AECI subsidiary Heartland Leasing has improved overall safety, health and environmental (SHE) management of their industrial site operations through the implementation of ApplyIT's IntelliPERMIT system.
Heartland Leasing is responsible for managing land, built assets and utilities for South African chemicals group AECI. The company sees to some 2500 hectares (25 km²) of land at AECI's largest and oldest industrial sites in Modderfontein in Gauteng, Somerset West in the Western Cape and at Umbogintwini in KwaZulu-Natal.
The Umbogintwini site accommodates 15 different operating companies, predominantly involved in chemicals manufacturing. At this site Heartland Leasing provides industrial services, including effluent treatment, boiler station operation and storage facilities for hazardous chemicals.
In hazardous operating environments, IntelliPERMIT enhances safety by improving the integrity of and management control over the process by which clearances, or permits-to-work are prepared, authorised, and subsequently managed. Before any work, particularly hazardous work, is carried out, the system helps to assess the SHE hazards and risk involved and stipulates rules regarding precautions, equipment isolations and personal protective equipment (PPE) required for the job.
Heartland Leasing had historically made use of a paper-based permit system, which although based on best practices from the chemicals manufacturing industry, presented them with a number of challenges. The use of paper forms was unwieldy, inflexible and carried considerable margin for error in the permit process.
In addition, the company has diverse business units, with different operational requirements, hazards and risks so standardisation of permits was a problem due to the unique risk management requirements at different parts of the business.
"The company continuously seeks opportunities for improving SHE practice and efficiencies," says operations manager, Joey Singh. "Past experience with ApplyIT confirmed its ability to tailor a system to meet the unique demands of Heartland Leasing. This includes appropriate audit trails, system interrogation, exception handling and e-mail notifications that provide management with timely relevant information regarding operational safety."
The IntelliPERMIT system was successfully piloted during 2004 at the hydrochloric acid depot in Umbogintwini. During 2005 it was then deployed across the rest of Heartland Leasing's Umbogintwini operations, including boiler station, workshops, tank farm, depots, effluent treatment plant and pipelines.
Technology challenges
One of the challenges faced during the implementation involved issuing of permits from a remote location where no connection to the company's network was available. Heartland Leasing is responsible for the maintenance and operation of a pipeline that carries wastewater from the site for marine disposal. This requires the issuing of permits on the beach, literally. To accommodate this, and other off-site installations, ApplyIT used SQL Server Merge Replication technology to enable users to access IntelliPERMIT on a laptop and to generate and process permits offline, still having them validated according to the normal safety rules. Once reconnected with the network, all data is then synchronised with Heartland's main server.
Project success
"The benefits of IntelliPERMIT in our operations were felt almost immediately," says Noel Venter, maintenance controller at Heartland Leasing. "Not only has the system standardised the way permits are managed in our disparate business units, but it ensures that hazards are correctly identified and the correct procedures followed each time a permit is issued. We have complete visibility of work taking place across our operations and the system ensures that permits are only signed by duly authorised personnel. Integration with our maintenance management system means that critical safety aspects are incorporated into each and every maintenance task performed."
"Heartland Leasing's implementation of IntelliPERMIT reinforces and complements the company's use of other software products from ApplyIT, including SmartSURE for managing safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ) compliance and OptiRUN for managing maintenance activities. The entire suite provides comprehensive control of operations ensuring the highest standards in safety and reliability," says Gavin Halse, MD of ApplyIT.
For more information contact Tineke Hoogendoorn, ApplyIT, +27 (0) 31 275 8080, [email protected]
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