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Are you really aware of your surroundings whilst working , or just doing your job ?
Sometimes for whatever reason , we miss something that we may be looking right at , hearing , smelling , etc . I ’ m sure that we all have some lack of awareness and / or have not been paying attention at various times . Lack of awareness and attention can be caused by several factors such as exhaustion , sickness , demands on your time , stress , boredom , hunger , lack of training , and so on .
Being aware and attentive in the operation and / or maintenance of industrial ammonia refrigeration systems and their component parts is important . With increasing knowledge , training , experience , and awareness we can better understand the systems we work on and / or properly maintain them .
I know I go on about training and experience but at the end of the day , muscle memory is what will see you through when you-know-what hits the fan . There is no substitute for that and gut feel .
Lack of awareness and not paying attention may result in missing something important , and / or doing something incorrectly , either of which could result in a hazardous situation developing .
The following is a story which I picked up in an IIAR publication - I have added a few comments to it but it really says it all :
Many years ago , whilst working with my dad on a floating seafood processing ship in Alaska I was involved in two incidents of note . One of my jobs was to do the hand drawings ( this was before electronic drafting programs ) of the ammonia system . The other job was to help with the piping part of the refrigeration system .
First incident : I was a fair gas welder at that time and my dad showed me some of the pipe re-routing that needed to be done . After explaining what he wanted me to do , he left me to do my work while he went to work in another area of the ship . A few hours later he returned to see how I was doing .
“ Well son those are pretty good welds , and the routing looks level and straight . However , things will be a whole lot better if we connect that liquid line to the liquid line over there , instead of the hot gas line you now have welded it to .” Fortunately , the plant was fully pumped down .
Creative Commons | Wikimedia
By Andrew Perks
Being aware and paying attention to what is around you , where you are , and what ’ s happening can be really important , it may even save your life .
Although I had thought I had understood the pipe re-routing explained , my lack of knowledge of what lines were where and what that meant resulted in some of my work having to be corrected to avoid a significant system operation problem .
Later : I was learning to be more aware when I was told and / or shown something to pay more attention and get confirmation that my take was the actual requirement . Never enough time to do it right the first time but always enough time to fix it – sound familiar ?
Second incident : The second incident had a huge impact on the whole ship operation . On the first day that we were on the ship I was given a tour through most of the relevant sections and systems . One of the most interesting areas we went through was the engine room . There was no shore power available , so a large generator was continuously running .
As we went through the generator room , I noticed a sound coming from the generator , kind a of a “ chirping ” noise . I asked my dad about that sound , but he wasn ’ t sure and as
An example of an engine room on a ship . the plant was being operated by the ship ’ s crew , we left it at that .
Over the next couple of days , we did our work and the ship continued processing the large amounts of shrimp that were being delivered . One afternoon , suddenly the lights went out and it got eerily quiet . We made our way up to the main deck and we could see a little smoke coming out past the gallery gangway door . I didn ’ t have a clue what had happened , but my dad immediately headed towards the engine room .
What had happened was that the chirping sound the generator had been making was the indication of a problem that the engine room crew had ignored , though some of them may well have been aware that sound wasn ’ t right . No action had been taken to investigate and correct the reason .
Unfortunately , whatever happened inside the generator resulted in a large hole in the side of the machine – allowing oil to spray out , coating and setting on fire a primary electrical panel on the wall . Most of the ship ’ s power was routed through that panel .
Fortunately , the CO2 fire protection system activated quickly , putting out the fire .
Andrew Perks is a subject expert in ammonia refrigeration . Since undertaking his apprenticeship in Glasgow in the 1960s he has held positions of contracts engineer , project engineer , refrigeration design engineer , company director for a refrigeration contracting company and eventually owning his own contracting company and low temperature cold store . He is now involved in adding skills to the ammonia industry , is merSETA accredited and has written a variety of unit standards for SAQA that define the levels to be achieved in training in our industry .
After hours of work , the destroyed power panel was bypassed , and finally the backup generator came online . An additional problem was that just before the power failure , a large amount of shrimp had been transferred to the ship for processing . After several hours sitting in the sun that shrimp had to be condemned .
Awareness and observation will improve with experience and training but even someone with little experience can be aware and attentive enough to realise something might not make sense , so don ’ t be afraid to raise your concerns . Remember there are no stupid questions when it comes to safety .
With our sight , hearing , touch , smell , taste , and gut feelings , potential problems can many times be avoided , and we all know that most serious incidents start small and escalate . Whether we are new to some activity or have a lot of experience , we should consciously strive to improve and maintain our awareness and ability to be attentive .
SAQCC Gas training is all about safe handling but it is no substitute for additional hands-on experience . Where possible get involved in those additional training courses that provide hard earned field experience .
Till next month , stay safe . CLA
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