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SAFETY MANAGEMENT IN INFOR EAM

Stay Safe, and Compliant

by Chris Westberry, Senior Consultant

EAM has had a section for Permits for years, but it was limited in scope and flexibility. With version 11, Infor has greatly expanded the tools available to the user, adding functionality to provide records for work place hazard identification, precautions and true status-able work permits. Now it is possible for businesses have their Safety Management become an active part of Maintenance and Repair activities in near real-time without someone having to chase them down via e-mails, phone calls, or physically hunting them down.

EAM's expanded Permitting and Lock-out/Tag-out tools now allow users to create custom lists of the Hazards and Precautions, as well as the step by step methods for both Isolating energy sources and re-energizing machinery.

In Infor EAM, Permits are not attached until a Work Order is released, helping to ensure that the current approved version is always the one associated with a Work Order when it is time to execute the job.

Imagine one step further: A job requiring a confined space permit is coming due. The plant has multiple confined spaces, so someone needs to verify that the confined space permit associated to the job is correct for the space where it will occur. Since a Permit to Work record has a Status field, as time for the job approaches, an Inbox on the Safety Manager's Start Center can be updated alerting him or her to the need to validate the permit's acceptability to the situation.

E-mail messages can also be sent using existing functionality to ensure that messages are communicated in a timely manner.

After reviewing the information, the Safety Manager can Approve the Permit to Work, letting Maintenance know that the work can be performed, also through Inbox alerts or e-mails messages.

This combination of statuses, communications options, and time-of-release updates to Permits to Work allow an organization to involve all the needed departments in a timely manner, creating a more stable, safer, well-planned and well-executed operation.

A host of new features for permitting comes with Infor EAM v11.x, and this module is part of the base package - you don’t have to buy any additional add-on products to make it work for your team.

GETTING STARTED WITH PERMIT TO WORK

Your team will need to plan how to use the Permit to Work and LOTO features in Infor EAM.

This isn’t just a simple “fill and forget” feature - it requires fore thought and planning.

Focus on key equipment in your facility and start documenting specific safety hazards and precautions, including needed PPE.

If you don’t have a designated Safety Officer, you’ll want to assign this task to a manager or supervisor to help with the status and review process.

Your maintenance and operations technicians will also need to be part of the plan - they can help identify safety issues, and double-check all safety procedures on the fly.

Taking this a step further, the Permit to Work module ties all of these features together into one package, which can be attached to Work Orders, whether they are reactive, Planned, or PM Scheduled generated. Going a step further, Permit to Work also includes time windows in which the work has to be completed before the permission to work expires.

Imagine that a Work Order is coming due to execute, but it was created 6 months ago in Awaiting Release status. Four months ago the Permit for this job was revised. In an older system, the permit would have been attached when the Work Order was created.

NOW IT IS POSSIBLE FOR BUSINESSES HAVE THEIR SAFETY MANAGEMENT BECOME AN ACTIVE PART OF MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR ACTIVITIES

NUTS AND BOLTS FOR INFOR EAM SAFETY MODULES

When you get down to the basics of using the safety management features in Infor EAM, you’ll need to take it one step at a time.

Elements for Permit to Work include:

Hazards
Precautions
Isolation Points
Lockout Boxes
Status codes and status authorizations for all elements
Permit to Work issues and reviews
Lock-out/Tag-out instructions built in the Task Plan module

Once you build your Permit to Work elements and assign them to Equipment or PM Schedules, you will need a designated person to review these elements on a regular basis.

In the end, you get a safety management system that helps keep your maintenance team safe, and your company compliant with OSHA and other regulator groups.

Features in Permit to Work include:

Identification of Hazards and Precautions
Task Instructions specific for each machine’s safety issues
Separation of energy isolation and re-energizing procedures
Attached at the Equipment, PM Schedule, or Work Order level
Can be placed under revision control

With Permit to Work and Lock-out/Tag-out in Infor EAM, your team can work safely on all maintenance jobs, and your company will stay compliant to safety regulations.