Outliers: The Story of Success” author Malcolm Gladwell states, “True expertise requires doing something for 10,000 hours.” His philosophy applies to degassing contractors; our customers see this every day. We all know what lack of expertise combined with chance conditions buys you, and in our industry having a second chance is rare. However, there is an equation to assess the true value of degassing services for future contracts: true value = safety + compliance + cost. Whether you want to degas your tanks, pipelines, barges, refinery towers, sumps or API separators, you need to know if your contractor can deliver on these factors every time. This information will help project managers identify the best vapor control specialist to handle their degassing assignments.
Safety is an industry-wide concern. You can check safety credentials of your contractor company: safety and compliance records, references and customer testimonials, operator tenure, responsiveness of managers, project supervisors and engineers, track record and industry reputation and so forth. Checking the total recordable incident rate, its EMR and running a review through ISNetworld are also important data points. However, the data doesn’t reveal if the equipment is maintained by dedicated engineers — people who know their programmable logic controller systems, the intricacies of low-NOx burners or source test information. Safety data won’t tell you whether an expert operator runs a degassing unit on Mondays and a pressure washer during the rest of the week. Only a specialty company can share its complete-system hazard and operability study, a functioning behavior-based training program, engineering protocols and procedures, culture of staff expertise and incident reporting. Can the all-service contractor guarantee safety system redundancy? Or can it access engineers who can troubleshoot issues on the fly? Degassing is a hazardous business. Hiring good personnel is not good enough; this process requires industry specialists.
Knowing your degassing experts excel in compliance means you can rest easy. Hiring a specialist company means the degassing technician chosen for your project knows his unit and how to calibrate his organic vapor analyzer and method 21-calibrated organic vapor analyzer. Specialists know the value of taking the right readings at the right time. There are no try-agains in this line of work. Thus, first-time excellence is necessary as one small error can mean a Title V Permit Deviation Report or a notice of violation. If your degassing company doesn’t have a compliance department that can strategize with other stakeholders, your project can get hung up on regulatory issues. Staying on top of new legislation is key. Also, working with industry groups to make pending legislation functional to plants is a proactive approach that pays off.
The final factor in choosing a degassing specialist is deciding where cost meets value. Maintenance managers and operations folks need to ensure they get the best value for their money. However, more companies are realizing full-service contractors who tout savings don’t understand true value. Rather than buying peace of mind through expertise, companies end up with a lot less. Ask anyone who has had to solicit bids to salvage a botched project. Building an expert team of engineers, office staff, operators, supervisors, instrument technicians, compliance professionals, safety managers and mechanics all dedicated to degassing is how to become an industry leader.
Degassing requires a specialty contractor, not a lone division in an all-purpose company. The safety and technical requirements in degassing mean you should look for a company that does this work full time and decade after decade. Focus on continuing excellence in safety, compliance and value; look for an excellent industry reputation endorsed by other professionals. Our work is complex and potentially hazardous.
For more information, visit http://enventcorporation.com or contact JD Jaeger at (888) 997-9465 or JD.Jaeger@envent.net
