Plan the silo 2 clean and confined space entry

You are a maintenance fitter in Maintenance and Engineering acting as the permit holder.

Simulated workplaceIntermediate missionCAQA Apex Manufacturing

What is going on

Cement silo 2 at Yatala has a build-up on the cone that is restricting discharge, and it is scheduled for cleaning during the shutdown on 14 September. Permit PTW-26-0318 has been requested. The silo is on the confined space register. Marcus Delaney wants the job planned so that entry is avoided if possible, and if entry is required, that every control in the confined space entry procedure is in place before Rowan Fitzgerald issues the permit. The silo fill line is fed by the pneumatic tanker connection and the discharge feeds the blender weigh hopper through a rotary valve. The multi-gas detector was last calibrated in July. An apprentice will be the standby person for the first time.

Marcus Delaney, Maintenance Manager
Subject: Silo 2 clean during the shutdown

Silo 2 cement silo has a build-up on the cone and needs cleaning during the shutdown on the 14th. Permit PTW-26-0318 has been requested. I want you to plan the job: confirm whether entry can be avoided, prepare the job safety analysis, arrange isolation of the fill line and the discharge, organise gas testing, the standby person and the rescue plan, and have the confined space permit ready for Rowan to issue. Use the confined space entry procedure and the isolation and lockout procedure.

Your brief

Plan the silo clean so that entry is avoided or, if unavoidable, is fully controlled: identify the isolations, prepare the job safety analysis, arrange atmospheric testing, ventilation, standby and rescue arrangements, and prepare the permit to work and confined space permit ready for issue.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

Read the confined space entry procedure and the isolation and lockout procedure, and check the confined space register entry and the isolation schedule for silo 2.
Assess whether the build-up can be cleared from outside the silo using the air lance or vibrators, and record your reasoning for or against entry as the procedure requires.
Identify every energy and material source to be isolated, including the tanker fill connection, the rotary valve, the aeration pads and the material above the entry point, and list the isolation points.
Prepare the job safety analysis with the crew using the template, covering engulfment, atmosphere, dust, access at height and the hierarchy of controls.
Confirm the multi-gas detector calibration status, plan the atmospheric tests before and during entry and specify the ventilation to be used.
Brief the apprentice on the standby person duties and the rescue plan, and confirm the rescue equipment that must be at the entry point.
Complete the permit to work form and the confined space section, update PTW-26-0318 in the permit register with the plan and submit it to Rowan Fitzgerald for review.

My notes: what did I enjoy, and what surprised me?

What someone in this role would produce

Written assessment of whether entry can be avoided
Isolation list matched to the isolation schedule
Completed job safety analysis
Permit to work form with confined space details ready for issue
Standby and rescue briefing note

Printing this is a record of what you explored. It is not a certificate or a qualification.