Guide to permit to work in the oil and gas industry

electronic permit to work systems have developed rapidly over the past years with an ever increasing attention from global oil and gas industry. The important question asked 'Why use an electronic system for safety management' ,  'What are the benefits' and 'how to implement such a system?'


Rather then seeing the software change the current process of safety mangement, the permit software has to support and streamline the current safety and working process. There are many different paper based standards used worldwide. An award winning example of a paper based system is that of NOGEPA. This paper based system of NOGEPA has been implemented as a electronic permit system by eVision Industry Software In this article I will use a real world example of the implementation of the Nogepa permit to work software. Before we start a quick answer to 'What are the benefits'

Efficiency
User-friendly presentation simplifies the creation, authorisation and issue of all Permit to Work requirements.
Control
Rule-based structure within a defined authorisation process and flexible analysis functions deliver ‘real time’ management information.
Productivity
Easy creation of a permit, bringing cost benefits by replacing cumbersome paper-based systems.
Compliance
Safety checks and ‘alert’ functionality ensures improved legislative and ‘best practice’ compliance, thereby reducing risk.

eVision is a software company dedicated to the petrochemical and offshore industry. We specialize in ‘keeping it simple’. This sounds like an easy enough task, but being able to analyze requirements correctly for a complex industry with complex problems requires indepth knowledge. The eVision team has over 75 years of combined experience in this field. Our background in the offshore industry, combined with great interface designers en software engineers enables us to deliver ‘easy to use’ but extremely powerfull solutions with a unique user experience.


What’s the story
Permit to work is an old and proven method to ensure hazardous work is not carried out without safeguards in place. Hot welding in an area with flammable materials, confined space work, machinery maintenance are just some areas where a permit to work is required. Traditionally a Permit to Work form was used to set conditions. But as industries grow and get more complex, more outside contractors without local knowledge are used. To cut waiting times more books are required in different locations and more people are empowered to issue permits. The system grows, co-ordination and control is lost. The eVision Permit to Work module was developed to clear up this situation.
 
Permits can be applied over the network from any location and a number of experienced staff can be authorized to issue permits. Staff issuing permits can view what other permits have been issued to ensure co-ordination and that permits do not "collide". Once approved a permit is locked - other work or permit conditions cannot be added or be altered. Permits can be printed from anywhere on the network or emailed to other locations. Permits are tracked to make sure they are closed when the job is finished and reports can be generated listing permits issued by person, location, type of permit etc. The permit software ensures that no mistakes are made and all permits are filled out correct and are complete.

For more information regarding permit to work software go to the eVision website email us at info@evision-software.nl or gives us a call at +31(0)20 7752002