ESS Safeforce use Assettagz to manage safety equipment during oil refinery shutdown

ESS Safeforce (ESS), the Safety Equipment experts, specialise in ‘Shutdown Services’ operations, providing safety equipment to large industrial sites when they are shut down for maintenance.

Their latest project, the controlled shutdown of the Valero Pembroke oil Refinery in southwest Wales, is the first for ESS using Assettagz.

The two-month project sees Assettagz being used to manage the daily on/off hire of safety equipment and consumables to the many sub-contractors working on-site, including: transportable gas monitors, gas detectors, ATEX rated radios, cable location devices and harnesses.

ESS decided to deploy Assettagz because it offers them six key benefits:

• Quick deployment – the system could be up and running within a day of arriving on-site
• Complete control over shutdown equipment – ESS have the data and tools available to manage all of its shutdown services equipment effectively
• Identification of equipment users – ESS are able to record which equipment has been hired to which worker, including time and signature capture
• Monitoring of consumables usage – ESS can also record issue of consumables such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), to help prevent excessive use
• Visual inspection on return of equipment – ESS can ensure that all equipment is tested and inspected after it is returned and before it is hired out again
• Reporting – ESS receives daily reports of hire and consumables utilisation, while the Valero Management team only require weekly summaries. Sub-contractors also receive a report of equipment which is still on-hire to their workers at the end of each week

The ESS project uses rugged Psion WorkAbout Pro 3 handhelds with integrated RFID readers and 1-D barcode scanners. A range of RFID tags are being used to identify the different types of equipment, while sub-contractors are identified using the barcode on the ID card already issued to them by Valero.

With the project now underway, Jonathan Newport, Managing Director at ESS Safeforce, talks about his experience of Assettagz:

"ESS Safeforce were awarded the contract at Pembroke Refinery at short notice and with Christmas pending, we required a method of tracking the issue and return of equipment during the shutdown. The client was demanding the highest possible levels of asset traceability to reduce the risk of equipment losses.

We contacted 4hSolutions who rose to the challenge and in the matter of days Assettagz was set up and we were trained and ready to go.

The job started immediately after the New Year break and pleasingly, due to the critical nature of the project, 4hSolutions provided on site technical support during the first few days to ensure all operators were familiar and confident with how Assettagz operated."

About Assettagz Assettagz is 4hSolutions’ mobile asset management solution that uses Windows mobile computers, Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags, barcodes and GPS tracking to give full control and visibility of assets.

Read more about ESS on their website: www.ess-safeforce.com

For more information about Assettagz please contact 4hSolutions on +44 (0)116 216 5000 or email info@4hSolutions.com