Refrigeration maintenance guideline consultation

Technical Safety BC consulted with industry experts on a maintenance guidelines document being drafted to help support ammonia refrigeration facilities with equipment integrity planning and safety management.

Following the release of the Fernie Incident Investigation Report Technical Safety BC developed a maintenance guideline document to support facility owners and refrigeration professionals with implementing the report recommendations.

Technical Safety BC collected feedback on a new maintenance guideline document, which is under development to help industry improve practices and programs around equipment integrity planning and safety management at refrigeration facilities. The maintenance guideline document is now being updated according to the feedback received and a final version will be released later in 2020 for industry reference.

We received input on:

• Technical accuracy
• Clarity of information
• Applicability of the guideline to various types of operations
• How we could most effectively implement the guideline
• Specific resources that facilities could use in adopting the guideline (e.g. checklists, education, etc.)
• Challenges facilities might face with adopting the guideline

Consultation summary

This consultation closed on October 31, 2019.

The Ammonia refrigeration survey report is based on replies received from Technical Safety BC safety officers, combined with the data received from facility owners/operators and refrigeration industry professionals who participated in the industry review.

The feedback gained during consultation is also being used to support decision-making and the creation of a roll out plan in collaboration with the Recreational Facilities Association of BC and Curl BC for 2020.

Highlights of the consultation results

• 95% of submitters indicated that the draft guideline was accurate from a technical perspective
• 74% of respondents indicated that they support the guideline
• 73% of respondents indicated that they agree the guideline will improve maintenance practices and equipment integrity
• 70% of respondents indicated that they agree the guideline will raise refrigeration safety awareness
• 69% of respondents indicated that the guideline was highly applicable to their work

Coming in 2020

1. A toolkit will be created (including the final maintenance guidelines, a fillable template, and a printable checklist) to support the refrigeration industry with using the guideline to enhance maintenance programs.
2. Education offerings for the refrigeration industry are being developed. Technical Safety BC, RFABC, and Curl BC are working in collaboration on industry training and communication.

The intention behind all of these activities is to provide tools and support that help make it easier for facility owners, operators and contractors to create effective maintenance plans and have a better shared understanding of safety practices.