OIL INDIA LIMITED

(A Govt. of India Enterprise)

Ref. No. S&E/S/24/388 Date : 24.03.09

All HODS

Sub: Work Permit

Of late it has been observed that work permits which are being issued by the installation
manager/shift in-charge are incomplete with many of the information in the format not
filled up . This was also pointed out by OISD during the safety audits carried out in our
installations.

Work permit is necessary depending on the nature of work to be carried out. Example
Hot work, Cold work, Electrical isolation/energisation , Confined Space entry, work at
height, etc.

Hot Work Permit : As per the definition in OISD standard 105, all hot work such as
welding, grinding, gas cutting, burning, shot blasting, soldering, chipping, excavation,
open fire, use of certain non-explosion proof equipment etc. shall be carried out through
Hot Work Permit. Entry and operation of petrol or diesel driven vehicles or equipment in
hazardous area also falls in the category of hot work, and shall be performed under the
hot work permit.
Confined space Entry: This permit is required for the protection of personnel entering a
confined space such as Vessels, boilers, storage tanks, large diameter piping etc
against hazards such as oxygen deficiency, toxic and flammable materials, falling
objects, power driven equipment etc. Excavation more than 1.2 meter deep, entry on
floating roof tanks when the roof are more than 3 meter down from the top, space
located below ground level such as pits, drain channels etc. also fall under the confined
space
The format for Hot Work and Confined space entry is a composite permit as per OISD
std 105 .
Cold Work Permit :Work falling under the category of cold work such as opening
process machinery, blinding & de-blinding, tightening of flanges, hot bolting, inspection,
painting etc. shall be performed through Cold Work Permit.
Electrical isolation and energisation permit: Before issuing any work permit, it is
essential that the equipment / facility to be worked on is electrically safe and electrical
power is isolated to the extent necessary for the safe conduct of the authorized work.
Therefore an Electrical isolation and energisation permit is required.
Work at height : While working at a height of more than 3 meters, permit should be
issued by competent person before commencement of the job.
 -2-

The following points are to be ensured while issuing the above permits;
 No permits to be issued without physical verification of the area.
 Permit shall be issued only for a single shift. Where the work has to be
continued, the same permit may be revalidated / extended shift wise for a period not
exceeding seven calendar days in the succeeding shifts by authorized person after
satisfying the permit conditions.
 Even for routine hot work, blanket permit cannot be issued by the installation
manager/shift-in-charge.

 The work permit should be received and signed by the maintenance / project
/construction supervisor of the company. In small installations where no such
independent supervisor exists, the owner-in-charge may issue the permit to the
contractor's authorized supervisor directly and obtain his signature.

 Gas testing for hydrocarbon, oxygen deficiency, toxic gases etc shall be
conducted as applicable as a pre-requisite to issue permit for hot work / vessel entry etc
and all details as per the format like time, date , value of gas test needs to be filled up.
 On completion of the work, the permit must be signed by the receiver and
returned it back to the issuer so that the permit can be closed and kept as record in the
installation file.
It may please be noted that we had a number of fire/fatal incidents due to non
adherence to work permit system.

View above we would request all concerned to go through the OISD standard 105, and
OISD guideline 192 thoroughly and strictly adhere to issue of work permit please.

(C.Bose)
Head (S&E),i/c

Copy: ED(RP)
: All GGMs
: All GMs

Mbs/G-53