59: Equipment Records and Manuals Issue
Definition/Typical Issues
Have problems with design records caused problems with the operation, maintenance, or modification of equipment?
Was there an error, omission, or other problem with the manuals provided by the manufacturer? Did the facility personnel not have access to the manufacturers' manuals?
Did a missing, deficient, or poorly maintained manufacturer's manual or drawing contribute to a problem? Were manufacturers' manuals containing important design information missing? Were the manufacturers' manuals or drawings deficient in providing useful and necessary design information? Had drawings or manufacturers' manuals been poorly maintained? Were the manuals inaccessible or difficult to access by the personnel who needed them?
Was an "unofficial" copy of a record or drawing used?
Was the error caused by improper control of as-built documents?
Examples of documents that are addressed by this node include:
- Original equipment manufacturers' manuals
- Material requirements
- Bill of materials
- Drawings
Note 1: Problems with procedures are covered under the Procedure Issue (#122) node, and problems with policies are addressed under the Standards, Policies, and Administrative Controls (SPAC) Issue (#225) and Standards, Policies, and Administrative Controls (SPAC) Not Used (#230) nodes.
Examples
Example 1
- As part of a capacity upgrade, engineers attempted to determine the design throughput of a blender. No equipment records could be located to determine the design capacity of the equipment. As a result, a significant amount of time was required to recreate the information.
Example 2
- Maintenance procedures were being developed for a new freezer. Lack of design information required extensive field verification of equipment configuration to develop the procedure.
Example 3
- The facility had only one copy of the oil cooler manual. It was in poor condition with some torn and missing pages, indicating that it had been well used. The section regarding maintenance was missing several pages, so the maintenance on the oil cooler was not performed according to the manufacturer's recommendations. As a result, operators had great difficulty in operating the oil cooler.
Example 4
- The facility frequently purchased equipment that had been used at other facilities. As a result, personnel often did not have original equipment manufacturers' manuals for the equipment.
Example 5
- Drawings of the new pulverizer were not submitted to the drawing control system. As a result, field walkdowns were needed to design a modification to the system.
Example 6
- A settling tank was moved 4 feet from its original location to allow for proper forklift access to other equipment. This field change was not indicated in the final design documentation. As a result, a skid-mounted demineralizer installation had to be field modified because the settling tank took up part of the floor to be used for installation of the demineralizer skid.
Typical Recommendations
- Ensure that design information is retained on equipment and accessible to personnel responsible for operation, maintenance, and modification of the equipment.
- Establish a plan for inventory and maintenance of manufacturers' manuals. Contact manufacturers in regard to missing information.
- Establish a plan for distributing original equipment manufacturers' manuals to the areas that require the information in order for personnel to plan and execute their work.
- Develop a system to control plant drawings, including timely updates and in-process modifications.
Cross-References
| Version 10 Element(s) | |
|---|---|
| Node ID | Node Name |
| 19 | Equipment Design Records LTA |
| Maritime Element(s) | |
|---|---|
| Node ID | Node Name |
| 69 | Equipment Design Records |
| 70 | Manufacturer's Manuals |
| 100 | Document/Drawing Control Issue |