Commissioning incident

During a plant commissioning, a line with a control valve fixed in it had to be hydrotested. For this the control valve had to be kept fully open.The commissioning team decided to force open the control valve by directly connecting a tubing from the air header to the actuator. After some time, the actuator cover blew off. later it was discovered that the actuator casing was not designed for the direct air pressure. Are you having strict controls over your hydrotesting procedures? Are these procedures reviewed as seriously as a start up SOP?

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