COMMENT
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Operations Engineer is the o cial
journal of the Society of Operations
Engineers, produced by MA Business,
Hawley Mill, Hawley Road, Dartford,
Kent, DA2 7TJ , UK. Views expressed
are those of the writers and do not
necessarily re ect the views of the
Society and MA Business.
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Operations Engineer is distributed
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For non-members, the annual
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ISSN 2632-3451
Printed in The UK by Pensord Press
Mission statement
Whether testing a pump,
lubricating wire rope or monitoring
environmental emissions,
operations engineers inspect,
maintain and repair equipment
across a range of industries.
The mission of Operations Engineer
magazine is to:
Improve readers’ understanding,
knowledge, skills and competencies
in operations engineering
Promote the advancement of
science, technology and practices
in this eld; and
In so doing, promote safety,
e ciency and environmental
sustainability in operations
engineering to bene t the wider
community.
David Young, chair, Bureau of Engineering Surveyors
Eyes on the world There is some talk about using drones to carry out industrial inspection
tasks. Whether they y high above site, or roll through con ned spaces,
remote-controlled robots can access areas that humans could never
reach, all while beaming back images, video and audio. Similarly, they are able
to travel into hazardous environments that pose risks for humans. Such was,
and continues to be, the case at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power
plant in Japan. And the COVID-19 pandemic has proven the worth of digital
connectivity tools for a generation of home-workers. Some manufacturers took
remote working a step further by live-streaming factory acceptance tests.
It is worth considering the use of remote inspection technology to supplement
statutory inspections and examinations carried out by competent persons and
engineer surveyors, but not to replace them. Humans who physically visit a site
experience it with all of their senses. Vibrations from misaligned machinery can
be heard and felt. Charging electric vehicles sometimes produce pungent ozone
when the high-voltage electricity decomposes atmospheric oxygen. However,
even today’s most advanced technology cannot replicate the human senses to
the resolution required to meet the minimum regulatory standard needed to
make sure that machinery is safe for continued use.
But that is not to say that remote technology couldn’t play a useful role now,
and in future. Over the past 20 years, connected technology has changed our
lives, and the role of the engineer surveyor has not been untouched by this
revolution. Now, with connected digital devices, surveyors can le a report
immediately on site, a process that previously used to take days.
Maybe it is time to formally review the role of drones, remote guided vehicles
and smart wearable cameras in industrial inspection. At the moment, for
example, neither the Lifting Operations & Lifting Equipment Regulations, LOLER,
nor the Pressure System Safety Regulations, PSSR, address the role of remote
inspection. But a generation has passed since they were published (LOLER: 1998;
PSSR: 2000). Standards should take into account new developments.
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