492 / 975
Accordingly, any on site requirement, or remote investigative/diagnostic assessments of a running SIS
will require the end user approval via a suitable permit to work and that no work should commence on
the SIS unless a valid permit to work is issued by the responsible permit authority.
Note again that it is the responsibility of the end user issuing the permit to work to clearly state the
conditions under which the O&M activity is to be allowed to happen. This will include the operations
which are allowed by the maintenance engineer (e.g. change hardware modules, download software,
change configuration settings, block/deblock functions/modules, etc) and specifically state those which
are not allowed.
The O&M Engineer with respect to competency requirements will always need to be aware of the nature
of the system application (i.e. a safety integrated system which may accidently shutdown the process
when incorrectly operated). This and other considerations shall be included in the O&M method
statement and work impact risk assessment mentioned earlier.
System Documentation
The end user will be required to ensure that the O&M Engineer will have access to all system
documentation. It is the responsibility of the end user to ensure that supporting system documentation
is made readily available, current and valid for use. Examples of system documentation may include
but not be limited to
·
P& ID’s
·
Cause & Effect Diagram
·
Wiring Schedule
·
System Performance logs
·
End user historical O&M performance/maintenance reports
·
etc.
Failure to supply up to date valid documentation could mean that a sufficient and adequate risk
assessment cannot be undertaken for the required work activities and that additional measures may
have to be taken by the end user to rectify any concerns prior to the work proceeding via the PTW.
Diagnosis as opposed to maintenance
Consideration needs to be made here, after access to the SIS has been granted and approved by the
end user (either direct or remote and has been duly authorised), that the O&M Engineer should then be
allowed to perform a system diagnosis as applicable. It will be important that the O&M Engineer should
pay special attention to recent maintenance and service activities for example including but not limited
to hardware and/or firmware and/or application software modifications, etc. It is usual that the diagnosis
will take place covering:
·
Direct access – where an end user technical authority presence provides the added possibility
to discuss the system behaviour with operations teams in addition to the system diagnosis.
·
Remote access – which may require a constant telephone connection with the end user on the
other end to be able to discuss matters while performing the diagnosis.