Safety Critical Systems - Chlorine Store Upgrades at Water Treatment Works

• Project management and delivery of a complete turnkey solution
• Upgraded chlorine stores to become compliant with HSG 40 regulations
• Bespoke training provided to ensure safe methods of work and safeguard personnel

Problem

The chlorine store facilities at Scottish Water's water treatment works were inspected and assessed by Balfour Beatty against the HSG 40 and Scottish Water design specification requirements. Xm Services was awarded a contract by Balfour Beatty to undertake and complete some of the site surveys and help define the scope of work necessary to bring them into compliance.

Balfour Beatty compiled the results from the site surveys to define the scope of work needed to bring each of the sites into compliance; however they needed assistance to deliver the mechanical and electrical engineering aspects of the work and subsequently issued tender packages through their subsidiary company Birse Water for competitive tender.

Solution

Xm Services participated in the tendering process to deliver the necessary mechanical and electrical modifications at five chlorine stores and was awarded a contract by Birse Water which included the following scope of work:

• Design, manufacture and replace chlorine gas manifolds and vent gas pipework
• Design, manufacture and install new chlorine gas detection and control systems
• Installation of new chlorine drum emergency shutdown systems
• Refurbishment of chlorine store heating and lighting systems

Combining the scope of work with the highly toxic characteristics of chlorine gas and the critical function of chlorine dosing in the water treatment process meant that there was a high level of risk exposure with respect to the health and safety of personnel on site and the local environment.

In order to manage and control the associated risks and ensure the project was successfully delivered within the specified timeframe and budget Xm Services' focussed on the following key areas:

Quality: Development of a bespoke project quality plan that included hold and witness test activities at critical points and rigorous implementation of Xm Services' ISO9001:2000 Quality Management System throughout the design, manufacturing, installation and commissioning aspects of the project to ensure conformity with the relevant CE standards.

Safety: In order to ensure its employees worked safely Xm Services invested in providing additional training to its engineering workforce including:

• CITB (5-day) Site Manager Safety Training Scheme to comply with CDM regulations
• EUSR National Water Hygiene Certificate to work safely on sites classified as restricted operations
• Chlorine awareness training to ensure each employee working on site was aware of the risks involved with chlorine gas installations
• Breathing apparatus training enabling chlorine pipework to be modified safely

Project Management: Effective management of the project was delivered through maintaining clear and regular communications with the customer and internally within Xm Services, which included:

• Issuing weekly progress reports and 2 week look ahead programmes to ensure the project time constraints were met and coordinate upcoming activities with the customer and other contractors working on site
• Preparation of individual, site specific risk assessments and method statements which were reviewed and approved by both Xm Services' and Birse Water's Health and Safety Managers
• Performing internal health and safety site audits to ensure compliance with prescribed risk assessments and method statements

Benefits

Through undertaking the project Xm Services was able to deliver local, responsive and reliable mechanical and electrical engineering products and services to enable a critical and high risk project to be delivered successfully.