Issues regarding the annual inspection of pressure vessels and pressure pipelines
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This post was last edited by kareale88 on 2019-6-1 at 19:44. According to clause 7.1.5.2 of the TSG 21-2016 Regulations on Safety Supervision of Fixed Pressure Vessels, the annual inspection can be carried out by safety management personnel of the entity that uses the pressure vessel, in conjunction with professionally trained workers, or it can be entrusted to a qualified inspection agency for special equipment. Question: As the user of pressure vessels and pressure pipelines. Can one carry out annual inspections of pressure vessels and pipelines on their own?
This is an annual inspection; it’s fine to do it by oneself. Our company handles it on its own. It’s not a regular inspection
7.1.5.2 It’s clear enough: “...can... or it’s also possible...””
Does your company have staff with the qualifications for testing?
It’s completely fine to conduct an annual inspection by oneself; it meets the regulatory requirements.
It’s a inspection – what qualifications are required?
Yes, here companies carry out their annual inspections on their own; inspection agencies generally do not provide such services
The annual inspection is a requirement mandated by regulations; whether it can be carried out independently depends on whether the local regulatory authorities approve it. In my opinion, professionally trained operators are those who hold a pressure vessel operation certificate. The annual inspection is also relatively simple, involving only the inspection of safety accessories and management documents. In fact, the most important thing is to check for any abnormalities during equipment operation.
Regulations do not require qualifications for annual inspections, and it is generally impossible for the users to have such qualifications. The supervision and inspection departments say that requiring qualifications is based on other considerations; the supervision departments mainly aim to share the risks with the inspection departments.
Both our local supervision authorities and external experts recommend that annual inspections be carried out by third-party organizations with the appropriate testing qualifications.