Page 15 - BWL PipelineAprMayJun2020

by Kelsey Khory
After a thorough market analysis, Marty McFly decided to mass produce Flux Capacitors. While testing the newest prototype, the fuse burns
out. “This is the third fuse this month!” he shouts. Continuing to replace the fuse and hoping the problem works itself out is an option, however, this would be wasting company resources with all the extra fuses and the time it takes to replace them.
Instead, Marty decides to investigate the issue to determine why the fuses are failing so quickly. He compares the ones in the stock room to the recommended ones from the Flux Capacitor’s operations manual. It turns out, they’re the wrong size. The rating for the current fuse is not high enough to withstand the 1.21 jigawatts required for time travel. Marty orders the correct type of fuse. Once the fuse is in place, it no longer burns out prematurely.
What Marty doesn’t realize is that he just did an informal Root Cause Analysis (RCA).
Figure 1
RCA is a process used to find the true cause of an incident so an effective solution can be developed to stop the issue(s) from recurring or to ensure positive events become the norm.
The Asset Management Department has created a formal RCA process for BWL. Numerous training sessions have been completed and additional training modules will be coming through the Learning Management System (LMS) in the near future for those employees who need
to learn more about the RCA process.
Root Cause Analyses have
been or are currently
being done in most of the Operations Departments with lots of success. Dye Water Conditioning Plant did an RCA on two bulk bleach tanks that started leaking before the end of their expected life. Due to the tank’s premature failure, bleach had to be fed from temporary tanks instead. After doing a thorough RCA, it was identified that a design flaw lead
to the failure of the tanks. The bleach tanks have since been re-designed by a Professional Licensed Engineer with more thorough documentation of the installation plan. The warranty of the failed bleach tanks will be reviewed and standard specifications for chemical storage tanks have been be developed for the BWL. The completion of these actions
will fix the current failures and prevent similar failures from occurring in the future.
RCA forms are currently available for anyone who wishes to start using them. The events that can trigger an RCA are listed in the “RCA Triggers”
box (Figure 1). There is also an overview of the steps within the RCA process (Figure 2). If you haven’t received training yet, and think it’s necessary to start an RCA, visit the RCA folder
on the Asset Management SharePoint site for more information or contact Lori Gray and Adam McCue. The Asset Management SharePoint site can be accessed by the link on the Asset Management Intranet page.
Figure 2
ASSET MANAGEMENT: GETTING TO THE ROOT OF ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS
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