MN471000, Pressure Safety Manual
Sponsor: Michael W. Hazen, 4000
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Revision Date: March 31, 2008
Replaces Document Dated: October 8, 2007 |
This document is no longer a CPR. This document implements the requirements of Corporate Procedure ESH100.2.PS.1, Control Pressure Safety Hazards.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: A printed copy of this document may not be the document currently in effect. The official version is the online version located on the Sandia Restricted Network (SRN).
Pressure Safety Manual
7. VERIFYING THE SAFE OPERATION OF PRESSURE SYSTEMS
Subject Matter Experts: Shane Page, and David Paoletta
Contributor: Pressure Safety Committee
MN471000, Issue S
Revision Date: March 31, 2008; Replaces Document
Dated: October 8, 2007
Administrative Changes: June 8, 2010, and May 26, 2011, and January 19, 2012
Pressure systems (pressure vessels and components) are inherently hazardous. Under certain circumstances, stored energy released suddenly can injure personnel and damage facilities. Therefore, before operating a new pressure system it is imperative to perform a preliminary hazards analysis to prevent or minimize hazards.
Note: Identifying potential hazards is of paramount importance in planning, designing, and setting up workable procedures to ensure consistently safe operation of pressure systems. Once a hazard is identified, protective measures can be devised.
Guidance
Members of the Workforce should be cognizant that hazards arise from many sources, and that human shortcomings are a principal problem in assuring the safe operation of pressure systems. Some common hazards are:
- Human error - failure to follow established procedures; untrained operators.
- Unexpected high pressure.
- Unexpected temperature changes.
- Built-in defects.
- Lack of established procedures that are clear, concise, and easy to understand.
- Lack of fail-safe mechanisms (e.g., interlocks and pressure safety devices).
- Modifications.
- Detrimental combination of unusual events.
- Loss of electrical power resulting in trapped pressure volumes.
Guidance
Members of the Workforce should address the problem of providing a safe pressure environment by asking, and satisfactorily answering, pertinent questions in advance of operations. Typical questions to identify important hazards include:
- How much energy would be released if the system suddenly failed?
- Is the system in a manned or high-dollar-value area? If yes, have we satisfied all basic criteria, including overpressure testing of the pressure vessel, as may be required by rules elsewhere in this document?
- Have potential hazards to adjacent work areas been considered?
- Should the system be relocated to further minimize risk?
- Have hazards posed by the presence of toxic or flammable substances been protected against?
- What further design features (e.g., mechanical interlock or entry control) can be incorporated to enhance safety?
- Have emergency shutdown features been provided? Can features be easily activated, and when they are needed, are they effective promptly?
- Have the relief devices been properly set?
- Have pressure vessels been properly identified?
- There should be labels on all vessels, as specified in Ch. 4.
- Have personnel been adequately trained to operate the system?
- Is it clear in posted instructions that only personnel designated by the responsible manager are authorized to operate the system?
- Are instructions available on how to operate the system safely? If yes, is the system controlled so that the operator must follow these instructions before startup?
- Are technical work documents (TWDs) current? Have they been signed off by management at the appropriate level?
Requirements
Managers shall ensure that:
Shane Page, srpage@sandia.gov
Al Bendure, aobendu@sandia.gov
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