Electrical equipment designed to be used in potentially hazardous and explosive environments needs to adhere to higher safety standards and undergo more stringent safety assessments than other equipment. This is fundamental for preventing accidental ignition of surrounding gases, leading to potential explosions.
Contrary to popular belief, it's not just the Oil and Gas industry that has hazardous areas requiring such inspections. Pharmaceuticals, Aviation and Aerospace, Petrochemicals and Energy (just to name a few), spend a huge amount of their time, money, and resources on inspecting and maintaining their equipment. A routine and thorough inspection of assets used in hazardous areas are essential to validate the equipment as "fit for purpose" to verify and document that the protection features are still viable to avert an accident in the event of a gas leak.
One vital inspection carried out is referred to as 'Ex inspection' (Explosive Atmosphere equipment), involving the inspection and testing of the equipment and operational instrumentation to ensure it remains safe. In many cases, these inspections are still handled manually with paper-based logs and checklists used for equipment examinations. This process can be ineffective, which can cause delays in repairing any potential faults.
Having a robust Ex inspection solution enables a quicker turnaround to repair faulty and ineffective equipment, as well as providing greater control over equipment integrity to ensure compliance with the latest safety regulations.
To support asset managers and operators who carry out inspections in hazardous environments, here at AG we have designed some beneficial new features due to be released later this year. Our Smart Inspections solution enables you to manage your inspections all within your existing SAP system.
Here’s a sneak peek at what some of the new features will offer:
Centralised data for real-time collaboration by multiple users at the same time
Standardised records to improve the overall quality of data for analysis and decision-making
Improved user experience, allowing inspections to be performed more quickly and efficiently
Reduced operational costs and reduced equipment downtime
We’ll share more on these valuable and innovative new features in the next instalment of our blog series, coming soon. Subscribe here to receive all our latest updates.
