For those that may not be aware, Testex have run breakfast meetings for a number of years now, inviting local Engineers to attend and discuss topical Inspection and related engineering matters. We had a fantastic turnout-thank you and it was great to see everyone, and welcome some new faces.

This event, held at Catch, NE. Lincolnshire, Wednesday 29^th June, was the first since COVID restrictions were lifted. It proved to be a great meeting and sparked some very useful debate around EEMUA 231 – We have provided a synopsis below.

EMMUA 231 is a good practice guide and it is specifically written for the mechanical integrity of plant containing hazardous substances. It provides guidance to any business/operation that falls outside the scope of the PSSR’s, but has equipment that contains a hazardous substance.

It is very topical at the moment as we are seeing an increase in HSE visits and interventions around this subject, with a number of clients approaching us to help them with their application of 231, most especially the Written Schemes of Examination (WSEs).

In brief, the guidance covers all onshore equipment that provides the primary containment boundary to hazardous substances, which includes pressure vessels, tanks, relief streams, atmospheric storage tanks, reactors and pipe work.

It states that the WSE is one of the most important documents associated with asset integrity and that an Integrity Assessor, (the equivalent of the Competent Person in the PSSRs) should develop the WSE’s – expected to be a Chartered Engineer with the experience and knowledge of the chemicals that are being used.

Some key takeaways, based on the debate;

• Generic WSE’s are not acceptable. Each asset has to be treated as being unique as the similar asset may be in a different location or subject to different atmospheric conditions and therefore degrade at different rates.
• A WSE for a multi-asset system is not considered acceptable. Best practice is one WSE per asset
• Work scopes must represent 100% of what’s in the WSE. The examination procedure section of the WSE drives the inspection and should be followed completely.
• The Integrity Assessor (termed Competent Person) in the PSSR’s needs to be a Chartered Engineer and have experience and knowledge of the chemicals contained within the assets he will be assessing.

As a note, whereas in the past the HSE might focus on the tanks and other static assets they are now also pushing for pipework to have its own WSE, not just an inspection plan. Trevor Richardson, our Asset Integrity Manager will be pleased to speak to you about this aspect.

If you don’t already have a copy, attached is a link for you to follow to download EEMUA 231. It’s a link to EEMUA itself, as although the document is FOC, I can’t provide you with a hard copy. https://www.eemua.org/Products/Publications/Digital/EEMUA-Publication-231.aspx . The document needs to be added to the cart, then you need to check out and register as an EEMUA customer to download it (the price is £0).

As always, If you need any further help, or information, please do not hesitate to contact us.