Regarding special operation permits, I’m extremely frustrated and urgently need some expert advice~~~
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This post was last edited by eleg on 2009-9-7 09:39. In our company, aside from the strict adherence to a permit system for hot work, for other types of work such as entering confined spaces, workers make sure to take thorough protective measures – including isolation, steaming, flushing, purging, and monitoring for flammable or toxic gases. When necessary, they use long-face masks, chemical protective suits, life ropes, and have at least three or four people monitoring from outside the tank. But~~~ they still don’t issue permits. . . I just feel frustrated. . . What purpose does this ticket serve other than serving as a responsibility? ? ? (On-site verification is also an option; at least two people should be present for individual verification, such as safety officers, supervisors, team leaders, and managers.) Don’t criticize our company’s safety measures – one person in charge of safety cannot influence the overall approach of the company. . . In short, everything needs to be done properly except for marking a few checks and writing a few words on those forms – how should I put it? How should this be handled??? It’s been over a decade and the company has always done things this way; nothing bad has ever happened. The managers aren’t willing to change their ways. . . .
What’s there to isolation, steaming, rinsing, purging, monitoring for flammable gases or toxic gases? If necessary, there are also long-face masks, chemical protective suits, life ropes, and at least three or four people to monitor outside the tank. But~~~ they just refuse to issue the permits. . . In whatever form, records must be kept; it doesn’t matter whether those records are called work orders or not. Hazardous operations in chemical enterprises require permits; in addition to facilitating management, they also help with accident investigations.
In fact, what’s most crucial is the implementation of safety measures. If you can truly ensure that every safety measure is verified on-site by someone, rather than having someone sitting in an office saying, “There’s no problem; you can proceed,” then that’s good. This is also one of the purposes of issuing work tickets. As for signing, it indeed involves issues of responsibility (once one signs, no one can escape liability if anything goes wrong later on). If the relevant personnel in your company are unwilling to sign, it is recommended to establish separate regulations that clearly specify the consequences of failing to implement safety measures and lead to accidents, thereby defining the responsibilities of those involved – which serves a similar purpose to signing. Signing is not the goal; what matters is that someone ensures the implementation of safety measures.
Don’t your company’s higher-level departments and safety supervision departments conduct regular safety inspections? A work order is something that must be checked during inspections; it serves as a record of safety practices in daily operations. When inspectors come to check, they need to see how safety procedures are actually followed in your company, and the work order provides an excellent evidence of this. As also mentioned upstairs, the work order for investigating and handling accidents serves as a basis and proof; otherwise, you will be carrying out work without such a document and will suffer serious consequences. Haha. .
4# National Spirit: Everyone should understand what safety supervision agencies actually do on a daily basis. . . . Everyone gets along extremely well, so they come for inspections; they’ve never actually checked the materials or anything like that. It’s just a symbolic visit to the site, during which they identify three or five potential hazards and then issue a notice requiring corrective action. Moreover, the company has been in operation for over a decade without any accidents resulting in serious injuries, so... . . Our company also used to follow the ticket system strictly. There was one issue: a ticket had to be signed by four managers before it could take effect. However, it wasn’t common for all those managers to be in the company at the same time, which led to situations where people would wait there until the managers returned to sign it. . . Later, for the sake of efficiency, when similar situations arose, the workers would take all necessary precautions before starting work. Even later on, there was no longer any need to issue tickets, but no one dared to carry out any work involving open flames, as the entire factory was filled with flammable and explosive materials. . . Still, the workers value themselves quite a lot; they will never start working if the precautions are not properly in place. . .
Really? Apart from the safety supervision department, don’t you have safety inspections conducted by your higher-level supervisory authorities? The work order only needs to be signed by the supervising manager; why do we need four managers to sign it? According to what you say, if we want to carry out level 1 hot work at our oil depot, do we need to get signatures from the 3 company executives plus **? That’s nonsense; your system needs to be changed. I’ve been in the dry chemicals industry for over 10 years, and this is the first time I’ve heard of a situation like this at your company; it seems I’m not well-informed. I need to go out and learn more when I get the chance.
6# Guohun consists of four leaders: the construction supervisor, the person in charge of the construction area, the head of the safety department, and the deputy production manager. . . Higher-level supervising authority? We don’t have a head office; it’s just us. . . .
The safety production responsibility system is inherently rather vague; at present it mainly exists in written form. Don’t underestimate those signatures – when real problems arise, it becomes important to determine who is responsible. I’m not sure what type of company you are: does signing an operation permit require the approval of four managers, or is the operation ticket system strictly followed? It’s hard to tell whether your rules are strict or lax – excess is just as bad as deficiency. . It is recommended to revise the document in accordance with AQ3022-2008 Safety Specifications for Hot Work in Chemical Production Units
8# eleg: No, isn’t the signing area below the work order usually three or four spaces? Heads of various departments. . . Leaders refer to the persons responsible for something, usually middle managers, not the top executives. . . It’s not good to drive the boss to death. . . The construction department cannot proceed without the signature of the equipment department supervisor; the workshop manager and the safety officer in the construction area are also required to give their approval, and if necessary, the deputy production manager must be involved as well, especially in cases involving special permits on weekends. . . . . . . . . . . Our company is small; aside from the safety inspection department coming for a check-up once a month, no other departments come here. . .
Think in reverse: in your case, the workers understand what needs to be done and have carried out all necessary actions, but they are unwilling to keep records. Could the reason be that the act of recording itself is too cumbersome? Have you considered assigning some area safety officers? When special operations are carried out, workers only need to inform the safety officers, who will then verify all aspects of the process and have the heads of various departments sign off. After all, in the event of an accident that causes chaos on site, it becomes difficult to assign responsibility later on if there are no records; from a management perspective, it’s hard to avoid accountability in such situations. Of course, from a purely personal perspective, you can include the suggestion to increase security measures in your report to the boss and keep a record of it. . .
It’s better to be prepared for the worst; with this rule in place, if anything goes wrong it can be attributed to poor management. Will the person in charge of the company be able to avoid responsibility in such a situation? You could analyze this point and present it to your company’s management. Also, I’m not sure how your responsibility system is structured – it should include the duties of those involved in hazardous operations.