EnviroServ runs annual plant shutdowns on time and on budget

As the leading waste management company in South Africa, EnviroServ assists many companies in completing their annual maintenance shutdown projects on time and on budget.

Carrying out essential preventative maintenance activities is a vital part of a plant’s lifespan. These planned shutdowns, to repair issues such as broken pipes, pumps and tanks, prevent catastrophic unplanned shutdowns.

Maintenance on schedule keeps plants running smoothly

Hugh Khumalo, EnviroServ’s Regional Commercial Manager: Inland South said EnviroServ is experienced at managing tight shutdown schedules to ensure no delays in plant start-ups, “which we understand have a knock-on effect and can cause loss of revenue for our customers”.

“A shutdown is all about safety protocols, as avoiding injury and accidents is rule number one. We employ safety officers on site to ensure the shut is being run according to SHEQ standards and avoid any lost time injuries because people’s lives come first,” Khumalo said. “Sometimes workers are required to enter a tank to manually remove the sludge. During tank entry, the team manage risks to ensure there is sufficient oxygen and no poisonous gasses, and whether additional equipment such as airlines must be utilised for tank entry and safe execution of the planned work. We engage with our customers during the planning phase as they know their plants better than we do, such as the potential for fires and what hazardous materials are in their plants. We determine the correct PPE that should be worn – including hard hats, goggles, specialised suits and safety shoes.” The second step after a safety analysis is to cost a shutdown. “We establish what waste can be recovered or recycled and what has to be landfilled. We list our method as part of our costing, and determine the staff compliment needed for day and or night shifts.”

With sustainability increasingly important to EnviroServ’s customers, the amount of recycling gets recorded for reporting purposes.

“We always conduct a post mortem to see what positives were achieved, such as if we saved a customer money by completing our clean-up early, and look at what could have been done better.”

Khumalo said EnviroServ was only as good as its last project. “We have to ensure that we improve each time we conduct a shutdown to give us an additional competitive advantage by providing clients with peace of mind.”

Hazardous clean-up services

EnviroServ offers industry leading knowledge of pollution preventative products, containment concepts and clean-up solutions. “Our focus is on reducing environmental risk - we walk our customers through the applicable waste legislations to ensure total legal compliance. The result of extensive research and development is a complete product range matching international standards of spill containment and clean-up solutions,” said Henco Swart, EnviroServ’s Industrial Services Manager.

“We assist with planned project clean-ups for chemical and hydrocarbon spills, and sell spill kits containing our absorbent range which allow customers to manage and clean-up these types of smaller spills on their own.” The company provides basic training on how to use the products. “Booms of two to four metres in length are deployed in conjunction for spill containment and clean-up to contain and control waste body. An absorbent fibre is then applied to the surface to absorb the spill.”

EnviroServ has a range of environmentally friendly degreasers, which are used after the waste has been absorbed and the absorbent products have been removed to clean-up and rehabilitate the contaminated area. The company conducts rehabilitation and remediation projects, removing contaminated soil and formulating remediation plans, either in-situ or ex-situ.  “The remediation process is tracked through laboratory analysis to ensure the goal has been achieved,” Swart said.