SAFETY DETERMINANTS

3.2 Preparations

A gas turbine, name 'Josephine', was my example for an Overhaul.

This unit, producing 70 MW, was stripped for a major inspection in 2007.

I verified the task list in detail, to confirm the planning made for this machine.

A task list, that starts with the handover to maintenance, and finishes with commissioning as a predecessor of handover to operation.

Good preparations for an overhaul, require a planner who starts with a draft list of tasks; these tasks have to be executed, by different teams, with different professions, from different countries. The implementation of an overhaul depends, as the mechanism of a Swiss Watch, on teamwork and timing.  Good preparations are especially crucial for the quality of the project. But, even more important long-term, are the objectives for the Overhaul that have to be recognizable in the task list. Further the third Support 'Safety' is nowadays completely depending on a proper preparation of the overhaul performed by craftsmen without specific tacit knowledge.

3.3 Threats

Barriers in the preparation of an overhaul have to be paved. The situation within maintenance services in The Netherlands and in the Western atmosphere shows a declining tacit knowledge and experience; a result of slimming down of organizations, politic choices (schooling), or a high workload (difficult to find people for areas of specific practice). Nevertheless, the use of people, available with tacit knowledge, gives still opportunities for preparing and executing an overhaul.

3.4 Opportunities

I listed some prospects, that had to be completed during the preparation of the overhaul.

• Make a scope of work as detailed as possible.
• Make a network planning with task of about 4 hours.
  a more detailed planning is not required!
• Assign resources (people) to tasks and reschedule tasks.
• Organize people in an organizational chart, use it as a cross check on completeness.
• Optimize the network planning (cost – duration – scope).
• Add a Quality-Assurance Plan as an integrated plan in the network planning.
• Add a Safety Plan as an integrated plan in the network planning.
• Pack the three plans into a ‘Project Charter’ and complete this charter.
• List required spare parts for the ‘Hot Path’.
• Analyze inspection reports and consult available expert experience (OEM).
• Analyze the ‘long term spare parts list’ and consider replacements based on residual life of items.
• Update existing maintenance strategies focused on scenarios for the coming 10 years.
• Consider optimization of the actual overhaul interval.

3.5 Forces affecting

In the preparation of the planned revision, the objectives for this revision should be worn in her banner. But focus shouldn't be concentrated on the objectives for Safety only, but also on objectives for the overhaul; i.e. a well performing and reliable unit which 'capital items” are used optimally. All six quality aspects, influenced by a good preparation, could be summarized as:

	Quality of the Project		Quality of the Overhaul
	Cost		Performance
	Duration		Reliability
	Scope of work		Lifetime