ETMS2.com

Safety Documentation

Documentation provides information and direction on the key safety aspects for the installation, operation, and maintenance of manufacturing equipment. These key safety aspects include:

. Guidance on general criteria associated with effective presentation of information in written documentation and for developing manuals for manufacturing equipment
. Guidance on the information related to the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) design elements of the manufacturing equipment to be included in the documentation
The purpose of developing documentation for manufacturing equipment is to provide sufficient information to properly address key requirements associated with the installation, operation, maintenance, service, and decommissioning of manufacturing equipment. This information addressed in the documentation / manual includes the following major categories:

EHS information needed to install, operate and maintain equipment safely.
. Information on the hazards associated with the equipment,
. How to avoid or minimize hazards,
. Information on the environmental impacts associated with using, maintaining, servicing, and decommissioning the equipment

Organization
Safety documentation is typically organized with the following sections:
. General Elements of Manuals ­ This section provides a description of elements and ideas that are common to all types of manuals.<
.Manual Safety Section ­ This section provides a description of the information required in the safety section that should be presented in all manuals associated with the equipment.
. Other Elements of Operation and Maintenance Manuals ­ This section provides additional detail on other elements specific to operation and maintenance manuals that are not covered in the Safety Section.
. Elements of Installation Manuals ­ This section discusses issues specific to the installation of equipment.
Environmental Considerations ­ This section presents items that should be considered and included in the equipment documentation regarding the environmental impact of the equipment.

General Elements Of Manuals

Formatting
A vital element of any document prepared to impart information is its readability. All manuals should be easy to read and follow; therefore, good formatting is essential.

Some of the items to keep in mind when formatting a manual are:

Clear organization with section and subsection headings
Table of contents detailed enough to use as a reference
Font and font size that are easy to read
Descriptive title, date, revision, and part number (if appropriate)
Use of lists or tables of data when appropriate
Inclusion of an index, if appropriate
Use of sketches or photos when possible


Equipment Identification
Manuals should clearly identify the specific piece of equipment for which they were prepared and all associated features or add-ons.

Training
The manuals should clearly describe the type and level of training needed to safely operate, maintain, or service the equipment. This might include an in-house training on the equipment or procedures, or external training, such as certification as an electrician.

Procedures
Each operation, maintenance, or installation procedure should have the following elements, specific to that task.

Title
Training
Reference Documentation
Preparation
Equipment
Supplies
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
System preparation
Energy Isolation
Individual steps of procedure, with safety warnings before each step
Clean up
Return to service

Definitions
Equipment manuals should contain a section defining terms used throughout. These might include strict regulatory definitions of safety terms, or internal definitions of equipment components

Manual Safety Section
Each manual should include a safety section. The safety section should describe the general safety hazards associated with the equipment and protections provided. The purpose of a safety manual is to the provide information on the key EHS aspects of the equipment in order to ensure that the equipment is used in a manner to avoid personnel injury, equipment damage and damage to the environment.

All persons working on a piece of equipment should be able to gain a thorough understanding of the potential hazards related to the equipment and be able to conduct procedures in a safe manner based on the information provided in the manual created. The manual will provide essential training material for employees and service technicians who will work on the equipment.

The introduction to any safety section should identify (list) and locate the potential hazards inherently associated with the equipment, such as:


Electrical Shock (AC, DC, RF)
Inhalation of hazardous gases
Exposure to process by-products
Non-ionizing radio frequency (RF) radiation
Hazardous Materials (list chemicals)
Mechanical Hazards (moving parts, heavy objects, awkward reaches, hot surfaces)
Environmental Hazards (hazardous waste, unintentional releases)
The safety section is then usually divided into the types of safety hazards present in the equipment, as listed above.
Other Elements Of Operation And Maintenance Manuals
Manuals must contain enough information on proper operation and maintenance methods to ensure safe operation and maintenance of the equipment, with warnings of potential hazards and how to avoid them. The manuals should be formatted so that the user can easily ascertain the risk associated with performing a given task. All foreseeable operation, maintenance, and trouble-shooting tasks should be explored. This includes clean-up of spills or other fault recovery tasks. The following sections describe other features of operation and maintenance manuals.

System Description Manuals should contain a description of the system, including hardware configuration and functions, power requirements and output. A description of the subsystems and support equipment should also be included. From the system description, the reader of the manual should be able to obtain a basic understanding of the operation of the equipment.
System Start-up and Shutdown
Proper system start-up procedures should be detailed in the operation and maintenance manuals. If appropriate, start-up from all states of the equipment (e.g., initial start-up, after different types of maintenance, after EMO) should be provided.
Maintenance Schedules
Operation and maintenance manuals must provide a maintenance schedule to provide a clear picture of the effort required to maintain the system. The frequency of each task should be determined, and included. This may include daily checks; weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual maintenance tasks; or periodic inspections. The schedule should be easy to follow, and the corresponding procedures should be easy to find in the maintenance manuals.

Note: Operation and maintenance manuals must provide maintenance and troubleshooting procedures needed to maintain the effectiveness of safety design features or devices, and a schedule for their implementation.
Legal Safety Information
If appropriate, operation and maintenance manuals can contain the following legal safety information:


Discussion of laws and regulations regarding installation, operation, maintenance, supervision, and decommissioning that are specific to the equipment and to the jurisdiction in which it is installed
How field retrofits are announced and implemented
What repair and maintenance services will be available after equipment is discontinued
Who is responsible for add on equipment
Who is responsible for repair
How to transport parts for repair
Extent of supplier responsibility for equipment that is modified, sold, or transported by user
Extent of responsibility for parts designed or modified by user
Responsibility for failure to observe instructions and cautions in manuals


Elements of Installation Manuals
Manuals for the equipment should include either a separate Installation Manual or a section of the manual focused on installation issues and information. The information in the Installation Manual or Installation section should include the following topics as applicable:

Equipment Placement, Leveling
Seismic
Hookups ­ Power, Water, Pneumatic Air, Chemistry, Vacuum
Cooling Water
Items Supplied by the Facility
Abatement
Ventilation
Emergency Contact Information
Tools Required
Detection
Alarms
Checklist


Environmental Considerations
Environmental Regulations
Generally, when hazardous materials are used with equipment, there is also a variety of environmental regulations that govern the storage, use and disposal of these materials. Equipment may need environmental permits from water, air, fire, or environmental agencies from local to federal level.

Regulations that may affect the transportation, installation and use of equipment should be identified and provided in the manual. It is important to include this information in equipment manuals to ensure that equipment is used legally and safely.

Resource Conservation
Chemical selection process used when designing the equipment should be included in the manual. It is becoming increasingly important that design processes positively affect the environment and improvements are made over time. Therefore, information that shows environmental improvements should be included in the manuals.

Control of Releases
The control of intended and unintended releases means the method designed in to the equipment to handle hazardous materials during regular process. Equipment that regularly handles hazardous materials will have control measures to eliminate or reduce exposure to personnel and the environment. Methods of controlling hazardous materials should be described. This allows the employee to understand the control mechanisms in place to safely use the equipment. Defeat of these systems could cause unintended exposure to personnel and the environment.

Hazardous Waste
Hazardous waste may be generated during process and maintenance operations. Generally, if hazardous materials are used during process or maintenance and there are by-products or excess materials left over, then these materials will be regulated as hazardous waste. This waste needs to be identified in the manual and instructions regarding the proper identification, storage and handling of this waste should be included.

Solid Waste
In addition to hazardous waste, solid waste may be generated. In this section, identify the amount and types of solid waste. If components can be recycled, identify the components, their recycle content (metal, type of plastic, cardboard, etc.), and their weight (if possible).

If packaging is reusable or returnable, include return and reuse information, including contact information.

Transport of Equipment
The manuals should describe the steps that are required for preparing equipment for transport within a site or between sites. This should include stabilizing delicate or sensitive components or even removal of critical parts prior to the move.

Equipment Decontamination and Decommissioning
At the end of life, equipment may be contaminated with hazardous materials and/ or by-products. Procedures to clean and prepare the equipment for disposal or decommissioning should be prepared and included in the manuals. Specific components and parts that may be contaminated with residual materials should be identified and instructions to handle them should be provided. Procedures to decommission equipment should include the following information:

Identification of hazardous materials found in the equipment, or instructions on how to identify materials
List of areas and/or parts that may be contaminated with these materials
Instructions on how to clean equipment
Instructions on disassembling equipment, if appropriate
Instructions to package equipment for transport, if appropriate