Comprehensive process safety management

Process safety metrics are critical indicators for evaluating a process safety management system s performance. Tracking the number of process safety incidents is one common measure of performance, but merely tracking the number of incidents after the fact is insufficient to understand the system failure that allowed the incident to occur and what can be done to prevent a recurrence. More than one metric and more than one type of metric are needed to monitor performance of a process safety management system. A comprehensive process safety management system should contain a variety of different metrics that monitor different dimensions of the system and the performance of all critical elements. 

In general, inherent and passive strategies are the most robust and reliable, but elements of all strategies will be required for a comprehensive process safety management program when all hazards of a process and plant are considered. 

One of the recommendations of the Baker Panel Report following the Texas Qty Refinery explosion was that BP should establish and implement an integrated and comprehensive process safety management system that systematically and continuously identifies, reduces and manages process safety risks at its US refineries. The CSB Investigation Report made similar recommendations. These recommendations are equally applicable to sites with Buncefield-type potential. 

Process security and process safety have many parallels and use many common programs and systems for achieving their ends. Process security management requires a systems approach to develop a comprehensive security program, which shares many common elements with process safety management. 

Amend the Process Safety Management (PSM) Standard, 29 CFR 1910.119, to achieve more comprehensive control of reactive hazards that could have catastrophic consequences. 

Process Safety Management (PSM) Comprehensive set of plans, policies, procedures, practices, administrative, engineering, and operating controls designed to ensure that barriers to major incidents are in place, in use, and are effective. 

Collecting the correct information to monitor and understand performance of the process safety management system, and its separate elements, can provide an unbiased and comprehensive view of system performance. This will alert the appropriate personnel to weaknesses in the process safety system. A companywide versus a site-specific approach to process safety auditing, evaluation, and improvement not only deals with better prioritization of identified improvement work but potentially provides better auditing and evaluation against those conditions that one site may accept as normal/acceptable over time. 

Process safety is a prerequisite to worker safety and begins when the plant or manufacturing line is on the drawing board. From comprehensive design and hazard analysis through preventive maintenance and employee training, we assure our operations not only meet the Occupational Safety Health Administration s (OSHA) Process Safety Management standard, but also are intrinsically safe. 

Whether you need to start from scratch in your development of a comprehensive, integrated safety management program, or only need to improve a few select areas of your safety compliance or training process, this manual will provide the background, guidance, and tools to get you where you want to be. 

Train, communicate, mentor. A comprehensive process that manages the entire life cycle of a chemical in the laboratory would result in responsible management of the safety and security aspects of that chemical. The CSO is responsible for ensuring that proper processes are established and communicated to all, but it takes a strong commitment by top leaders in the institution to create the best safety and security systems and to establish a culture that ensures the well-being of personnel and the public. 

Figure 16.2 A well-groomed safety culture has been determined to be equally as or more important than a comprehensive technology built process safety management system.

Common controls. To prevent against unexpeded releases, water suppliers must establish a comprehensive process management program. A key provision of process safety management (PSM) is the process hazard analysis, a careful review of what could go wrong and what safeguards must be implemented to prevent a release of hazardous chemicals. 

To meet this challenge, we have adopted a comprehensive approach to the management of process safety throughout our operations, which builds on our existing strengths. The goal of this approach is to assure that, in all of our businesses, we maintain PSM standards and practices that ... 

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