Managing the pipeline control room requires a tremendous amount of logging and recordkeeping to support safety and to meet compliance requirements. The question is, what tools are you using to support this function?
Paper recordkeeping, outdated software, or software that is not designed for pipeline operations will lead to more headaches trying to keep track of necessary records. That’s why we recommend that operators and control room managers advance to a modern electronic logging system to track activity in the control room.
Then, when controllers and other control room personnel perform their daily tasks, you will have software working in the background to natively create and store records that can be made available for review and audit support. It’s a much more streamlined, effective, and efficient way of achieving compliance and producing necessary reports to satisfy a PHMSA audit.
What Types of Logs Can Be Created Electronically?
Some operators simply need an electronic logbook to allow controllers to consistently log entries into software. Other operators need a more robust solution for electronic logging, shift handover logs, compliance logging, and reporting in compliance with the PHMSA Control Room Management Rule (49 CFR 192 and 195).
Regardless of your starting point, EnerSys can come alongside your operation to review your current logging approach. We’ll help identify areas of improvement and gaps that need to be closed. We’ll also look at your current tools to examine the viability of these tools to support the specific logging needs in your control room.
If you have already invested in software that is not specifically designed for the pipeline control room, we’ll work with you to identify a solution to optimize your current approach.
We don’t want you to incur more costs trying to achieve reliable logging and recordkeeping. Our goal is to help reduce your total cost of ownership, while providing you with the necessary tools to efficiently manage activity in the control room. Our team of experts can help identify the best way to achieve this objective given your current operating state and the available tools to support electronic logging.
The Benefits of Improving Electronic Logging Tools
Improving your operation’s electronic logging tools creates structure, improves reliability, and ensures consistency. If you are not realizing these benefits from your current approach, then it’s time to modernize your logging tools.
– A control room electronic logbook and shift handover tool ensures that operators comply with the reporting requirements of the CRM Rule.
– Implement a structured methodology for shift handover in compliance with the latest control room management requirements and the API 1168 industry standard, Pipeline Control Room Management.
– Structure the shift handover process to ensure efficient and consistent communication between controllers and other personnel.
– Automate shift handover reports using electronic logs to ensure that the data is consistent and readily available to support decision-making.
– Reliably track activity during each operating condition (normal, abnormal operation conditions, and emergency).
– Easily locate data in log entries. This is critical to easily retrieve data to simplify audit preparation and to satisfy a PHMSA inspection.
Consider this example of how the optimal approach to electronic logging can support your control room. PHMSA recently cited a pipeline control room for not having a reliable method for recording controller shift changes and the handover responsibility between controllers. This can be addressed through modern electronic logging tools.
Using tools, controllers can select the controlled areas in their area of responsibility when starting their shift, log activity during each operating condition, and also create proper documentation of temporary relief. This information can then be made available to the control room supervisor to help manage compliance logs, review and document each controller’s notes, and support other CRM Rule compliance activities. Ultimately, this leads to natural compliance to satisfy a PHMSA audit.
How EnerSys Can Help Your Operation with Electronic Logging
Our primary method for helping operators modernize electronic logging is through our POEMS CRM Suite software module, CRMgr.
Before we focus on implementing software, though, we assess the situation to capture your operation’s unique operating experience. We also want to understand your current challenges ensuring compliant activity in the control room. Then, we can strive for continual improvements leading up to the implementation of software tools.
Once we are on the same page about how to solve the challenge with electronic logging in the control room, we’ll work with you to fully implement and utilize our CRMgr module. We created CRMgr to provide operators with:
- Compliance support in alignment with the CRM Rule.
- A streamlined shift handover approach that conforms to API 1168.
- The ability to generate appropriate records based on logs in the control room.
As part of their normal activity in the control room, controllers can log shift activity, create log entries, and make notes on activity during abnormal operating conditions.
Then, control room supervisors can use the same software to manage incident logs, search log entries, review shift handover reports, create compliance logs, and generate reports to simplify the audit process.
– Earlier this year, we updated the software to add new compliance log types. Specifically, control room managers can create compliance logs that reflect the Team Training guidelines contained in the PHMSA CRM Rule. Now, you can create compliance logs that validate to a PHMSA inspector that your operation has complied with this aspect of the rule.
We encourage you to consider this opportunity to advance your electronic logging capabilities in the control room. This is a cost-efficient and effective approach to log data, track activity, ensure compliance, and produce records during an inspection.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation about your current logging approach. We would appreciate hearing from you to find out how we can support improvements. Let’s also see if CRMgr is the ideal software tool to solve logging issues in your control room.
Contact us by phone at 281-598-7100 to have a conversation with an expert member of our team. You can also email sales@enersyscorp.com or leave us a message through our website contact form.