Refineries need to function reliably
and continuously to deliver critical petroleum products, but they are under
considerable strain. According to a National Public Radio report published in
June 2022, the United States had five fewer refineries at the beginning of 2022
than it had at the beginning of 2020, and refining capacity was approximately
1M bbl/day lower than pre-pandemic levels. The COVID-19 pandemic also impacted
the workforce, with many workers migrating to other sectors less cyclical than
the oil and gas industry.The exodus of workers has created a serious situation.
While refineries need to run at capacity to meet demand, they often are doing
so without properly staffed and equipped crews. An increasing skills gap means
that, in many cases, technicians with less training and experience are trying
to carry out complex tasks.The nature of refinery work means workers routinely
interact with hazardous chemicals and the potentially dangerous equipment used
for complex chemical processes, and those activities can result in a range of
injuries, including explosions and fires, malfunctioning equipment, impure
chemicals, and exposure to toxic environments.
In the face
of these and other challenges, refineries are working at capacity to continue
to meet the high demand for petroleum products, committing themselves to
ensuring production continuity, providing for worker safety, preventing
emergencies, and complying with regulations.Mobile devices allow workers to
access digital work instructions, respond to safe stops and checks, and consult
historical information and instructional documentation.
The Lay of the Land
Statistics
from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) paint a
picture of the seriousness of the situation. Data from 153 refineries across
the nation show that 1,539 injuries and seven deaths were reported between
August 2017 and March 2023. As sobering as these numbers are, they could
actually underrepresent the number of injuries because contractor injuries are
not always recorded in the same way as injuries to direct full-time
employees.As in other segments of the oil and gas industry, refineries are
moving toward digitalization, but until that transition is complete, allowing
repetitive and dangerous processes to be performed by machines, workers remain
the backbone of refinery operations. Every day, they are required to perform
tasks that put them in harm’s way, and that means the possibility of injury is
a serious consideration.The 2017 OSHA report, “Process Safety Management for
Petroleum Refineries,” presents lessons learned from the petroleum refinery
process safety management National Emphasis Program and identifies areas where
the industry experienced the most citations for injuries. They include: Process
safety information, Process hazards analysis, Operating procedures, Mechanical
integrity,Management of change
Each of
these areas relies on workers’ familiarity with critically important documents.
Not surprisingly, lack of communication and the inability to access correct
information are two of the largest contributing factors that lead to worker
accidents, injuries and fatalities. The right processes and procedures have to
be followed, but it often is difficult for workers to locate the appropriate
documents in a format they can use. Even when access is not the issue, it is
not unusual for equipment maintenance processes to require many steps, which
not every worker has the requisite training to execute. These are critical
considerations in routine operations but, in emergency situations, they can be
catastrophic.High-level FSM solutions forecast labor demand based on historic
work volume and automatically assign and optimize work, tasking workers with
the right skills and the correct tools to do the job. Photos courtesy of
OverIT.
The
Right Tools for the Job
Field
Service Management (FSM) software is one of the tools refineries are using to
improve oversight and management but, as with every solution that is integrated
into operations, it is important that the FSM software selected for the
facility has the necessary features to do the job.The best FSM tools provide
global oversight of operations along with practical, easy-to-use solutions for
everyday activities, such as: Planning and optimizing job assignments,Simplifying
regular inspections and maintenance using digital instructions and augmented
reality tools, Providing technicians with historical job and asset data, Complying
with regulations, especially those governing worker safety, Connecting site
workers with remotely located expert human resources, Collecting data that can
be used for predictive analysis
At the top
end of the product offering, FSM tools connect critical functions, optimizing
crew scheduling, providing access to appropriate documents for maintenance and
inspection, as well as processes and procedures that are aligned with
regulatory requirements, and enabling contact between less-skilled workers and
remotely located experts who can help with complex machinery or complicated,
multi-step processes. Additional features like leak detection to reduce risks
to site personnel, 3D asset views that allow workers to “see” subsurface assets
and the location of otherwise hidden meters and gauges, and GIS redlining,
which enables workers to correct outdated drawings based on their observations,
can drastically improve safety and productivity.The OverIT platform provides
field technicians with a simple interface on a single pane of glass that allows
them to see high-level information like the refinery layout as well as screens
to execute individual tasks.
Putting FSM Solutions to Work
FSM
implementation begins with applying high-level functions at the supervisory
level. Managing people is one of the most critical functions of an FSM
solution. For supervisors mapping out work schedules is a chronic challenge. A
high-level FSM solution can forecast labor demand based on historic work volume
and automatically assign and optimize work so the right workers with the right
skills are located in the correct place, with the right tools to do the job.
The best FSM tool is one that can predict workloads and tasks based on
different scenarios and business inputs to simplify scheduling.Once scheduling
and workloads have been optimized, the second step is to provide workers with
mobile devices that allow access to digital work instructions, augmented reality
animations, safe stops and checks, as well as historical information and
instructional documentation. Devices also enable direct communication with
supervisors.Wearable PPE, like a hands-free headset that superimposes
information on equipment and connects field workers with experts, improves the
ability to execute unfamiliar or complicated tasks.
The next
level integrates augmented reality; for example, wearable PPE like a hands-free
headset that superimposes information on equipment in the worker’s field of
view to help with tasks like locating a reset button on a machine or
visualizing how oil flows through a separator.The most advanced FSM platforms
take management to a new level, supporting virtual reality (VR) components,
which have a range of applications. For example, VR can be used for training
exercises, allowing workers to experience hazardous emergency situations where
they learn how to do things like execute emergency shutoff procedures under
conditions that do not jeopardize their safety.The next step on the horizon for
FSM solutions is using AI to analyze historical readings and look at
performance requirements to enable preventative steps as well as corrective
measures.
Changing
the Status Quo
A range of
FSM tools is available, but all tools are not created equal. It is important to
evaluate the capabilities of the FSM solution, its track record, and how
complex it is to apply and scale. The good news is that solid, proven tools are
available, and some refineries are already leveraging them to improve worker
safety, streamline operations, and optimize production.