✉️ This week's PPP Update with annual report download

If you find yourself struggling in the water unexpectedly, your instinct would tell you to swim hard. But cold water shock could make you gasp uncontrollably. Then you could breathe in water and drown. Instead, you should Float to Live - the video below from the RNLI explains what to do if you get into difficulty in the water.

The client team has published an annual report of PPP’s performance during year three (May 2021 – May 2022). The report provides the performance picture of PPP for year three of its contractual life, presenting a fact-based view by project and by programme. Each section is designed to be able to stand alone, with its own data and commentary, brought to life with case studies in breakout boxes.

The report finds the PPP team has made good progress since its launch in 2019. Whilst there has been strong performance in some areas and improvements sought in others, on balance PPP is on course to deliver its full business case benefits.

The full report is just over 100 pages, a brief commentary on each of the sections is provided in the executive summary covering each of the PPP projects, EHSSQ, Benefits and Site Wide Project Improvement Programme, Assurance, Culture, Performance Assurance Framework, Key Targets, Key Performance Indicators, Sellafield Ltd performance, Partner performance, Supply Chain, Financial Analysis, Aligned Incentive Fund, Triennial Review, PPP Pipeline and Year 4 Look Ahead.

Given the extent and complexity of our construction activity on the Sellafield site, it goes without saying that we treat safety as our number one priority.

James Lewis, Head of EHSSQ for PPP, shares this thought provoking piece asking if 99.9% safety is good enough.

James says:

"At PPP we believe that our long-term success is dependent upon the ability to keep our workforce, business partners, suppliers, subcontractors, members of the public and the environment safe. Nothing we do is so important that it cannot be done safely and the standard is always zero harm without exception."

So is our vision of a 100% safety rate an unrealistic vision? 

We often overlook what it means to have a vision of zero harm and think that nearly 100% is pretty good.

Let’s say 99.9% is good enough, what does this actually mean?

• We would drink one glass of unsafe water each month.
• There would be one unsafe plane landing each day at Heathrow Airport.
• The UK post office would lose 51,250 items of mail each day.
• Doctors would drop 50 new born babies each day.
• 500 incorrect surgical procedures would be performed each week.
• Your heart would miss 32,000 beats a year.
• 22,000 cheques would be deducted from the wrong bank account each day.

So, do you still think that 99.9% safety is good enough for us?

Harry Priestley is currently on a one-year industry placement on the Sellafield Product and Residue Store Retreatment Plant (SRP) project, working as part of the Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Control and Automation (MEICA) team.

Harry has completed two years at the University of Liverpool studying mechanical engineering and joined SRP back in September 2021 to complete a placement year as part of his course.

Harry said:

“Since joining the project I have met some great people and gained many industry related skills that they can’t teach you in a lecture theatre. It has presented me with many options to consider once I graduate from University next year.”

Harry's been busy working on a new glovebox lifting strategy. SRP's gloveboxes were due to be lifted through a temporary construction access opening (TCAO) in the floor of the SRP building, using a single electric hoist that will vertically lift the glovebox to its relevant floor, then horizontally onto a landing platform.

This poses safety risks as having a free hanging glovebox that could potentially fall through all floors if the hoist was to fail creates obvious problems to the health and safety of workers and the gloveboxes themselves. Another problem with the current solution is the horizontal movement of the gloveboxes. The largest glovebox is about 6 Tonne in mass, hanging something of that size and moving horizontally presents the risk of swinging due to the momentum created.

The delays in closing the floor TCAOs is also putting pressure on the glovebox integrated works testing (IWT) due to wanting to close the openings as soon as possible after the glovebox installation. The IWT currently lies on the project's critical path, so eliminating the need to use these TCAOs during the glovebox installation will allow for the glovebox IWT to be moved off the critical path.

The newly approved idea and change to the lifting solution will include a new lifting mechanism through a different area of the building. The lifting mechanism will be a 4-hoist lifting solution with a lifting platform to support the gloveboxes underneath, providing safety benefits due to constant support from the platform throughout lifting. The lifting solution also negates the need for horizontal movement of the gloveboxes as the platform will be secured at each floor, then the gloveboxes will be wheeled off accordingly.

The platform will be fixed into position at each floor for offloading of gloveboxes and a guide rail system will be implemented to ensure the platform rises through the building at a consistent level. A safety mechanism is also implemented in the new hoist in case of a failure during lifting between floors.

Utilising a new lifting area means all surrounding works around the TCAO can be commenced before glovebox installation, rather than after, which will reduce the pressure to complete the glovebox IWT and installation as quickly as currently proposed.

The significance of a 4-hoist lifting mechanism means an additional lifting beam is required. This lifting mechanism can also be utilised to lift other MEICA equipment to its respective floor.

The new lifting strategy proposes the use of new TCAOs, new lifting beams and a 4-hoist lifting solution with a lifting platform to support the gloveboxes.

Overall, the schedule benefit and cost saving due to this will effectively self-fund the solution, meaning any additional cost to produce a new mechanism will be covered by the cost saving of the new strategy. This will provide benefits to the project's critical path, schedule and cost and improved health and safety during lifting of some of the most important kit for the function of the SRP facility.

PPP's Internship Scheme

Wednesday 17 August 2022

12pm to 1pm

Learn more about PPP’s award-winning internship scheme and hear first-hand how the scheme is benefiting those involved and also the wider PPP community.

PPP’s Community Engagement Advisor Caroline Hindmarch will provide an introduction to the scheme and Communications Intern Abbie Roberts will share her inspiring story, reflecting on her journey and experiences of the scheme so far.

Principles of Risk Management in PPP

Wednesday 31 August 2022

12pm to 1pm

Join us for a Share & Learn session to gain an appreciation for the PPP risk management framework and its structure.

Sharon Aitken, Head of Risk Management in PPP, has extensive knowledge in this field having worked in various risk roles in several industries for over 22 years. The session will provide a broad overview of risk basics - What is a risk? Why is risk management important? The risk management process at both project and programme levels and importantly what is risk perception.

More about the Share & Learn series

All past Share & Learn sessions can be watched again via the links below. If prompted for a password, please enter Share&LearnPPP.

• Vimeo
• PPP Intranet

If you have a topic you`d like to hear more about, or perhaps you have a theme you`d like to share, please get in touch with Becky Ballantyne (Cultural Development Manager) at rebecca.l.ballantyne@sellafieldsites.com.