Checklist plant safety

Continual monitoring of equipment and plant is standard practice in chemical process plants. Equipment deteriorates and operating conditions may change. Repairs sometimes are made with improvements whose ultimate effects on the operation may not be taken into account. During start-up and shut-down, stream compositions and operating conditions are much different from those under normal operation, and their possible effect on safety must be taken into account. Sample checklists of safety questions for these periods are in Table 1.7. 

Detailed safety checklists appear in books by Fawcett and Wood (Chap. 32, Bibliography 1.1, Part E) and Wells (pp. 239-257, Bibliography 1.1, Part E). These books and the large one by Lees (Bibliography 1.1, Part E) also provide entry into the vast literature of chemical process plant safety. Lees has particularly complete bibliographies. A standard reference on the properties of dangerous materials is the book by Sax (1984) (References, Section... 

As a part of the plant safety framework, common data component is proposed to manage all common data for the plant safety framework and to accumulate the safety-related common data across plant activities. This component is a part of the data warehousing for the plant-wide activities across the plant lifecycle. The object-oriented modeling approach is used to abstract these common elements within the plantwide conceptual model while the physical data are within the data warehouse frame. The safety common data (SCD) component includes (but not limited to) the possible source of data errors, documentation standards (vocabulary), generic cause-consequence for each component type, checklists for operation-type jobs, and standard safety interlock levels. The common data are essential to be organized and formatted in a... 

The audit includes a review of the process safety information, inspection of the physical facilities, and interviews with all levels of plant personnel. Using the procedures and checklist, the team systematically analyzes compliance with the PSM Rule and any other relevant corporate policies. The training program is reviewed for adequacy of content, frequency and effectiveness of training. Interviews determine employee knowledge and awareness ofthe safety procedures, duties, rules, and emergency response assignments. The team identifies deficiencies in the application of safety and health policies, procedures, and work authorization practices to determine live actions. 

A process checklist evaluates equipment, materials and safety procedures. A checklist is composed of a series of questions prepared by an engineer who knows the procedure being evaluated. It compares what is in tlie actual plant to a set of safety and company standards. Some questions tliat may be on a t>pical checklist are ... 

A similar checklist can be prepared for die other areas of interest mentioned above. Although die results of a checklist study are qualitative, these results can be used to idendfy design areas diat require furdier liazard evaluation and to communicate die safety needs of the plant to the management. 

Liston (Ref. 27) provides useful checklists for equipment and building siting and layout for safety purposes, as well as other safety-related criteria for plant design. These checklists address economic considerations and facility geographical location, site selection, layout, and unit plot planning factors. 

Figure 10-2 A typical process safety checklist. A list of this type is frequently used before a more complete analysis. Adapted from Henry E. Webb, What To Do When Disaster Strikes, in Safe and Efficient Plant Operation and Maintenance, Richard Greene, ed. (New York McGraw-Hill, 1980).

Generally offshore facilities and major process plants onshore represent considerable capital investment and have a high number of severe hazards associated with them (blowouts, ship collisions, line and vessel ruptures, etc.). They normally cannot be easily evaluated with a simple safety checklist approach. Some level of "quantifiable evaluation" reviews are usually prepared to demonstrate that the risk of these facilities is within public, national, industry and corporate expectations. 

This checklist may be used to stimulate the thinking of inherent safety review and process hazard analysis teams, and any other individuals or groups working on process improvements. It is intended to promote "blue-sky" or "out-of the-box" thinking, and to generate ideas that might be usable in an existing facility or a "plant of the future" concept. 

A checklist approach is used to gather process safety information (PSI) prior to scaleup to pilot plant. 

The new employee receives both basic and job-specific orientation before entering the plant. The experienced worker receives appropriate training before undertaking a new position or whenever changes in the workplace or in job content make it desirable. Checklists asure that safety and other aspects of the job are covered. Written tests make certain the employee understands the safety and other important aspects of the job. 

Plant Guidelines for Technical Management of Chemical Process Safety (1992) [4] provides contributions from many participating chemical manufacturers. There are numerous checklists, decision trees, proposed forms, apparently provided by various chemical plants who had an established MOC program. Nine very practical appendices are provided in Chapter 7, entitled Management of Change. One of those approaches may be very close to your needs. 

This texts authors personal chemical plant experiences include training needs checklists for both new salaried and new chemical process operators. These checklists include an entire array of personnel safety, process safety, and Department ofTransportation and environmental stewardship focus points. Unfortunately, unauthorized and inept changes can ruin products, equipment, reputations, and more, so MOC refresher training must be conducted more frequently. A yearly refresher course on MOC is a condition of employment. I am familiar with a course that is a locally developed, computer-based training module. 

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