j5 Operations Management Solutions
Solution Overview
Inadequate Permit to Work processes have contributed to devastating industrial accidents such as the Pacific Gas and Electric Company Natural Gas Pipeline Puncture (1981), the Occidental Piper Alpha Explosion (1988), the Phillips Petroleum Chemical Plant Explosion and Fire (1989) and the Fire at Hickson & Welch Limited (1992). Such systems may also be known as Safe System of Work (SSOW) or Control of Work (COW). Typically, there are many such Permits in operation in the different areas of an industrial site and in various stages of completion. There are also typically different classes of work permit, which require different means of managing and certification. It is essential that all these factors are considered for the safe operation of the site. To remedy these pains, companies across the world utilize j5 Permit to Work (PTW). The j5 PTW application provides an effective, consistent and visual interface for the management and control of Permits. All the steps are audited and there is a complete record of all transactions in the process. Summaries of j5 PTW records are displayed in j5 Shift Handover reports and can be shared by email with nominated recipients.
j5 Permit to Work (PTW) allows users to create Work Permit records, control the processes around these records, effectively manage, and have complete visibility at every step of the process, combining human processes with OSIsoft PI System data. It improves the awareness of site issues by integrating a PTW system into the real-time process within a familiar web browser environment. It improves site-wide communication because a Work Permit can be created, defined, managed and tracked by site personnel in real-time. It assists with record keeping and reporting for compliance purposes, and it ensures that information is retained in a consistent format for easy retrieval and analysis in future. j5 PTW is one of the many tools within the j5 Operations Management Platform that can interact with real-time data from the OSIsoft PI System.
Solution Approach
Client-side: Any authorized user can access j5 Permit to Work (PTW) from standard web browsers (Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox) with a network connection to the central server. No other client-side software is required. Android, iOS and Windows mobile applications are also available, allowing syncing between the control room and field operations. Central Server: j5 PTW requires a central application server running Windows Server 2012+ and a SQL, Oracle or PostgreSQL database. A hosted or virtual machine is also feasible for the central server. PI System Integration: j5 Operations Management Software offers a standard interface with the OSIsoft PI System for the integration of real-time and historical data, assets and event frames. This data can be used for reports, detail and workflows triggered by events. The following other j5 Applications are available on the same user interface: j5 Operations Logbook, j5 Shift Handover, j5 Standing Orders, j5 Inspection Rounds, j5 Work Instructions, j5 Incident Management, j5 Management of Change, j5 Event Manager, j5 Product Movements, j5 Action Management and j5 IndustraForm® Templates (a flexible technology for transforming spreadsheets and forms into enterprise applications). j5 IndustraForm Templates, j5 Inspection Rounds, j5 Operations Logbook and j5 Standing Orders are also available on j5 Mobile.