CEPA FOUNDATION
Developing construction best practices to enhance safety
Construction plays a vital role in ensuring the safety of a pipeline. That’s because the standards and practices used in construction will have an impact on the safety of a pipeline’s day-to-day operations.
The Pipeline Construction Safety Roundtable was formed with that in mind – it’s a steering committee working together to develop and share construction best practices that will improve safety. The committee consists of members of the CEPA Foundation.
In 2016 and into 2017, the steering committee focused on advancements in three key areas: driver safety, proximity sensors and camera monitor systems study, and sideboom operator certification.
Driver safety program
To reduce motor vehicle incidents during construction, the steering committee developed an industry-wide driver safety program. The initiative focused on collaborating and sharing best practices from individual company driver safety programs to develop one that can be implemented across the supply chain. In 2017, the steering committee will release guidelines outlining these best practices.
Proximity Sensors and Camera Monitor Systems Study
As part of the initiative, the steering committee conducted a safety technology trial to explore driver support technologies, such as alarms, cameras and radar that could potentially be used in heavy equipment operations. A report with recommendations will be published later in 2017, but CEPA Foundation member, Caterpillar Inc., has already implemented some of the technology recommendations into their equipment.
Sideboom Operator Certification program
Sidebooms are a type of heavy equipment used to move and set pipe into a trench during construction. As many as five sidebooms can be used at the same time during the construction process, so sideboom operators must be coordinated, skilled and have expertise with the equipment in order to safely move the pipe.
That’s why the Pipeline Construction Safety Roundtable steering committee developed an initiative to ensure that the industry has a consistent approach to assessing the competency of sideboom operators.
The initiative began in 2015; as of mid-year 2017, the steering committee has reviewed how sideboom operator competency is currently assessed, and continues to monitor what opportunities exist for working with other organizations, unions and educational institutes on standardizing the approaches to assessing operator competency.