Total’s Golden rules

Golden rule No. 5:

Work permits
Work permits

 What is a work permit?

 A document that is completed and validated before all works and based on a prior
risk assessment. No work is to be performed without written authorization.

 What is it used for?

 The documents for operations and works have a number of objectives:
 to clearly identify the work to be done
 to designate without ambiguity the apparatus and systems concerned
 to indicate the handover operations required before the work takes place
 to assess and specify the various foreseeable risks
 to stipulate the checks to be carried out both before and during the work
 to stipulate appropriate collective protective equipment and PPE to ensure the safety of the
workers involved and of the neighboring units and equipment
 to provide a logical circuit for passing down all relevant information and collecting
recommendations, requirements and signatures from the different managers concerned
 to designate clearly the operators involved at each stage.
Work permits

 What is it used for?

 To ensure that the operators involved are aware of the information contained in the
document, by having them sign it
 To specify the validity period of the authorization
 To proceed to acceptance on completion of the work and handover.
This list sums up why the work permit is so important in order for work
in our units to proceed safely. The work permit document is not only
necessary and useful… it is mandatory.

 What are the categories of documents authorizing work?

 The work permit
 Additional permit(s); the work permit stipulates when and why these are required

What types of additional permit are you aware of or have

you seen before on your site?
Work permits:
additional permits

 The additional permits most commonly used are the following:

 Hot works permit
 Entry into a confined space permit
 Excavation permit
 Vehicle access permit
 Gamma ray inspection permit
 Work at height permit

Comment: It is a good idea for the work at height permit to include a section for
work on roofs, so that the particular risks of this type of work (see examples
below) and the associated mitigating measures can be specified:
 work on a solid but sloping/slippery roof
 work on a roof that is likely to give way
 work on a roof with open sections
 etc.
Work permits:
additional permits

 In your opinion, what risks do the following permits address?

Complete the table.

Corresponding
Permit Compensatory measures
risks
Work
Hot works
Entry
Excavation
Work at height
Vehicle access
Radiography
Work on roofs
Etc.
Work permits

In short: each permit is intended to assure:

 The safety of the operators involved

 The safety of personnel nearby

 The safety of the installation

And to avoid...

 Accidental generation of pollution

Work permits:
Prior risk assessment
 It is crucial to specify and assess the different foreseeable risks in the
operation

 This must be done in a specific risk assessment…

What do you think might be the cause of these foreseeable risks in your
unit(s) for:
 work that you do regularly?
 non-routine work?
Work permits

The potential risks may relate to the work AND the installation

 The installation:
 Location of the equipment
 Location of the systems
 Possible presence of ATEX (explosive atmosphere)
 Possible presence of products that are harmful to health
 Presence of energy (electrical, mechanical, pressure, etc.)

 The work:
 The task itself
 The equipment and tools used
 The operators working nearby (especially using certain equipment: handling loads
at height, welding, sand blasting, HP washing, etc.)
 The immediate surroundings (e.g. obstruction of exit routes, noise making it difficult
to pass on information, etc.)

Comment: this assessment of the potential risks also addresses risks arising from
interference between the different operators.
Work permits:
The preparation process

 Define the phases of work to be performed

 Rank them logically in the order in which they are to be carried out
 Conduct a risk assessment for each one
 Define for each potential risk…
 the compensatory measures
 the corresponding handover
 the required resources, i.e.
 human
 material
 organizational
 Fill in the document accordingly
 On the day of the operation...
 The contractor company personnel read the permit contents
 The contractor company goes to the job location accompanied by an operator
representative to make sure that all the measures have been taken as stipulated in
the permit and to voice any comments
 The contractor company and operator representatives sign the permit
 Each party keeps a copy of the signed document.
Work permits

Important comments:
1. It is important for a copy of the permit to be visible and consultable by
the operations personnel involved  display on a dedicated notice
board.
2. The permit must be signed again at each change of shift worker to
make sure the new worker has read and understood the measures to
be taken and the requirements in the document.
3. The permit must be signed every day and at each shift change by the
operator and contractor representatives, to ensure that the work
conditions have not changed and that everyone is familiar with the
content of the document.
4. If the work conditions change, a new permit must be issued taking into
account the new risks at hand.

Can you list some changes in work conditions that would justify
the issue of a new permit?
Work permits

 Changes in work conditions

Examples:
 A change of tool, generating a different risk
 A change in the general surrounding conditions:
 emergence of an ATEX risk
 etc.
 Discovery of residual products while the work is in progress
 A new risk comes to light which was not included in the work permit
 A significant regime change in the unit or place where the work is to be carried out
(e.g. permit prepared for a shut down unit and work takes place with the unit
running…)
Work permits

 Computerized work permits

Be careful with electronic work permits, pre-filled out based on the type
of work to be done. This type of document calls for vigilance and
careful scrutiny, for instance:
 Make sure any specific features in the work to be done are not missing in the
permit.
 Check that the compensatory measures indicated effectively correspond to the
work to be done, and are neither under- nor over-estimated.

Sometimes, the measures automatically listed as required in the permit

are out of proportion to the task. So everybody agrees that they are not
to be applied! – which contributes to diminishing the importance of the
document.
Work permits:
additional permits

 In your view, who does what, when (and who takes part)?

Tasks Who? When?

Assessment of the potential risks
Validation of the work permit
Validation of additional permits
Workplace visit prior to the work
Signature approving the work
Post-job visit
Acceptance of the job
Etc.
Work permits

 What, in your view and on your unit(s), are the stumbling blocks to
correct completion of the work permits?

 What action would you recommend to improve the work permit process,
its efficiency and the way it is complied with?

 Ask yourself these questions from the standpoint of a contractor

worker if you yourself are an operator worker, and vice versa.
High-potential accidents or near-miss incidents

 2007 – France:
A contractor was working to rebuild the stuffing box of a secondary water valve, at 100 bar. When
the pressurized stuffing box was loosened, the braid was blown outwards, resulting in a significant
water leak. Nobody was hurt.
The document for the work had been validated for a single valve, but the prior workplace visit by the
worker and the maintenance staff had been based on two stuffing boxes for repair. Consequently,
after working on the first valve, the worker started on the second too soon (before it had been emptied,
rinsed and locked out).
 2008 – France:
An explosimeter was positioned on the venting point of the relief valves of the (fuel gas) feed circuit for
the stripping column. When the meter alarm sounded, one of the two valves on the installation had to
be checked for sealing. The two relief valves were different – one was a red, membrane type and the
other was standard and gray – and both were positioned on the gas feed circuit for one of the two
stripping columns. The check focused on the gray standard valve on column one, and the column then
needed to be filled with nitrogen.
During preparation of the work in the control room, there was some confusion between the
maintenance workers (who were used to checking the “little red membrane valve”) and the works
supervisor, as to which valve needed checking.
As a result of this verbal misunderstanding and the matter not being verified in the workplace, the
wrong valve was dismantled on a circuit of flammable gas under pressure.
The worker quickly realized what had gone wrong, immediately tightened the flange again to seal off
the gas leak, and informed the site operator of the problem.
The incident might have resulted in ignition of the leaking gas at the flange, and caused a jet fire or an
explosion.
High-potential accidents or near-miss incidents

 2009 – Equatorial Guinea (outside the Group):

When a pipeline that had been out of service for 2 years was cut with an angle
grinder, hydrocarbons sprayed out over the operator and caught fire. The operator
died. The pipeline had nevertheless been copiously rinsed with water and explosivity
measurements had been taken. The rinsing had not removed the lighter HC at the
top of the pipeline, and they later ran down to the bottom where the cut was made.