electronic permit to work

a report by

En g i c a T e c h n o l o g y

E-permit systems have seen rapid advancement inrecent years and are currently gaining increasingattention in the global oil industry. At this point thequestions many people are asking is ‘why use acomputerised system for safety management’ and‘what are the benefits’?

Engica Technology is a specialist supplier ofelectronic safe systems of work with over 20 yearsexperience in safety and workflow management formajor oil and gas clients globally. This short articlewill outline some of their experiences of thepractical issues and benefits relating to e-safetymanagement technology and examines what isinvolved in the adoption and implementation of anelectronic safety system.

Rather than seeing electronic systems as arevolutionary change in the way the safety process iscarried out, a more accurate perspective is thatcomputerised safety management is more of anevolution in methodology and a good system willsupport and streamline the current process ratherthan replace it with a new one.

With rising oil and gas prices there is considerablepressure to carry out maintenance tasks quickly andmaintain production levels; however, most oilcompanies, safety professionals and senior operationsstaff would rather not have a serious incident on theirplatform or processing plant because of the humanconsequences, and also financial cost of accidents, notto mention the negative effect on the company’sworldwide reputation.

In addition to this, the last thing any safety managerwants is for workers to switch onto autopilot andbecome complacent, which can easily occur withrepetitive maintenance tasks that need to be completedquickly. The result can be careless safety assessmentsand in the worst case scenario a major accident;therefore the optimum situation is one in which it ispossible to complete the repetitive paperwork aspect ofthe safety process in a minimal amount of time withoutcompromising safety. This is where an electronicsystem plays a role and in fact a good system will alsostrengthen the safety process with cross checks, which

guide users through the correct sequence of proceduresand authorisations. The result is that more time can bespent on high value activities with an improvement incontrol over safety issues.

T h e D r i v e

Aligned with the factors previously discussed, there iscurrently a major drive among companies in theenergy sector to standardise safety procedures acrosstheir assets. Energy operators have a number of issuesto handle influenced by international operation andrapid ownership and equity changes. The effects ofglobal expansion, ageing workforce, regional skillsshortfalls, increased staff mobility and contractoutsourcing to mention a few, all bring a strain onsafety knowledge and local practice. These effectsmust be counterbalanced with techniques, not only tomaintain levels of safety but to strive to improve them.

While companies require a single standard corporatesafety system, they also want a system that is theirs,using their own documents and processes and onethat can meet the varied needs of different businessunits. Engica’s approach is not to assume that a single‘out of the box’ solution with, for example, preset

How Elec t ron i c Permi t to Work Sys tems Can Improve Work Sa fe ty

B U S I N E S S B R I E F I N G : E X P L O R A T I O N & P R O D U C T I O N : T H E O I L & G A S R E V I E W 2 0 0 5

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Technology & Services

permits and workflow will satisfy all organisations. Itis recognised that radical changes to fit a softwaresolution in many cases could cause more problemsthan solutions. Staff in general are used to theirexisting paper-based systems that have been derivedover time within their organisation. What isbeneficial in many cases is a step enhancement tostrengthen the process rather than radical change anda flexible system is essential to support this. It is theapplication of current or slightly enhanced permit andcertificate forms and safety processes within a newelectronic system that will gain the acceptance ofusers. One should not ignore that changing practicestakes time. The sensible approach is a step-by-stepphilosophy to accumulate a major step change.

U s i n g T e c h n o l o g y

The next question to ask is ‘what can technology do to help with various aspects of the safety management process’?The Q4 safety system, for example, combines all of thecore elements of work flow, hazard mitigation andpermit procedural methods into a unified processsupported with relational intelligence. The safetycontrols and execution activities are supplementedwith intrinsically safe cross-check methods to add realvalue in improving the safety process in its preparation,execution and return to service phases. The output is asafety work pack detailing the procedures andconfirmation checks to support safe work.

K n o w l e d g e - b a s e d P r o c e s s i n g

Knowledge-based processing of safety information,such as risk assessments and plant isolations, alliedwith the capture of lessons learnt following worktasks, provide safety engineers with powerful tools toprocess permits and certificates in an informed andhighly integrated manner.

R u l e a n d R o l e B a s e d

A rule and role based flow process can be applied tothe Q4 safety system; configured to each permit orcertificate type with authorisation signoffs. Eachprocess automatically generates an electronic audittrail, an approach in principle to strengthen the safetychecks and awareness of key personnel. The managed

flow of, for example, a toolbox or pre-work checkcan be enforced by virtue of a signatory confirming itsphysical performance and risk acceptability. Workhandover due to shift change, often a time thatrequires particular care with respect to safety issues,can be supported in a similar manner.

I s o l a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t

Another important element of work safety thatdeserves special attention is the isolation ofequipment to ensure work can be carried out safely.This process is managed by different companies andindustries in different ways. A variation of lockoutmethods such as keysafes/lockboxes and lockbars areemployed to ensure control over isolation and de-isolation, as well as the method most widely usedoffshore of tagging isolation points. These systemsvary considerably in complexity and because of thisthe Q4 safety system has the capability to supporteach of the methods discussed. This ranges from theprinting of isolation lists and tags through to visibilityof shared isolation points, cross locks and keycascades and graphical key safe planning.

I n t e g r a t i o n

Q4’s system architecture also allows integration withan existing work management system to form aseamless environment. For example, work orders andwork packs (sometimes known as modules) arepresented to the permit and risk assessment processelectronically, bringing all of the elements into aunified process. This provides a powerfullysynchronised workflow and safety management andunlocks maximum business benefits from closeintegration between systems. Interfaces with otherclient software such as document managementsystems can also be created, allowing the attachmentof electronic documents including permits andisolation diagrams (P&ID), work procedures andphotographs to safety documents.

R e a l T i m e D a s h b o a r d

Finally the Q4 ‘realtime dashboard’ provides browserbased access to permit status from anywhere on thenetwork. The dashboard uses maps of the facility toallow the user to navigate around views of theplatform or plant. Each view displays all activepermits and isolation certificates, along with anyactive risk assessments that have no associatedpermit/certificate. Expired documents are shown asflashing and each document type has its owncustomisable icon and colour.

P r a c t i c a l I s s u e s

S p e e d o f U s e


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How Elec t ron i c Permi t to Work Sys tems Can Improve Work Sa fe ty

Even the most functionally rich system if tediouslyslow will result in operators finding ways ofbypassing the system. After all, a good system is aboutproviding information in order to give more time tothe consideration of the safety issues, risk assessmentand precautions relating to the tasks at hand, not justto act as an executive safeguard to litigation. Themeasure should be at least equal, if not quicker than,manual methods.

N a t u r a l U s e

Systems designed for rocket scientists are onlyappropriate for rocket scientists. This does not meanthat some training is not required, but it does meanthat the system should provide an intuitive andconsistent interface at each stage or phase of thesafety assessment or permit assembly. Q4 systems havebeen developed by standing over the shoulders ofsafety engineers and watching experienced andnovice users use the system many times to refine itsinterface. It is not valid to accept incoherency,blaming it on technology shortfalls. This has led tothe development of on-screen permits and forms thataccurately reflect existing paper permits or isolationcertificates. The simulation of paper methods withdata enhancing reflect natural processing rather thanseparate element screens. This is known as ‘what yousee is what you get’ (WYSIWYG).

Other factors come to bear where certain types ofrepetitive work require processing. Processing thattakes excessive time will inevitably be bypassed bystaff. This situation has to be avoided and can beaccomplished with features such as a risk assessmentlibrary and process route. This still ensures a riskassessment and signoff process, but provides aneffectively streamlined method for this type of work.

Adop t i o n a n d Imp l emen t a t i o n

Engica have built up an extensive knowledge base ofthe key issues relating to the adoption andimplementation of safety systems through thedelivery of projects for major operators such asChevron Texaco, BP, Marathon Oil, Kerr McGeeand Qatargas. This expertise in ensuring installationsare rolled out on time and within budget has oftenbeen in challenging locations such as the SouthChina Sea, offshore Angola and the North Sea.Experience has also been gained through working ina diverse range of operating environments,encompassing both offshore and onshore facilitiessuch as platforms, floating production storage andoffload (vessels) (FPSOs), liquified natural gas (LNG)plants and refineries.

The important thing to note is that an innovative

approach to projects is vital. This ensures thatcompanies realise the core improvements inefficiency and increased adherence to safety bestpractice, which are an essential element in thecurrent constantly evolving industry.

Safety is no doubt one of the top priorities tooperators and introducing a step improvementchange to safety methods needs a plan, resource anda supplier with the necessary expertise.

An electronic system can be installed and configuredquite quickly onto an organisation’s network. Asummary of elements associated with an electronicsystem configuration will now follow.

• Configuration of screen and hardcopy permit andcertificate forms along with state flow logic.

• Entry of authorisation personnel and permissions.• Collation of plant isolation information.• Collation of risk assessment information.• Configuration of site drawing for digital dashboard.• Integration with existing and other work

management systems.

It is the definition and the adoption programme thatneeds special attention. As one might imagine, thedefinition stage presents a series of challenges toobtain agreement if methods are going to beimproved over the existing process rather thanmerely replicating a current system setup. For theoffshore oil and gas industry scheduling project teamdiscussions should be factored into the plan. Alwaysput in place a project manager with the authoritylevel to facilitate and make decisions. Allocaterealistic timescales but with hard target milestones.All these points may seem evident, as are the reasonswhy many software systems are delayed. Engica arehere to help with the process.

T r a i n i n g

Quality training is fundamental to the use of a safetymanagement system. Central to the Q4 safety systemare a series of training packages to make the systemwork effectively for all staff and contract personneland instil confidence in the system. In addition,purpose-built e-learning courses can be designed aspart of the overall project. The e-learning courses aretailored around the necessary level of knowledgeeach user group’s needs.

Some aspects pertaining to offshore sites are:

• project management;• awareness and communication campaign;• purpose-built e-training adoption packages;• procedure manuals;• super user and administration system training;


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• mass staff training; and• offshore handholding.

L a n g u a g e s

International installations with regard to nativelanguage operators, such as China and Kazakhstan,have to be borne in mind. The Q4 safety system hasbeen purposely designed for multi-lingualdeployment and has the ability to run dual languageversions simultaneously.

S y n op s i s

The age of electronic safe systems of work is takingshape and there are a number of further techniquesnot covered in this short article that can also assist a

safety engineer. The next decade will see substantialimprovements as more companies adopt electronicmethodologies and new developments evolve toimprove industry best practice.

Engica Technology provides software,implementation and integration for mission criticalmaintenance and safety management. ■

Contact Information

For more information:

Website: http://www.engica.com

electronic permit to work

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