04/11/2025
🔧 Why Every Workplace Needs a Pressure Relief Device Management System
In my 30+ years work experience inspecting plant and equipment across mining and industrial sites and investigating incidents, I continue to encounter a troubling trend: pressure relief devices (PRDs) are often poorly managed, inadequately documented/ recorded, or incorrectly fitted/ maintained. These oversights aren’t just technical, they’re safety and compliance risks usually resulting from systemic deficiencies. We need to keep in mind PRDs are safety devices.
Common Issues I See in the Field:
❌ No unique site identification for PRVs/PSVs (the same goes for the pressure equipment they are fitted to)
📋 Missing certification, incomplete, or inaccurate registers
⚠️ Incorrect devices fitted, eg. wrong size, thread type, set pressure, or flow capacity
🛠️ Deficient standards of fitting and maintenance
📅 Recertification periods expired
These issues can compromise asset integrity, regulatory compliance, and ultimately, workplace safety.
Why a Management System Matters:
A robust PRD management system ensures:
✅ Traceability of every device through unique ID and register
🔍 Verification of correct sizing, pressure ratings, and installation
📆 Scheduled inspections and audits to maintain compliance
At Boneham Engineering Consultants, our mission is simple, "We provide our clients with the best service we can to help them achieve compliance and assist them in ensuring their plant is safe". We offer inspection, auditing, and system reviews and sound advice. Whether it’s field inspections, reconciling registers, verifying device specs, or aligning with AS/NZS standards, our goal is to make compliance practical and reliable.
If you're unsure about the state of your pressure equipment and relief systems, know they need attention, let’s talk. A small fix today can prevent a major failure tomorrow. Let my 30+ years of deep regulatory insight, technical expertise and experience help you to support safe, compliant operations.