Revolutionising confined space safety management: a case study

Abstract

Maintaining safety during confined space work is one of the most challenging aspects of a turnaround, shutdown or outage. To handle the safety risks associated with confined space entry, a safety attendant is normally assigned to the entry point of a confined space to maintain communication with workers inside. However, the duties of the attendant are restricted to the outside of the vessel. So how do we ensure that the workers continue to be safe when they are inside the confined space? Harnessing technological advancements, a solution was designed that combines gas detection, video surveillance, two-way communication, access control and a command centre to enhance safety while improving productivity and reducing costs. The solution combines real-time gas detection, cameras with day–night vision installed outside and inside vessels, video recording and two-way communication. It delivers and stores data useful in alerting workers of hazardous environments, providing video evidence of safe behaviour, enables operators to see work inside the vessels in real time, and stores video and overlaid gas data logs to protect against future liabilities. The innovation revolutionises the role of the safety watch by replacing multiple safety attendants with two highly qualified personnel who monitor all confined spaces from the command centre. The paper discusses examples and provides data on the potential savings resulting from the implementation of the technology. The present paper also discusses further enhancements, including body cameras, monitoring of employee wellbeing and facility access control. This is the path to the digital turnaround of the future.