Plan More Efficient Shutdowns and Turnarounds with Connected Safety

When every hour costs your company, connected safety devices that also increase productivity are crucial.

Downtime in any industry is costly, but in the oil and gas sector, that expense can be magnified by market conditions. According to Siemens, as oil prices rise, so too does the hourly cost of your downtime. In moments of volatility, oil and gas companies must focus on maximizing efficiency and productivity during outages.

Turnarounds for planned upgrades and maintenance or outages due to operational upset can last from a few days to several weeks or months. Both result in downtime, where a facility is not producing product while paying their workforce and additional contractors to complete the maintenance. When shutdowns and turnarounds face schedule disruptions, they can cost organizations millions more than anticipated. Having tools that make your shutdowns and turnarounds efficient and effective, while keeping people safe, is one of the key strategies to adhering to schedule and staying on budget.

“Doing proper safety training, analysis, risk mitigation — yes, there is a cost, but it can't be seen as a cost. You've got to see it as a return on investment.”
– Facilities Manager, Oil and Gas

The State of Workplace Safety

Blackline Safety conducted a third-party survey of 200 safety and operations leaders from around the world for a report about the state of workplace safety. Here’s what we learned about their observations, the patterns they’ve noticed, and where they’re choosing to invest:

Budgets

Over the next two years, 95% of safety budgets are expected to increase or remain at their current levels. This is likely in part because 97% of safety and operations leaders believe workplace safety is fundamental to reliable productivity. One of the top budget priorities in the next two years is investing in new technology, with 30% of safety and operations leaders planning to do so.

Effect of incidents on productivity

During turnarounds, additional lost time due to incidents can extend already costly operations. When there are workplace safety incidents, 53% of them result in injuries that lead to lost time — another cost to your people, reputation, and bottom line. Some 35% of safety and operations leaders reported experiencing incidents that led to alarms and evacuations, resulting in even more schedule disruptions.

“At least 50% of the time, a lost time incident is one you wouldn't even think could happen — and it happened.”
– Operations Manager, Oil and Gas

Technology adoption

The most frequently used safety devices include radios and walkie-talkies (67%), single and/or multi-gas monitors (46%), and safety monitors with fall detection (36%). However, two of the barriers preventing organizations from using wearable safety devices more often included feeling overburdened by the number of devices. Challenges related to an excessive number of devices(16%) and lack of comfort and ergonomics (15.5%).

The All-New G8

Leveraging technology and data analysis is one of the key strategies for efficient turnaround management, alongside comprehensive stakeholder communication. The latest in Blackline’s suite of products is the all-new G8: the most connected safety wearable ever made. The rugged, intrinsically-safe device is a response to frequent issues seen on industrial worksites, and common barriers to adoption, built with input from industrial customers around the world.

The G8 provides:

• One device that does the job of many, lowering ergonomic burden and increasing adoptability.
• Enhanced communication technology, both two-way voice and text, to clearly connect with people when it matters most.
• Advanced geofencing and GPS capabilities so you know where your workers are at all times, speeding up activities like mustering.

Connected safety combines worksite safety with productivity tools all at once, creating efficiencies which help you stay on schedule and on budget. G8’s new features can transform your digital worksite and make sure your turnarounds don’t break the bank.

TagAssign™
Getting new contractors up to speed on a worksite is time-consuming and presents a bottleneck. G8’s TagAssign™ allows contractors to get connected faster with one-tap device assignment to eliminate lag time. No matter how remote your worksite, advanced 4G LTE cellular connectivity with auto-switching between major carriers ensures the best coverage.

Dual-band GPS/GNSS
Worksite conditions and structures occasionally interfere or reduce accuracy of conventional GPS devices. G8’s dual-band GPS/GNSS capabilities provide improved accuracy to facilitate data-driven decisions even in the most challenging conditions.

Push-To-Talk (PTT)
Due to the high cost of intrinsically safe radios, most members of a turnaround workforce aren’t equipped with one. Increased on-site communication keeps teams safer and helps work get done faster. G8’s Push-To-Talk (PTT) feature, and the available remote-speaker microphone, means that every worker equipped with a gas monitor also has the ability to communicate instantly with others on site.

Text Messaging
When the onsite management team needs to communicate time-sensitive messages to the workforce, G8’s text messaging capability provides a powerful, easy-to-use tool. Site leaders can use any device with an internet connection to inform all on-site workers, specific groups of workers, or a single worker. This form of communication facilitates a faster and more efficient return to productivity after a muster, weather event, or incident.

Compliance Made Easy

Compliance is a major challenge during turnarounds. While three-quarters of organizations report having substantial visibility into contractor safety behaviours, only 68% of contractors meet compliance expectations, compared to 84% of regular staff. Transforming the data gathered through contractor monitoring facilitates holding contractors accountable for compliance and safety performance — but access to information is crucial.

G8 can help you stay compliant and improve your available information, helping to improve contractor safety and productivity behavior during turnarounds:

• Direct-to-cloud data streaming from the field to Blackline Live, which helps show compliance and generates insights.
• Automated reports show whether your safety devices are being worn, turned on, and up to date, making compliance management easier.
• Historical trend data identifies any patterns and helps you use learnings to correct and prevent incidents from happening.
• ZoneAware™ provides valuable insights regarding what proportion of labor hours are spent in productive areas.

"One of the most underutilized aspects of safety is data analysis."
– Risk and Safety Director, Construction and Transportation

Whether you’re dealing with an unplanned outage, a turnaround, or a major capital project, working safely and efficiently is the goal. The right technology can help you hit your targets while enhancing workforce safety and protecting your bottom line.