Ex Rules: A Ten-Point Game for the Operations Team

A ten-rule game for Operations teams, built around one objective: keep the plant running, but never outside its verified Ex conditions. The rules run from knowing the design basis and what is actually installed today, through change control, competence and authorization, findings management and the decision to STOP, to keeping Ex information alive across the asset lifetime. The rule above the rest: you do not have to make every Ex engineering decision yourself, but you do have to make sure the right one is made before the plant continues.

A Monopoly-style board game titled 'The Head of Operations Ex Hazardous Area Rules,' with safety principles around the edge and a worker in the center.

Used to receive the question from head of Operations how to make my team aware of the complExity of Ex compliance.

Let us play: THE HEAD OF OPERATIONS - Ex RULES - social game

The goal: Keep the plant running - but never outside its verified Ex conditions.

1. Know your design basis.
EPD, HAC, zones, Ex Register, certificates, X conditions - know what the plant was designed for.
1. Know what is happening today.
The documentation says what should be there. Operations must know what is there.
1. Change? Check Ex first.
New product, equipment, process, ventilation or operating condition?
Check → assess → MoC if needed → then operate.
1. Right person, right decision.
Training is not enough. Make sure people are competent and authorized for the Ex work they perform.
1. Control the work.
PTW, contractors, maintenance and temporary solutions must respect the Ex conditions.
1. Treat findings as decisions.
Finding → assess → mitigate → assign → verify → close.
Some findings can wait. Some cannot.
1. Know when to STOP.
If the required Ex condition cannot be maintained:
STOP → escalate → resolve → verify → restart.
1. Keep Ex information alive.
Inspection, repair, replacement and modification must feed back into the Ex documentation.
1. Track the lifetime, not just the certificate.
Certified once does not mean compliant forever.
1. Learn from repetition.
The same defect appearing again and again is no longer just a maintenance issue - it is a management issue.

The one rule above all others:

You don’t have to make every Ex engineering decision yourself.
But you do need to make sure the right decision is made before the plant continues.

SAFE OPERATIONS. COMPLIANT PLANT.
Ownership stays with Operations.

Ex Rules: A Ten-Point Game for the Operations Team

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