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For refineries across the country, completing a successful turnaround is a challenging and all-encompassing task. It takes several teams working together with one unified plan. The process is regimented and requires extensive planning. But what happens when something completely unpredictable happens that impacts not only turnarounds, but the refining industry as a whole?
COVID-19 has required turnaround management teams to turn on a dime and adapt quickly to the situation to continue to make their turnarounds safe and successful.
Satellite Shelters had the opportunity to speak with Donnie Vallance, a Turnaround (TAR) Maintenance Supervisor at a US refinery. Vallance oversees field execution and handles logistics leading up to turnarounds. He manages turnarounds that consist of maintenance on one or many units at the refinery. “Operations will drain, clean and shut the unit(s) down and hand it over to the TAR maintenance group to perform planned work, as well as potential discovery work from the Inspection department.” With so many moving parts, Satellite asked Vallance about the most essential piece in completing a safe, successful turnaround. Vallance responded, “Planning. The time put into the front-end planning pays off on the backend.”
2020 brought challenges upon the industry that even the most organized and experienced turnaround teams could not plan for. COVID-19 is impacting turnaround plans across the country. Vallance agrees, “COVID-19 is having a big impact. With the social distancing guidelines, we require much more housing for office staff, break areas for workers, etc.” In fact, Vallance named real estate as one of the top challenges even before COVID-19 became part of the equation: “Temporary housing, parking, crane and other equipment space that it takes to support the (TAR) work is a challenge.”
As a full-circle provider of Blast Resistant Modules and other safe space solutions for refineries and plants across the United States, Satellite Shelters is filling today’s need for extra space to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Satellite can supply blast resistant buildings, blast-resistant tool cribs, mobile offices, modular buildings, storage containers, plus all the products and services in between. These include furniture, portable restrooms, delivery and pickup, setup and tear down, and design/build services.
Satellite Shelters’ Blast Resistant Modules (BRMs) are designed to keep your workforce safe while on the job. BRMs come in single-wide, multi-wide, and multi-level options. They are built to strict codes with reinforced steel walls that protect and shelter workers when they need to be in high-risk areas to perform their jobs.
While refineries can’t always predict what future challenges they’ll encounter during turnarounds, Vallance believes that planning, organization, and teamwork are paramount in setting the turnaround team up for success. “Plan the work and work the plan,” he says.
If you’re planning for an upcoming turnaround and require extra space to keep your workforce safe, request a free quote by visiting https://www.satelliteco.com/request-a-quote.
For more information on Satellite Safety Shelters BRMs and other products offered by Satellite Shelters, visit https://www.satelliteco.com/products/ or call (800) 453-1299 to speak with a local representative nearest you.
