The National Board Annual Violation Tracking Report identifies specific violations (per device type) commonly found on five (5) types of pressure equipment during jurisdiction-required inspections. The following data reflects the reporting period of 1/1/2014 – 12/31/2014 as reported by participating member jurisdictions. The Violation Tracking Report indicates problem areas and trends related to boiler and pressure vessel operation, installation, maintenance, and repair. The data also identifies problems before adverse conditions occur. This report serves as an important source of documentation for jurisdictional officials, providing statistical data to support the continued funding of inspection programs.
Since SAFTENG does not do work associated with Boilers, I have broken out the Pressure Vessel Data and Pressure Relief Data. Not surprised to see that the top two issues found associated with pressure vessels were:
- “Pressure-Retaining Items (PRI) / Boiler-Piping, Pumps, Systems Valves, Expansion Tanks”
- “Pressure Relief Devices”
Overall Totals for Pressure Vessels (U)(UM)
Total Number of Inspections = 223,081
Total Number of Violations = 7,273
Percent of Violations = 3.26%
It is interesting to note that 45% of the violations associated with PV’s were related to the Pressure Relief Devices on the PVs!! There were 3,236 safety relief device violations found by NBBI inspectors in 2014.
When we look at all five (5) types of pressure equipment included in NBBI inspections we see the following breakdown for issues related to pressure relief devies:
High-Pressure/High-Temperature Boilers (S)(M)(E) = 763 violations (15%)
Low-Pressure Steam Boilers (H)= 1,229 (17%)
Hot Water Heating/Supply Boilers (H) = 7,447 (24%)
Pressure Vessels (U)(UM) = 3,236 (45%)
Potable Water Heaters (HLW) = 1,411 (29%)
Issues with relief devices were the #2 issue found in all inspections on all five (5) types of pressure equipment. The number one issue found during these 2014 inspections was on “Pressure-Retaining Items (PRI) / Boiler-Piping, Pumps, Systems Valves, Expansion Tanks”.
CLICK HERE (pdf) for the full report, including Boilers and Hot Water Heaters