DELIVERING SAFE, COST EFFECTIVE, TURN-KEY INSPECTION SOLUTIONS
Turnaround Inspections
Inspections are an integral part of all turnarounds and should be conducted for a number of reasons. The main reason is that, without high quality inspections, damaged equipment may continue to go unnoticed and eventually fail unexpectedly during regular operations. This not only could be detrimental due to the lost production during a potential shutdown, but it could cause a significant safety incident at the facility.
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There are seven critical elements to the success of any turnaround inspection. These are:
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Safety
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Final planning
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Tracking
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Record keeping
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Having qualified personnel
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Cooperation and coordination between operators
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Having no weather related issues
One safety incident can quickly overshadow days of efficiency and productivity during a turnaround. Having experienced inspectors and supervisory personnel in the field is critical to maintaining a superior safety culture. An inspection team should feel comfortable stopping work when something looks unsafe. This comfort level only results from constant coaching and mentorship by the Sr. Level inspectors and supervisors.
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Most of the planning should already be done before the turnaround begins, although these plans are likely to change as turnaround progresses. This is typically because corrosion or damage is often found during inspections, which usually require work, and thus modifications to the original plan. Among other things, final planning should include producing a list of all the areas and equipment that are tagged for inspection. The planned inspection activities to be performed should also be identified in detail, and a specific methodology should be assigned to each.
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Tracking of turnaround inspection activities is often done with wall charts, on which every event, occurrence, and inspection is tracked. This way, inspectors know what has already been tested, the results of the tests, and what repairs need to be done. A record keeping system then needs to be developed in order to track the progress of the repairs as they are being done. At the very least, these systems need to be systematic, chronological, and consistently followed.
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Inspection personnel should arrive to the site a few days before the turnaround to coordinate with the leads and safety personnel. Cooperation between these two parties is integral to the timely and efficient completion of the turnaround. While it doesn’t affect inspections, inclement weather can greatly slow down the progress of maintenance work.
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Inspection work usually makes up about 60% of the workload of an average turnaround. Of the remaining 40%, about half of the workload (20%) involves implementing upgrades, while the other half (20%) consists of performing maintenance.
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Our Turnaround Inspection Services
Commitment is a major benefit of being a true safety-oriented service provider. Sentinel’s management and staff are genuinely concerned about the safety and well-being of our personnel and the safety of personnel working alongside our employees from other companies. And that gives us one of the best safety records in our industry.
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Uniquely, Sentinel maintains a full time staff of API and AWS Certified and experienced Turnaround and Projects inspectors, capable of servicing all our clients Turnaround, routine inspection, and project type initiatives. This commitment by the Sentinel management team to minimize the use of the “stereo-typical” contract inspectors within the industry insures that we have key full time personnel available to service our client who jointly have a unilateral commitment to insure the customers receive the highest quality inspection services. This core commitment comes at substantial costs to have and maintain this full time staff, although this also sets us apart from our competition, as they are not willing to make such an investment in the quality and continuity of their services.
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Our turnaround Execution Team follows a standard execution regimen including;
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Safety Mentorship - Our Turnaround Execution Team consists of fully vested employees who care deeply about our safety record.
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Standardized reporting-Sentinel’s reporting requirements are constantly being updated to fit our client’s needs.
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Recommendation Regimen - Our regimen for providing clients with recommendations is based on years of collective experience. The expectation is clear; all recommendations will be concise, clear and very detailed.
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Efficiency - Sentinel’s Turnaround Execution Team leading a turnaround or project will surpass a typical turnaround team. Our Sr. Level Team Members and Management personnel motivate and constantly encourage a Team Oriented atmosphere.
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Tracking - Sentinel has uniquely created a standardized system for tracking. This is based on each client’s needs. We have several solutions in our tool bag that can easily fit the tracking needs of any facility.
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Sentinel has an extremely innovative approach to our Turnaround Inspection services. We provide the highest quality Turnaround Inspections services while reducing a facility’s turnaround contract inspection costs by 33%. We can provide you with leading oil company references upon your request, so you can be assured we are not wasting your time or money.
All turnaround inspection teams are not created equal, and we pride ourselves on proving this.
