PURPOSE
• Poorly planned excavations can result in damage to underground services,
such as electrical lines, natural gas lines, water lines, sewers and drains.
• The consequence of damaged service lines is often complete shutdown of
operations resulting in major business losses.
• The purpose of Permit is to ensure the safety of personnel and prevent
damage to any underground services.
SCOPE:
• Issued for all the routine / non-routine Excavation (drilling, digging etc.)
jobs. Process, Utilities and Oil Movement area and all other areas of
refinery including buildings, offices.
PROCEDURE
•Any excavation work it is essential to identify all below ground facilities/services in the area.
•Typical services to be found below ground are:Electric cables,Telecom/Instrument
cables,Pipelines for gas, water, oil.
ISSUANCE OF EXCAVATION PERMIT:
• The Originating Authority will raise the Excavation permit by completing the ‘Originating
Authority’ section.
• The name of the department of Accepting Authority
• Detailed description of the job to be done, area of the excavation work
• Type of Excavation (Drilling / Digging) , Depth/width/length of excavation
• Validity period and Action and conditions for the safe execution of the job
• Job associated hazards / Residual hazards
• Client make sure that any necessary gas tests are carried out before the excavation
job.
• Client will make sure that all the sections of the Maintenance department are
informed about the location.
• Accepting Authority will arrange the drawing of the underground facilities from
Engineering services Department and get the permit signed from;
• Engineer/Supervisor of concerned area
• Electrical , Instrument Engineer , Mechanical Engineer , Telecom Engineer
• Then Originating authority will sign the permit.
• The Accepting Authority will check the precautions taken .
• Accepting Authority will make sure that his team understands all hazards /
Residual hazards of the job.
• All the Maintenance Engineers/Supervisors will have to make sure that the
proposed excavation site is free from any underground facilities.
• If any underground facility are present near the excavation site, it will be
indicated on the permit.
• Both authority will make sure that the underground facilities do not get damaged during
the excavation work and area operator ensure site safe.
VALIDITY OF EXCAVATION PERMIT:
• The validity is not limited to 24 hours and not need of revalidated at end of
each shift.
• This permit can be issued for seven days maximum.
• However, the cold work permit will be issued as normal with the excavation
permit and revalidated after each shift.
• The validity period of the excavation permit shall be mentioned on the
permit.
PRECAUTIONARY STEPS:
• Gas testing and Confined Space Entry Permit will be required for more than 4
feet excavation.
• The Excavation Permit may be issued for one week but the associated
cold/hot work permit will be issued daily.
• The No. of related Cold Work Permit will also be mentioned on the permit.
• The authorized supervisors will sign the permit after carrying out the visit.
• If the excavation is to be done in area that does not belong to any supervisor
then Excavation Permit will be issued by SER (Shift Engineer Refinery).
• If the electrical tools and machines used for the excavation are not
intrinsically safe, then Hot Work Permit will also be issued for
classified areas (Zone 0, 1, 2).
• If excavation goes more than 5 feet then a suitable technique
(shoring, benching, sloping, shielding) should be selected.
• No worker shall enter or work in excavations where standing water
is visible.
• The removed soil should not be stockpiled closer than 2 ft. from
the excavation’s edge.
• A means of egress from a trench such as ladder, ramp, or stairway shall
be located within 25 ft. of the worker.
• The bottom of the shielding system can not be positioned higher than 2
ft. above the bottom of the excavation.
• Any excavation left unattended must be barricaded, fenced or otherwise
protected against accidental entry by pedestrians.
• No employee shall be permitted underneath loads handled by lifting
digging equipment.
