. |
| Issuer: | A trained person who is the designated in-charge of the issuing department in the concerned shift and has been authorized in writing to issue PTW e.g. in case of production area it could be the process Executive. |
| Permit Approval and Authorization: | A permit is approved and authorized after ensuring that all possible hazards have been identified, safety precautions have been taken and these have been explained to the persons carrying out the job. In case the issuer is overall in charge for getting the job done and will hand over the permit directly to the persons carrying out the job, then he approves and also authorizes the permit. However, for most engineering jobs (mechanical, civil, electrical, instrument maintenance activities) it may be possible that the issuer will not be direct in-charge for carrying out the job i.e. the job is actually carried out by a separate maintenance department and under overall supervision of maintenance manager/Executive. |
| Acceptor: | A person who is the representative of the group responsible for the execution of agreed work and who has been trained to be competent to control the work to be carried out, and authorized in writing. A signature of acceptor is required on the Permit only if ‘contract’ workmen are carrying out the job. |
6.0 Procedure
6.1 Responsibilities
6.1.1 Unit Head shall….
nominate managers (department or functional heads) who have authority to appoint persons who may issue or accept PTW in their areas of responsibility
define the plant area boundaries within which their teams will issue PTW
issue a register of any specific tasks exempted from this procedure in their areas of
responsibility, after consultation with the Safety representative and concerned managers
carry out random checks on PTW issued
6.1.2 Nominated Managers (department / functional head) shall…
ensure that persons are appropriately trained as Issuers and Acceptors of PTW prior to appointment, and maintain up to date lists of such appointed personnel
carry out random checks on PTW issued on a daily basis and ensure that the PTW system is operated effectively.
6.1.3 The Safety Representative shall…
be responsible for imparting the training on PTW system and upkeep of the training packages. The training packages must be based on this Standard.
conduct internal system audits on PTW at least once two months and report findings to the management team at site.
6.1.4 Issuer of PTW shall …
be responsible for determining the nature and extent of the job to be carried out, possible hazards and the necessary precautionary measures to be taken prior to issuing the permit
ensure that necessary isolations are carried out
provide acceptor with necessary Method Statements / Risk Assessments (where applicable)
take assistance of maintenance manager/Executive in carrying out above responsibilities in case of an engineering job
ensure that necessary precautionary measures are taken prior to authorizing the permit.
For jobs directly under charge of the Issuer, the Issuer of PTW shall …
select competent people for the job
be responsible for explaining the safe Work Method to the persons carrying out the job provide them with proper tools / PPE
be overall responsible for the job.
6.1.5 Competent person for certifying isolation shall…
be responsible for checking and certifying isolations as relevant
be the electrician for electrical isolation
be the issuer or operator for process / services isolation.
6.1.6 Acceptor (& The Sub-Contractor Supervisor) of the PTW shall …
assist the issuer / maintenance Executive in hazard identification and developing
Method Statement (if required) ii. provide the issuer / maintenance Executive the names of all persons carrying out the job
be responsible for explaining fully to his subordinates the nature of the hazards involved in carrying out the task and any precautions necessary to protect others who may be in the area
ensure that the nature and extent of the work does not differ from that described in the permit
and that all persons under his control understand the precautions that they are required to take
6.2 General Rules
Only persons who have been trained and authorized shall issue, authorize or accept PTW
Only work, which is specified on the PTW, shall be undertaken.
Where preparation for a job includes blanking of pipelines for physical isolation, separate PTW shall be issued for the isolations, main task and reinstatement of pipe work or equipment.
For jobs of long duration, as far as practicable, the PTW shall cover only a particular phase of the task at a time, that can be fully specified and to be completed within the duration mentioned in the Permit.
If work requires isolation across plant boundaries, a separate isolation PTW shall be issued by one plant as evidence that the task can proceed on the interconnected system in the other plant.
The hand over from Issuer / Engineering Executive (or manager) to Acceptor must include a visit to the job location.
In the defined area within the site, the validity period of the PTW is the estimated time to complete the work, but exceeds 8 hours or the period during which the issuer / Engineering Executive is on the site. Work after this period is reapproved by the appropriate Reliever(s) after reassessing the location of work. An Acceptor needing to continue with the job into the next shift/period must be asked to contact the Issuing Plant in the next shift and ensure the validity is extended provided that no change has taken place in the conditions stipulated in the permit.
The permit issued on a particular day may be extended, if required, only for the shifts on that particular day. For work extending beyond the day and to continue on the next day(s) a fresh permit shall be issued.
Acceptance of Permit to Work In accepting a PTW the Acceptor must
understand the scope of work to be carried out, read the permit and understand the isolations/preparations made
visit the Site with the issuer/engineering Executive if necessary iii) sign the permit and retain the first COPY
acceptor has the responsibility to ensure that all the other people doing the work are familiar with the contents of the Permit to Work, that the specified precautions are observed and that a new Permit to Work is obtained if the nature of the work changes.
Work Completed
The acceptor (i.e. the Sub-Contractor supervisor or own employees on the job) must detail on the Permit to Work and describe to the issuer the precise state of the equipment when the task is finished, and confirm the area has been left clean and tidy. He will confirm this by signing the permit. vi) Energization and Permit Closure
The issuer shall then arrange for the de-isolation and restoration of energy as required which will be recorded in the permit. Permit shall be closed (both original & the copy)
7.0 System Audit
7.1 The Site Safety representative shall conduct formal audit of PTW system covering all defined areas at site, at least once in a month, to confirm its appropriateness and full compliance to all provisions of this Standard.
7.2 The audit shall be carried out using a checklist developed based on this Standard
7.3 Formal audit reports shall be prepared and appropriate corrective actions identified
7.4 The Unit Head and Department Head shall personally carry out daily random checks of Work permits
8.0 Records
The following documentation / records shall be regularly updated and retained for the times indicated.
Records Retention Time Location
Closed PTW - 3 month
System Audit Reports & Action Reports of last 2 years.
PTW(Permit To Work)
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