Turnaround

Where

At a Dutch refinery in Rotterdam.

Work activities

During a ‘turnaround’ (part of the factory was shut down), the technicians carried out various activities using rope access. The project consisted of three parts:

1. Securing the workplace
   By placing a platform against the ceiling, on both inside and outside, and by placing a net so that everyone could enter the confined space safely without the risk of falling objects.
2. Inspection work
   By entering the work location with a camera, it was possible for the inspection team to watch the footage live. In addition, we assisted with performing RT measurements, a replica investigation and made sure that the inspector could perform his investigation in a stable way by mounting a platform to the tubepipes.
3. Removal of the tubes.
   Originally the last step was to remove the specified tubes using a reciprocating saw, but due to the previous investigation this was no longer applicable.

Practice, Mock-up

Mock-up

The factory could only be shut down for a few days and therefore it was important that all the work was carried out within the time frame. To ensure that everything went safely and according to plan, the refinery replicated the work site exactly, a so-called ‘mock-up’. The weeks before the actual turnaround, the technicians were able to train. This was not only important for the turnaround time, but also essential for cooperation and safety. In this way, they were prepared for the work location, the work and the team.

why Rope Access?

• The work site was located in a confined space and rope access was the safest solution here. Previously, the work was carried out from below using scaffolding, but now it was possible to use rope access to enter the confined space from above. This allowed the team to immediately place a platform to eliminate the risk of falling objects.
• The turnaround was only of short duration, so we had to carry out the work within a short timeframe. By means of rope access it was possible to quickly enter the confined space and carry out the work.With a day and an evening team of 3 technicians and an IRATA level 3 supervisor we completed the work in 3 days. By choosing rope access we were able to perform the work more than twice as fast as with other work methods.