Accidents during Turnarounds, Cleanings, and Other Infrequent Operations

Infrequent operations, such as turnaround services and cleaning operations, pose unique hazards due to their unfamiliarity to operators and plant personnel.  For example, cleaning chemicals and methods can have unforeseen reactions with scale material, the chemistry of which may not be well-understood.  Cleaning chemicals, if mixed improperly, can form hazardous byproducts including acetone-peroxides.  Turnaround services may create a false sense of security because the plant is not in operation, which eliminates many of the commonly encountered hazards.  Turnaround services, however, can be hazardous, especially if proper precautions have not been taken when shutting down the plant.  Avoidance of accidents during these infrequent operations requires similar hazard analyses to those for standard operations, but these may not be thoroughly performed if the operation appears safe.  Multiple case studies will be presented on accidents that have occurred during infrequent operations and the lessons learned from those incidents will be discussed.