Shift handover is a crucial exercise with a direct influence on production and safety. Faulty shift handover is known to cause maintenance difficulties such as plant upsets, unplanned shutdowns and product rework, which can result in significant revenue decline. Analysis by one oil & gas business revealed that while start-up, shutdown and changeover times estimate for less than 5% of an operation’s personnel time, 40% of plant events occur throughout this time. Every other occurrence or mishap in the process industry is linked to communication failures that transpired during shift handovers. The value of shift handover was highlighted in such significant oil & gas incidents as Piper Alpha, Texas City, Buncefield, and Deepwater Horizon. The Cullen report following the Piper Alpha accident examination stated, as one of many circumstances that contributed to the event, the failure of conveying information in shift handover. For example, information that a pressure safety valve had been eliminated and replaced by a blind flange was not communicated mid shifts. In addition to that, there was no written plan for shift handover and learning that was inscribed in a shift handover logbook was left to the lead operator’s preference. An explosion at a Buncefield oil warehouse depot was another occurrence where shift handover was one of many contributing circumstances that led to failure. The Buncefield incident investigation team announced that adequate arrangements for shift handover were not in place and there was uncertainty between supervisors about which tank was being filled, and the shift logbook was only utilized to obtain data about one of the pipelines. Furthermore, the logbook only knew the plant situation during end of the shift, and did not know of incidents occurring throughout the shift. Finally, it was reported that allotted time for handover between shift administrators was not adequate. The Texas City Refinery explosion in 2005 is an illustration of total collapse of shift handover management, in addition to a range of technical malfunctions that added to this incident. The investigation team found out no procedures were being applied during shift handover. The lack of a lead operator through shift handover, miscommunication, unclear learning and absence of needed details in the shift handover logbook were also apparent. Acting operators in a shift pattern for 30 back-to-back dates in such a dangerous plant led to extreme exhaustion among employees and displayed a lack of needed policy for shift work. Even though shift handover management and lessons uncovered from BP’s Grangemouth refinery incident in 2000 (which was comparable to the Texas City Refinery blast) were prepared, BP’s Texas City management did not seem to study from the lessons of the Grangemouth report.

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Shahram Vatanparast 1 | Aug 13, 2019 - In the oil & gas industry, hazards are inevitable and if they are not identified properly, they may lead to regrettable situations such as disasters. Continuous process in the oil & gas industry demands people who carry out operations and maintenance of oil & gas plants, usually within 24 hours, 7 days a week. Therefore, workers are frequently rotated on a routine basis within a cycle refereed as shift work. Within continuous process, shift handover is required between those who are on shift works. Shift handover is defined as transferring responsibilities and tasks from one individual to another or a work team and it is one of the best known types of safety critical communication.

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