Soil Excavation and Concrete Penetration Permitting Process at LLNL

Dennis ChewPlant Engineering Department

September, 2006

UCRL-PRES-224319This work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by the University of California, Lawrence Livermore

National Laboratory, under Contract No. W-7405-ENG-48

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Brief History

Began with the purchase of LLNL’s first Audio Frequency instrument in the early 1990. Proactive step taken by LLNL as a result of an increasing number of utility

strikes Locates were performed out of the Craft Shop of Plant Engineering External building Locates

Between 1990 and 1998 Permit Process Documents Internal & External building Locates 30” No Dig rule Ferromagnetic scanners & Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)

Between 1999 and 2000 Established Permit Database – issuing paper permits LLNL “One Call” center concept

Mindset / Purpose Preventing unplanned outages Reducing unplanned project costs Safety

Where we are at today

Permit Office has grown Size and responsibility Improved database tracking methods Two types of permits

• Soil Excavation and Concrete Penetration

Mindset / Purpose Preventing unplanned outages and reducing unplanned project costs Safety Culture shift

Today the permit office issues an average of 60 permits per month

Education/Training 3rd party certification required Safety Video

Incorporating new technologies Radio/Audio, GPR, and ferro-magnetic scanning Marker Ball program (open trench)

• Integrating with the Facility Information Center

The Permit Process

Responsible Individuals LLNL employees who serve as the point of contact Partnering with the Permit Office to ensure compliance Annual training requirement

Permit Office Locators

• Perform the locates and add any comments they may have on the permit – resources include As-builts / construction drawings / Utility drawings, etc…

Issue the permit upon receiving all approvals• Regulatory approvals • Utility Owner approvals• Signature Approvals

Job site field visits• Compliance Inspections

Permit Closure• Archived into the Permit database

The Permit Process

Utility Location Database

Locate Findings / Field Markings

Locating Instruments

Programmable Marker Ball Program

Documentation and Configuration Management

Governing procedures for the permit process

Continually evolving Lessons Learned & Process Improvement Customer feedback Staying ahead of the game

On-going Communication Roll-out meetings and newsletters Eyes and Ears in the field

Partnering with the Utility owners Provide up to date utility documentation Involve them in the approval process as owners

PROC-CON 0002 Concrete Penetration PROC-CON 0003 Soil Excavation

Safety Integration

* * Safety Video * ** * Safety Video * *

* * Job Safety Analysis * ** * Job Safety Analysis * *

* * Locator Field Survey * * * * Locator Field Survey * *

* * Pre-Task Hazard Analysis * ** * Pre-Task Hazard Analysis * *

* * Compliance Inspections * ** * Compliance Inspections * *

* * Outage Requirement * ** * Outage Requirement * *

* * 30” No Dig Zone * ** * 30” No Dig Zone * *

Closing Thoughts

InnovativeThinking

Continued Awareness Of the Safety Culture

Partnering

Q & A