I work in a Refinery. Most of our plant is Class 1 Div 2 with some areas unclassified or Class 1 Div 1.We have some areas which over the years may have changed classifaction or was incorrect to begin with. Who has the authority to classify a specific area, process or building?
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Who classifies?
- Thread starter sargecpd
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Area Classification documentation is considered "PSM" documentation (Process Safety Management) and per government regulations need to be kept updated to actual plant configurations and conditions.
Typically in refineries there are studies that were done outlining the hazardous materials in the different areas, that is either done in house or by outside Engineering Companies. Then the Electrical Engineers (Either in house or outside Engineering Companies) in consultation with Process Engineers develope the Area Classification drawings in compliance with API 500 and NEC.
Someone from the Plant needs to have ownership of the documents for purposes of OSHA and PSM audits.
At our facility this rests with the Electrical Engineering Group, Other sites may have a central engineering group, or an E/I Maintenance group that does this function.
Typically in refineries there are studies that were done outlining the hazardous materials in the different areas, that is either done in house or by outside Engineering Companies. Then the Electrical Engineers (Either in house or outside Engineering Companies) in consultation with Process Engineers develope the Area Classification drawings in compliance with API 500 and NEC.
Someone from the Plant needs to have ownership of the documents for purposes of OSHA and PSM audits.
At our facility this rests with the Electrical Engineering Group, Other sites may have a central engineering group, or an E/I Maintenance group that does this function.
In the refinery where I work area classification typically is the responsibility of the electrical project engineer. I assume this is because any process change that would trigger a classification change would be handled by a project engineer in the same department.
Any time a process change is made an MOC is conducted for the process change. One of the action items assigned to me or my boss in the PSR 4 meeting (Process Safety Review stage 4) is to review the change in process characteristics and determine the change in area classification. On small projects we may handle this internally, or we may include it in an engineering work scope and hire a consulting firm to determine the classification. Either way it is documented that we were tasked with figuring it out and updating the area classification maps. When the classification changes the operations managers in the area are also notified because it may impact safety procedures in the area, or we may need to install barriers around the area to notify personnel that a hot work permit is required in the area.
Has your plant been through the OSHA national emphasis program audit yet? After the BP Texas City explosion OSHA is visiting all of the refineries in the country to do a comprehensive PSM audit. Area classification is a key item that they are looking for - both that the electrical equipment in the plant matches the classification on the map, and they check the methodology used to classify areas.
Any time a process change is made an MOC is conducted for the process change. One of the action items assigned to me or my boss in the PSR 4 meeting (Process Safety Review stage 4) is to review the change in process characteristics and determine the change in area classification. On small projects we may handle this internally, or we may include it in an engineering work scope and hire a consulting firm to determine the classification. Either way it is documented that we were tasked with figuring it out and updating the area classification maps. When the classification changes the operations managers in the area are also notified because it may impact safety procedures in the area, or we may need to install barriers around the area to notify personnel that a hot work permit is required in the area.
Has your plant been through the OSHA national emphasis program audit yet? After the BP Texas City explosion OSHA is visiting all of the refineries in the country to do a comprehensive PSM audit. Area classification is a key item that they are looking for - both that the electrical equipment in the plant matches the classification on the map, and they check the methodology used to classify areas.
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