169 / 648
Safety and environmental standards for fuel storage sites
Final report
167
Operational planning for fuel transfer by pipeline
185 Human factors issues are important at various safety-critical stages in fuel transfer operations
including operational planning.
Guidance
186 Operational planning takes into account all stages of the plan development and approval, up
to the stage of implementation via the consignment note.
187 The planning process will generally not be triggered by a request for a delivery of fuel by the
receiving site; such a plan will generally be contract-driven and involve many parties.
Job factors
188 Job factors for effective planning include:
provision of a clear stock control policy, eg maximum and minimum working levels, maximum
■
■
flow rates, maximum number of parcels, strategic stock levels, workable contractual rules,
tank throughput per year etc;
clear communication protocols between planning/sender and receiver (eg the consignment
■
■
transfer agreement);
effective tools to communicate receiver plant information to planners (INPUT);
■
■
effective tools/programmes to communicate plans to receivers (OUTPUT);
■
■
reliability of equipment and systems;
■
■
availability of suitable planning procedures;
■
■
jobs designed to keep staff motivated;
■
■
flexibility in the planning arrangements.
■
■
Person factors
189 Person factors include the following characteristics, skills and competencies:
understanding of the site;
■
■
numeracy;
■
■
communication skills (including command of English and IT systems);
■
■
negotiation skills;
■
■
ability to work under pressure and multi-task;
■
■
job interest/motivation.
■
■
Organisational factors
190 Factors important to organisational success include:
the safety culture of all parties involved;
■
■
use of suitable stock control policies;
■
■
provision of adequate resources to cover all modes eg absence of key staff, out-of-hours
■
■
issues, changes to plan, emergencies;
defining clear roles and responsibilities, and providing adequate supervision;
■
■
defining clear communication channels between sender and receiver;
■
■
identifying potential conflicts, and providing mechanisms to resolve them;
■
■
ensuring staff (eg shift team members) are not fatigued and have a manageable work load;
■
■
empowering people to stop imports if necessary.
■
■
Note: As discussed under ‘Roles, responsibilities and competence’, Cogent, in conjunction with
the industry, is currently developing job profiles and standards for competence assurance of
products movements schedulers.