Certification for flange work
During a two-month period 70 to 80 employees in BIS Production Partner and their working partners have been participating in courses and have been certified for flange-work.
This certification is required by government (OLF 118) for work offshore starting 2011.
The participants are employees from BIS Production Partner, from sites in Glomfjord, Holmestrand, Rjukan, Porsgrunn, Sweden and also employees from partnership-companies such as Ineos Norge (VCM/Klor), Ineos Bamble (Borealis), Noretyl and Yara. The courses have been held in government-approved premises at Herøya Industripark in Porsgrunn. BIS Production Partner Academy administrates the course; Hydratight does the instruction and the practical management for the teaching.
Being ahead
Certification requirement will come also for work onshore, believes Senior Consultant Erna Flattum Berg in BIS Production Partner Academy. Statoil is now starting to require certification for flange-work at their land-based installations.
BIS Production Partner wants their mechanics, industrial pipefitters, and engineers who work with flanges, to be able to document their qualifications. We want to be ahead of the development. We know that the demands for certifications will come, and then our employees are already trained and certified within this field. It is in our values that we will build competency so our employees are able to master their tasks.
Establishing networks
The main purpose of this education is to give the course participants fundamental knowledge of preparation, planning, execution and documentation of work with flange-installation, such as bolt torque of flanges on high-pressure hydro-carbon transmitting process systems. The course consists of 22.5 hours of theoretical and practical training including exam and certification of the participants. After four years, the participants must be re-certified through an inter-active test.
It is important for BIS Production Partner to have employees who can document theirs competence. This training session will prepare us to meet official requirements and requirements from the oil companies to perform this type of work onshore and offshore, concludes Flattum Berg.