A major UK process industry operator required a safety partner capable of supporting both planned maintenance outages and emergency shutdown events. With outage schedules varying significantly in size and complexity, the client needed a flexible solution that could scale rapidly, maintain high safety standards and adapt to changing operational requirements.

Since 2023, Breathe Safety has provided ongoing support across a range of maintenance activities, including planned outages lasting several weeks and emergency events requiring mobilisation at short notice. Projects range from small interventions requiring a handful of personnel through to major maintenance programmes involving large multidisciplinary safety teams.

A key requirement has been the ability to respond quickly to changing project demands. During outage periods, work scopes can evolve daily as inspections uncover additional maintenance requirements. Through local resources and flexible staffing arrangements, Breathe Safety has consistently adapted to changing circumstances, providing additional support when required while helping the client maintain operational efficiency.

The support package combines specialist personnel, safety standby services and equipment management to create an integrated approach to outage safety. By coordinating these services through a single provider, the client benefits from improved communication, simplified management and greater operational efficiency during time-critical maintenance activities.

Breathe Safety has also supported the implementation of compliant breathing air solutions for confined space welding activities. These applications often present complex regulatory and operational challenges, requiring specialist expertise to ensure workers are protected while allowing maintenance work to proceed efficiently.

In addition to confined space support, our teams manage a wide range of gas detection activities throughout outage periods. This includes equipment preparation, calibration, bump testing, atmospheric monitoring and the ongoing management of both standard and specialist gas detection equipment. By maintaining oversight of these critical safety systems, we help ensure monitoring remains reliable throughout the project lifecycle.

The team also manages its own confined space entry operations, reducing the administrative burden on site-based control room personnel and allowing the client's operational teams to focus on other critical aspects of outage delivery.

Outcomes

• Ongoing support provided across planned maintenance and emergency outage events.
• Rapid mobilisation capability for shutdowns requiring short-notice response.
• Flexible resourcing scaled to suit changing project requirements.
• Integrated delivery of specialist labour, safety standby services and equipment management.
• Support for compliant confined space welding operations through specialist breathing air solutions.
• Comprehensive gas detection management including calibration, testing and atmospheric monitoring.
• Reduced administrative burden on site operational teams through management of confined space entry activities.
• Local support infrastructure enabling responsive service throughout outage periods.
• Safe and efficient delivery of maintenance projects across a variety of outage scenarios.

The Breathe Difference

Outages rarely go exactly to plan. The ability to adapt quickly without compromising safety is what makes the difference.

For this project, Breathe Safety combined specialist personnel, equipment management and technical expertise into a single, flexible service. By scaling support as requirements changed and taking ownership of key safety activities, we helped the client maintain safe operations while reducing complexity and keeping maintenance work on track.

The result was a practical approach that balanced safety, responsiveness and operational efficiency across both planned and unplanned outage events.