Best on-site safety practices for Diesel & HFO power plants
The energy industry involves substantial risks when building and maintaining power plant stations. There are many doors to human injury, equipment damages, and sometimes even death. A study done by GOCONTRACTOR states that in the US, an average of 133 workers suffer fatal injuries on-site per year. Keeping workers safe is a necessary and crucial challenge to overcome regardless of your past success or future endeavours.
Some of the common power plant hazards:
- Electrical shocks
- Electrical burns
- Boiler fires
- Explosions
- Contact with hazardous chemicals
- Working at height
- Long periods of noise exposure
- Hand-arm vibration syndrome
- Exposure to live electrical parts
- Slips & trips
- Airborne dust
- Faulty machinery
- Explosions
Ensuring safety is of vital importance as making a mistake big or “small” can be fatal. Safety should be a top priority for any company working in the energy industry where injury creeps behind every on-site worker. An estimation from the National Safety Council states that it can cost approximately $1 million for death caused by electrocution, and no amount of money will be able to bring a life back.
Because of the many dangers, on-site safety protocols are crucial and must be rapidly deployed in the most fundamental stages of power plant EPC or O&M.
USP&E’s suggestions to ensure optimal on-site safety
What can the managers of a power station do to ensure better safety for workers on-site?
No matter how many protocols are put into place, the essential risk of negligence exists, but the more protocols you put into place, the smaller the percentage of potential injury becomes. We have narrowed the lists of safety tips and suggestions to five critical practices for mitigating risk at diesel, HFO, and gas power plants.
- Hire Expert Supervisors
Safety begins in the recruitment phase of a power plant project. Qualified and experienced program managers must be brought on board as soon as possible. A team made up of unqualified workers is more likely to experience power plant failures due to poor planning, little site supervision, and a lack of standard controls and operations procedures for the operation of equipment and maintenance equipment.
You must hire senior and experienced site engineers who you can set clear expectations for all on-site employees. This necessitates confidence in site engineers to take extreme ownership, (a core value at USP&E) to fulfill those expectations.
- Establish a culture of accountability and honesty
The aspect of accountability begins with making every worker familiar with their roles and responsibilities. Make it clear and easy to understand. Be transparent with your employees, clearly state and explain all safety-related procedures your workers need to adhere to, and follow up in ensuring those procedures are practiced and understood.
The second aspect of managing safety at power plants is not only about employees understanding their own role but also understanding every other member’s role and how they must work together.
- Make the topic of safety a top priority
One of the most effective ways to improve safety on-site is by putting much emphasis on practices that create a safer environment on-site almost daily.
What exactly does this look like? This means being driven and motivated by workplace and employee safety standards, rather than putting more focus and emphasis on making either profits or production the main priority.
Many companies in the past have failed to realise the significance of safety which has ultimately resulted in them sacrificing invaluable corporate responsibility and stakeholder welfare for short-term profits—only to end up facing lawsuits that are pricy, resulting in downtime throughout the whole process.
Establishing a company that has a “safety first” culture and approach can make a huge difference in the morale of both employees and employers. Safety first practically works out each day on-site at a power station project in the use of Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) for each work function and station as well as through safety talks at the beginning of each shift or workday. Prioritise always working under secure conditions, begin each on-site shift with a safety run-through, and treat any incident with great seriousness even if the outcome has not resulted in anything devastating.
- Create efficient communication channels
Poor communication hurts. Planning and communication must go hand in hand during any power plant project in the development and implementation of safety practices through an experienced EPC or O&M power company. Communication allows your employees to gain clarity of what they are unsure of while eagerly seeking to identify and avoid risks.
To start, your employees need to have an awareness of daily workflows when it comes to safety. Train your teams so that they would be able to have the required and necessary skills.
Three ways to improve communication can include the following:
- Purchasing the necessary technology such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc. to ensure there is a channel where all members can communicate.
- Requiring necessary information from employees: this will place workers in the position where they need to communicate. If there is an update then that should be relayed to every other member to ensure everyone is on the same page.
- Schedule regular floor discussions to identify possible hazards in the workspace and also pinpoint single points of failure for operational success. Safety considerations flow directly into quality controls.
- Operation of innovative tools and equipment
In this day and age, we have modern technology as well as advanced construction equipment which can aid in improving on-site safety.
Here are two examples,
- Drones can be used to access tight viewpoints, as well as examine potentially dangerous areas before any on-site work begins.
- Implementing handy gadgets to keep track of employee movement, heart rate, and other vital information can help keep track of technicians and to be aware of any chronic illnesses or acute as soon as they occur.
The options are many when it comes to technology, and the more it helps, the more you realize it’s the friend you have always needed.
Why USP&E?
- SHEQ Implementation
Here at USP&E, we value the importance of SHEQ (Safety, Health, Environment, Quality). We recognize the significance and seek to ensure safety wherever our projects are running. As we operate and function in countries with different governing standards, regulatory requirements, and cultural expectations, we have been able to develop a robust SHEQ framework that results in no setbacks but provides guidance to our operations by delivering our health and safety commitment in each new, current, and upcoming projects.
We have a well-documented management system that can outline how to manage potential risks effectively within the stages of the project management lifecycle which ultimately results in risk reduction. Emphasizing and ensuring constant communication and constant professional training with regards to our internal safety practices remains of crucial importance in achieving and maintaining “zero harm”.
- Training services
USP&E has much experience in the industry, and we are no strangers to installing power plant systems across the world. We understand how important training power plant operators are. Good training contributes heavily to the success of a power plant project. We utilize effective and proven training practices to assist the operating staff in becoming comfortable and confident with the power plant facility.
- SMARTPOWER
At USP&E, our brightest and most powerful technological friend is SmartPower. SmartPower is an online fuel efficiency and O&M tool for power generators that was created by USP&E to create a way of working in being able to digitally monitor power plants that we operate and maintain.
This proprietary web-based tool makes use of a power plant control room whereby you can track data that can be viewed from anywhere in the world. The uniqueness of the program has to do with its ability to obtain the entire operations process which includes: manpower, work orders, spare parts inventory, and service schedules and condenses them into a single operational dashboard.
In this industry, safety should be of top priority. As said before, you are entering a minefield of dangers and risks with power plant projects; ensuring safety should be of utmost importance. The benefits will always outweigh the cons. Plus, why not strive to create a “zero-harm” environment? What’s the harm in that?