Outage Management – Safety Success



Continuous improvement is critical to the Power Generation Industry, especially Fossil Power Plants. By focusing on the work process to improve productivity firms, can extract great value both in cost savings and revenue generation. Cost of outages can be trimmed by reducing man-hours and overtime associated with work stoppages and contract labor working over top of each other. Revenue can be enhanced by bringing the plants back on line early so more generation than planned can be sold, rework can be eliminated during start up and opportunity costs from forced outages can be eliminated.

One of the cornerstones to achieve these results is by executing a well run integrated safety plan.

Industrial safety, human performance, and quality work are the most important activities in the management of outages. Integrating the safety team into the planning for outages at least 12 months in advance of the start of an outage will ensure that employees are well trained and procedures, policies, programs are well understood. This must be done with internal employees as well as with external contractors so that accidents are eliminated and work productivity is not slowed down. This is critical to ensuring smooth budget and scheduling success without wasting economic resources.


Partnering with contractors early in the planning process and “laying down the law” will ensure that everyone is on board with the scheduling and safety philosophy so that needless work stoppages are eliminated and employees feel empowered to work safely and efficiently.


Look for contractors that embrace web-based technology to optimize outage performance and environmental safety and health tools that track and manage real time work. These tools save a lot of downtime.

Process Improvement

Productivity Paradigm: A short-term productivity dip is part of a sustainable improvement cycle. It is natural as institutional learning occurs.

Learn more about DuraBante and Process Improvement

Project Management

Building your project upon faulty assumptions is, to coin a phrase attributed to George Washington, “Assuredly resting upon a broken staff.” What is real? What is assumed? Keep it grounded in facts.


Of course, assumptions are necessary. They are those little leaps of faith you need to connects your facts what you are trying to achieve. Historical data says that a canal will be passable 95 percent of the time in a given month. You need to get your construction supplies through the canal. It is a good assumption that the canal will be passable. Work it into your plan as an assumption. However – you also build a risk assessment and risk response plan that addresses “What if?” and “Then what?”

The most dangerous and easily avoided assumptions are those which anticipate what your stakeholders want, how your stakeholders will feel, or how your stakeholders will react. A way to avoid this is to – are you ready for this? – ask them. A little time spent on stakeholder management now can save you hours of rework later. What “they” want is easily clarified by addressing the anonymous “they.” Time spent in front of a face and a name pays enormous dividends. You might even discover a thing or two over and above the question that brought you to “them” in the first place…

Strategic Staffing - Why I like to work for DuraBante by Tom Lynch

There are several reasons I enjoy working for DuraBante as a contracted project manager and client service delivery lead. First, the supplemental income makes retirement more enjoyable for me and my wife. We can spend money on ourselves and family without worrying. Second, I have the ability to select which jobs I accept, so I can work when I want leaving me time to take extended vacations. Finally, working has always been a source of pride for me. I enjoy exercising my mind and using talents gained during an extensive career in the power generation field. It gives me a sense of purpose. I guess I am not ready to be put out to pasture yet!