Design team approach

While a multidisciplinary team approach is ideally suited to PSM design and installation, it is not the only way. PSM goals can be achieved through the efforts of a single professional, or a small homogeneous task group (for example, facility managers or safety specialists) the process is essentially the same as described here, but on a smaller, more limited scale. 

As the previous discussion suggests, interdisciplinary teamwork often benefits the design of PSM systems, both by spreading out the work involved and by drawing on multiple perspectives. In addition, the team approach can expedite buy-in from PSM end users, if only because it s harder to resist the findings of a team than the conclusions of a single individual, however well-respected he or she may be. If you are not in a position to mobilize a formal company team to focus on PSM system design, you should at least consider... 

The teams selected to design PSM systems should reflect the approach you have chosen. However, regardless of the approach you use, keep in mind some general characteristics of effective process design teams, which include ... 

With the approach selected and the design team(s) designated, you can now begin to develop the PSM systems you have planned. A good place to start is with a team briefing that covers ... 

A preliminary meeting is usually required to describe the approach to candidate members of a design team. At this stage the responsibilities and obligations of the team members are made sufficiently clear so that prospective team members can evaluate their willingness and ability to participate. 

The main advantage of this approach is that the design team can keep control of the basic decisions and interact as the design develops. By staying in control of the basic decisions, the intangibles of the design can be included in the decision making. 

A set of questions designed to help accident investigators find less obvious ways to prevent accidents is shown in Table 12-1. The team approach of questioning and answering is especially important because the supportive, synergistic, and feedback approach by team members gives results that are always greater than the sum of the parts. 

The subsequent sections of this chapter will outline a team approach to laboratory design. 

The success of a laboratory design depends on many factors, not the least of which are health and safety considerations. When the team approach is implemented, each member brings to the design specific expertise essential to the element of proper design. 

The electronic paper idea and the work we ve done in organic semiconductors have had components including work by individual scientists, but there have also been components of a multidisciplinary team approach. For example, chemists have been associated with the design and characterization of the semiconducting organic materials, developing the understanding of what functionalities are needed and other factors. 

Front-end planning typically utilizes the expertise of client process people to convey the requirements of the pharmaceutical facility to the design team. With this information in hand the design team begins the facility design incorporating process needs, code requirements, safety issues, material and personnel flow, work-in-process storage, utility needs, and so on, into a first-cut approach. 

Facility Design Considering Safety, Monitoring and Detection A Team Approach (Verbal Communication), Microcontamination Conference, Santa clara, CA, 1988. 

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