Training Solution

Third Party Issues

The boiler involved was over 20 years old and, despite being operated by the hospital itself, the Hong Kong Government’s Electrical & Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) were responsible for managing the hospital maintenance. The EMSD had engaged the services of a third party subcontractor to look after the boiler plant. Cochran were bought in following the blast, in addition to being asked to supply the replacement boiler, EMSD also engaged Cochran as recognised ‘expert witnesses’ into the causes of the explosion. During Cochran’s investigation it was apparent that there were a number of management issues at the site that had contributed to the events leading up to the explosion. These included lack of effective risk assessment; issues within the processes for selection and management of contractors; standards of maintenance, communication and record keeping; and finally the inadequate provision of training for management, operation and maintenance staff.

As a consequence of the investigation an action plan was put in place. In addition to Cochran undertaking an immediate survey of all Hong Kong’s hospital boilerhouses to ensure that similar incidents couldn’t occur, a dedicated training programme was then developed and implemented. Working alongside the Combustion Engineering Association (CEA) Cochran put in place a training programme covering Technical Boilerhouse Risk Assessment for the EMSD engineers and iBOAS for operation and maintenance technicians.

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