Operating Companies' Roles in Preventing Contractors from Being Affected by Process Chemicals during Plant Shutdowns

A Finnish study has been carried out in order to investigate how six Finnish operating companies are dealing with process and chemical safety during maintenance shutdowns of their installations. The study revealed, for instance, that there typically are no systematic management procedures in place to ensure that the process plant's own personnel has the knowledge and skills needed to make the plant safe before cleaning, maintenance and construction work commence. Neither, it seems, are the plants' rescue teams and the local fire brigades prepared to handle hazardous situations involving tens or even hundreds of contractor workers. This paper focuses on ways that the operating companies' can minimise the risk of exposing contract workers to process chemicals. In addition, a new hazard analysis method developed for identifying potential chemical hazards during shutdowns is presented.