Why handovers matter
Investigations into major industrial accidents, including the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster and the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion, identified shift handover communication as a contributing factor. The lesson is general: the information existed, but it did not reach the next person.
What to include
- The state of the plant: what is running, what is down and why.
- Open stoppages and what has been tried so far.
- Active permits and who currently holds each one.
- Safety issues and near misses from the shift.
- Jobs started but not finished, and parts or help still needed.
- Instructions from supervisors and anything unusual to watch.
Written and spoken, both
A written log is the record. A short conversation lets the incoming person ask questions. Do the conversation at the equipment where practical, then confirm in writing.
The acknowledgement step
A handover is not complete when it is written. It is complete when the incoming person confirms they have read it. A rule that the writer cannot acknowledge their own handover removes a common loophole.
How handovers lose information
- Notes kept in a personal notebook that stays with the person who wrote them.
- A log that says "all normal" while an open stoppage is unresolved.
- No named owner for a permit that spans the shift change.
- Nobody notices an unacknowledged handover for hours.
How Plant Cortex handles shift logs
Each shift keeps a running log. At handover, the machines still down and the permits held at that moment are recorded in the handover itself, so the incoming shift sees what the outgoing shift saw. The writer cannot acknowledge their own handover, and an unacknowledged handover is flagged after a few hours.
General information, not legal advice. Check current regulations and your own site procedures.
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