Occupational health and safety represents an area that touches upon the highest values of every human being, i.e., life and health. Protecting the life and health of individuals who work with technical equipment is the primary mission of Technická inšpekcia, a.s., which organized from 9. to April 10, 2014, the now-traditional Safety of Technical Equipment 2014 conference at the Hotel Sitno in Vyhne.
The sixth year of the conference was held under the auspices of JUDr. Ján Richter, Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, while the professional and organizational guarantor of the conference was Technická inšpekcia, a.s., celebrating its 20th anniversary (1994–2014) this year. The conference would not have been possible without the support of the main partners (Slovenská elektrizačná prenosová sústava, a.s. and Transpetrol, a.s.), as well as other partners (Dalkia, a.s., Messer Tatragas, s.r.o., Orgrez Bratislava, s.r.o., SEPS, a.s., Slovak Welding Society, Pivovar Steiger, a.s., and Education, s.r.o.), who deserve thanks for the high standard and successful course of the conference.
Like previous years, the Safety of Technical Equipment 2014 conference was intended for OSH professionals, such as technical equipment operators, manufacturers of technical equipment, inspection technicians, safety technicians, labor inspectors, managers of main mechanics departments, OSH specialists, owners of work equipment, service companies, and managers responsible for the safety of technical equipment.
The high professional level of this event with a long-standing tradition was ensured by Technická inšpekcia, a.s. by inviting 14 renowned experts and lecturers who shared not only their experience and current information with conference participants but also introduced them to new ideas and visions in the field of safety of technical equipment.
The focus of the professional conference program included the following topics:
- current OSH concept in the Slovak Republic,
- conformity assessment of products and free movement of goods,
- impact of legislation on application practice,
- findings from investigations of technical equipment accidents,
- practical experience with safety parts of machine control systems,
- industrial safety,
- electrical installations that do not comply with valid electrotechnical standards from the perspective of a forensic expert,
- fires and fire protection in connection with technical equipment,
- comparison of competencies and activities of an independent third party and labor inspection,
- integrated monitoring system for unmanned electrical stations,
- influence of coating on material thickness measurement through the coating,
- prevention of damage to distribution gas pipeline equipment by third parties,
- risk-based inspection (RBI).
The conference was opened with a ceremonial speech by the professional guarantor of this event – Ing. Dušan Konický, General Director of Technická inšpekcia, a.s. Since the field of technical equipment safety is quite broad, the conference program was divided into two days, with three lecture blocks on Wednesday and two lecture blocks on Thursday.
In the first block of the conference, the representative of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Family of the SR, Ing. Dušan Adamček, introduced the OSH Strategy 2020 to the attending experts.
The representative of the Slovak Office of Standards, Metrology and Testing (ÚNMS SR), Ing. Monika Laurovičová, provided information on the latest developments in the field of product conformity assessment.
On the opening day of the conference, participants could also hear Ing. Milan Zaťko from Energoservis, s.r.o., who gave a lecture on the topic of the Influence of Coating on Material Thickness Measurement Through the Coating. The lecture was intended for those who are not professionally involved in ultrasound issues and measurement with ultrasonic devices but use the ultrasonic method of measuring material thickness as one of the possible methods for objectively determining the technical condition of equipment or objects and determining corrosion loss. Despite the simplicity of performing the measurement (thanks to available, modern devices – single-purpose ultrasonic thickness gauges), erroneous measurement results often occur. Erroneous results can lead to incorrect conclusions about the technical condition of the equipment, which in pressure equipment and systems can result in destruction, operational failure, and thus a threat to the health and life of persons working with technical equipment.
The end of the first day of the conference was dedicated to risk-based inspection (RBI). The first contribution on this topic was a lecture by Ing. Peter Pastier, representing the Slovak Welding Society. The aim of his lecture was to present RBI (Risk Based Inspection) as a tool for streamlining the maintenance and inspection of equipment in the chemical and petrochemical industries to increase their operational reliability. The presentation itself consisted of a brief description of RBI, the activities necessary for the application of this method, as well as individual types of approaches to the issue, and at the end of the presentation, examples of practical use of the method were shown.
Risk-based inspection (RBI) was also the central theme for participants of an interesting lecture by Ing. Karol Bugár from Slovnaft, a.s., who focused his lecture primarily on the practical side of technical equipment safety at the Slovnaft refinery using risk-based inspection (RBI).
One of the recognized experts who spoke at the beginning of the second day of the conference was Ing. Jozef Pilát from SEPS, a.s. His lecture, dedicated to the issue of technical and safety conditions for preventing damage to distribution gas pipeline equipment by third parties, was based on the content of TPP 700 02 for natural gas distribution, originally titled “Technical and safety conditions for preventing damage to the gas equipment of the distribution network operator by third parties.” In his presentation, he stated, among other things, that third-party interventions belong to a significant group that threatens the safe and reliable operation of gas equipment not only in Slovakia but also in other developed countries with a mature gas industry. Therefore, it is essential to unify the algorithm for their prevention, resolution, evaluation, and the penalization of current and potential damagers.
The main topic of the last lecture given at the conference was technical audits and accidents, presented by Ing. Ján Smriga representing Orgrez Bratislava, s.r.o. In his contribution, which focused on analyses of accidents in power equipment, he informed conference participants about the results of diagnostics of pressure equipment that has been in operation for approximately 40 years. Due to new emission limits as well as long-term operation, operators are forced to plan the replacement or reconstruction of their equipment.
The success of the conference is also evidenced by the approximately 130 participants whose active participation contributed to the high professional level of this now-traditional event. Discussions on the issue of technical equipment safety took place not only after each block of lectures in the conference room but also during breaks and, last but not least, at the evening banquet, where conference participants were given sufficient space for informal and friendly problem-solving in the field. In conclusion, the Safety of Technical Equipment 2014 conference can be evaluated as a successful event, as participants took away a wealth of useful information in the field of technical equipment safety that they can apply in practice.
We thank everyone for participating in the conference and look forward to meeting you at the 7th year of the conference, which will be held on April 15–16, 2015.
Related pages: BTZ Conferences, Education.