Get the Buzz ... APM Gas Power Diligence Delivers Quality Job at NextEra Oleander!
Estimated Read Time: 5 minutes
From October 7th to November 4th, 2024, APM Gas Power worked an outage at NextEra Oleander in Cocoa, Florida. Both the Dayshift and Nightshift teams worked diligently to successfully complete the outage without injury or incident, utilizing STOP work, a questioning attitude, and JSA’s.
Leading crews of 16 people each, Dayshift Superintendent, Juan Mejia and Nightshift Superintendent, Chris Baptista directed the Hot Gas path, Mini Magic Inspection, Borescope Inspection and Auxiliary job scope. With safety and quality kept in focus from the all-hands prep meetings and checklists to the daily diligence exhibited throughout the outage, the Gas team completed 3422 hours with zero recordables!
Both the dayshift and nightshift crews prioritized delivering excellent work safely by utilizing STOP moments to ask questions and receive clarity on nonstandard equipment. The dayshift crew stopped work when the turbine case bolting wouldn’t come loose as the crew was de-tensioning. They contacted the tool manufacture and were advised to cut the nuts. Because of the crew’s dedication to quality work, they asked for help so that they could proceed with confidence instead of attempting to find a solution on their own.
Another STOP moment occurred when the nightshift crew was tasked with removing the Liquid Fuel Stop Valves from another unit to temporarily install on the unit being worked on until the original valves were refurbished. Upon removal, employees noticed the liquid fuel supply pipes were full of corrosion. The employees stopped and notified management and engineering before continuing with the original plan. The crews were empowered to produce quality work confidently by asking questions when and if the equipment has any unfamiliar or non-standard components.
The Line of Fire and Fire and Explosion Life Saving Rules were especially important to protect the safety of the crew in this outage.
During the bolt tensioning task, line of fire was prioritized. If installed incorrectly, the bolt tensioning tool can jump out of the stud and strike someone nearby. Because of this risk, the team made sure nobody was in line of fire before pressurizing.
After receiving a Hot Work permit with combustible gas measured and confirmed at 0% LEL, the team focused on minimizing the risk for Fire and Explosion when removing the bolts from the turbine case. Since there were sparks from cutting the studs from the turbine case, the crew made sure to protect all the equipment and check that there were no ignition sources or combustibles in the area while the task was performed.
We would like to take time to recognize the below individuals for their efforts and commitment to this outage! Thank you to:
Juan Mejia and Christopher Baptista for driving safety and quality on every job you do. They understand that it’s not about how much needs to get done but how much we can do safely to deliver a quality job.
Sam Villar for keeping the crew safe, preventing damage, emphasizing the importance of following procedure and asking questions when in doubt.
Jose Monserrate for contributing your knowledge and going above and beyond to ensure safety and quality.
Christian Medina for ensuring the crew has a proper setup to put the machine back together and that all the hardware is ready and accounted for.
Rhett Ball for ensuring accuracy in a timely manner without pressuring the crew and always pushing safety and quality.
Thank you to the entire APM Gas team for your diligence to quality and safety vigilance that delivers an excellent outage!
