White & Mackay Invergordon Distillery
Invergordon Distillery

CASE STUDY

Pisys Permit to Work system at Whyte and Mackay

Summary

By implementing the permit to work system, Whyte & Mackay successfully addressed their challenges at the Invergordon site, demonstrating the value of effective task management and streamlined contractor processes in enhancing safety and operational efficiency.

Background

Whyte & Mackay, a renowned spirits producer with a global presence, established in 1844, has a rich heritage in producing high-quality spirits, predominantly Scotch Whisky single malts and blends including four internationally recognised Single Malt Scotch Whiskies: The Dalmore, Jura, Fettercairn and Tamnavulin as well as various blended whiskies.

Headquartered in Glasgow the company has distilleries and offices across the globe. Their Invergordon site, near the Dalmore distillery acts as a production facility for the group and is the base for the production leadership team.

Challenge

Whyte & Mackay faced challenges managing numerous maintenance and upgrade jobs at their busy Invergordon site. Ensuring safety, improving management of jobs and managing a large number of contractors required a robust solution.

‘It’s a very busy site, with a large number of maintenance and project-related jobs happening every day’ said Douglas Dick, HSE manager.

‘Where jobs might result in harm to people or damage to property we have to ensure that they are effectively managed so that we know that work has been correctly planned, personnel are competent to do the job and  that appropriate measures have been taken to control risk, we also need to know what jobs are happening in each location so that we can avoid situations where jobs interfere with others nearby.

We also use a large number of contractors so it’s important to make sure that we can track their certification to verify their competence to perform tasks, and also their insurance status so that we can be sure that everything is in place prior to them arriving on site.’

Solution

Pisys had previously provided their permit to work (PTW) system to the company’s Grangemouth site, and the team there had found it to be a good match to their needs. ‘Our Grangemouth team found the system to be extremely easy to configure and the roll-out was very quick, so we decided to adopt it in Invergordon’ said Douglas.

The company, impressed with the successful implementation at their Grangemouth site, adopted Pisys’ permit to work (PTW) system at Invergordon. The cloud-based system, implemented quickly without local installation, offered several key benefits:

  • Improved control of tasks: Enhanced operational safety by ensuring proper risk management and clear understanding of ongoing activities across the site.
  • Streamlined contractor management: Facilitated tracking of contractor certifications, insurance status, and potential issues before their arrival, minimizing risks.
  • Centralized visibility: Provided a central platform to monitor all permits, enabling efficient task oversight and improved decision-making.

The system was delivered via the company’s hosted servers, so no local installation was required and the site was up and running in a matter of days.

Result

The project has been a success. Implementation was very straightforward and buy-in from staff was excellent. Whyte & Mackay are now seeing improved control of tasks which has enhanced their operational safety. They also have greater visibility of their contractors and are able to flag any issues with competencies and insurance documentation prior to arrival on site.

The fact that all permits are available online means that they don’t have to rely on paper copies being manually transported around the site during issue or handback, this reduces the time taken to issue and handback permits which is really helpful on a busy site. It’s easy to attach risk assessments or any additional information which is required and it also means that any changes to the permit once work is underway are immediately recorded and any additional risks can be quickly flagged.

IMPROVED

Control Of All Tasks

BETTER

Safety Management

STREAMLINED

Contractor Management

Testimonial

Pisys' permit to work system has been instrumental in addressing the unique challenges we faced at our Invergordon site. The system has improved our control of all tasks, enhanced safety management, and streamlined contractor management, and we’ve seen real benefits in efficiency and visibility of tasks. Pisys were excellent throughout the process and continue to provide a highly professional support service to our teams.

Douglas Dick HSE Manager

Pisys Permit to work system is fully customisable and supports compliance with HSE/ISO/OHSAS Standards

It can be adapted to support your existing Control of Work or HSE Management System and is compatible with HSE Guidance on Electronic Permit to Work Systems, as per HSG250 and because existing control of work systems can be transferred onto PTW, set-up & training times are kept to a minimum. Our Permit to Work system integrates with the Action Tracker and Task Risk Manager modules of the Pisys 360 Suite.

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