I write this, sitting at home, just like many co-workers throughout Yokogawa and in many other companies around the globe. No matter if you are based in Wales or in New South Wales, around the planet we carry out our day-to-day work in a way that would have been far from the norm six months ago.
The Covid pandemic has made a more significant change to the planet’s daily way of working than almost anything else to have preceded it. This is the “new normal” and a part of everyday life.
Free Covid 19-icon for Yokogawa RAP users
Yokogawa RAP have specialised in Control of Work solutions, particularly for high risk plant activities such as those found in the Oil & Gas industry for over 25 years. Now, what might historically have been considered as a hazardous task, has potentially increased risk: Considerations for infection prevention have to be taken on board and managed in addition to the general hazards and conditions associated with the job in hand. Even the simplest things like sharing tools and workspaces now need a level of evaluation not required previously.
We wanted to find the best way to help plants through the pandemic, to be easily able to consider and mitigate these new infection risks, and with these thoughts in mind, from this month we at Yokogawa RAP are providing to our customers, at no additional charge, the benefit of our knowledge and experience with the release of a new Covid-19 icon. In these difficult times, this is a chance for us to rise to the challenge of helping to keep plants Covid-19 safe whilst not asking our customers to incur an additional financial burden for having the ability to do so. With this free Covid-19 icon, we return support to those who’ve trusted us for so many years, over so many millions of hours of risk assessment and permitting work activities.
The Covid-19 icon is not just an icon
For those who may not be aware of the Yokogawa RAP system, let me explain in a little more detail regarding our icons. We use more than 500 icons in our RAP Cortex, to cover all the risks associated with the work to be undertaken, the conditions present and the tools to be used. The icon, as the primary selectable part, allows the system to be language independent, as no matter the reader’s local language preference, the icons remain constant and easy to understand.
But the Covid-19 icon, just like all the other RAP icons, is so much more than just an icon. Behind it sits a specific knowledge base that’s instantly available, to ensure all considerations involving safe working in a Covid-19 environment are considered, including:
- Ensuring cleanliness
- Safe transport
- Safe movement
- Team working
In fact, a multitude of factors can easily be considered, to reduce infection risk to be as low as reasonably possible (ALARP) during risk assessments and then implemented as required in work permits to ensure maximum safety. All of these are easy to manage, select, and set by simple, intuitive steps to make it robust, fast, and friendly to use.
The free Covid-19 icon release is our commitment to helping our partners to manage the risks associated with the virus more easily and effectively. We want to support you to steer your way safely towards mitigating this new challenge to daily operational plant management.
Not a customer yet?
For those partners we’ve not yet met, please contact your local Yokogawa team. Our colleagues will be happy to help set you on the path to a safer, smarter plant, where risk assessment is always at the forefront of permit to work activities. Over the years our solution has proven to be significantly more intelligent than just digitising your current paper based systems.
Currently, we don’t know when things will return to normal, but hopefully, it will be soon. Along with the rest of the global population, I look forward to a future when it will no longer be necessary to use the Covid-19 icon as a part of daily life and when people can once again work without fear of infection. But in the meantime, it’s there for you when you need it; thank you for relying on us.
