Hazard analysis professionalism

Each of these considerations will not, of course, apply to every material and situation. To look at your operation in a systematic, rigorous way with a knowledgeable group of people, a process hazard analysis can be conducted. Books and outside consulting resources are available that can provide guidance and professional assistance when needed. 

Good communications are critical. If there are special situations, such as hot tapping, or unique conditions in which hazardous materials cannot be easily removed (such as the accumulation of solids that cannot be dissolved away), or if the clearing procedures cannot be followed or do not exist, then key professional personnel must perform a hazards analysis and re-evaluate the situation. Personnel must not continue scheduled maintenance until safety can be guaranteed. [30]... 

A multi-disciplinary hazard analysis team comprised of line management, health and safety professionals, and workers can effectively tailor the controls applied to the work at the facility and site level. 

What are the qualifications of personnel performing chemical hazard analysis Are "hands-on" employees involved in all chemical hazard analyses conducted by SMEs Do environment, safety and health (ES H) professionals conduct walk-downs of feciUties in which chemicals are to be used... 

After compliance with the regulatory requirements is achieved and maintained, it is important that the focus be placed upon the behaviors of the individuals within the workforce. Employees working the same job for 40 hours a week, every week, acquire habits within the performance of their job function. The employee may not even realize that the behavior exhibited placed him or her or others within the workplace at risk. Although safety and health professionals often perform job observations, job hazard analysis, and other periodic activities, the safety and health professional cannot be everywhere in the workplace. Employees should be aware of not only the risks and safeguards of their job function but also actively involved in assisting fellow employees in improving their safety and health performance. 

Some participants can become quite defensive to the point of treating the findings of the analysis as challenges to their professional competence. An effective leader makes it clear to all that the purpose of the hazards analysis is to ensure process safety and operational integrity, not to challenge the proficiency, competence, or professionalism of any person or group of persons. 

Based on my observation of the < clienfs > hazards analysis tracking system and my inquiries of knowledgeable plant personnel, it is my professional opinion that, as of this date, < client > has addressed and resolved, in accordance with applicable standards and good engineering practices, every condition that is ranked in any of the above-referenced hazards analyses as an A- or B-level risk. It is also my professional opinion that, as of this date, < client > is addressing, and has a timetable for resolution, of every condition that is ranked in the subject analyses. 

A PSR is not a last-minute hazards analysis. The review team must check that the right types of hazards analysis were carried out at the right times, and that the quality of those analyses is satisfactory. The team must also check that all the findings were implemented or closed out in a professional manner. But the team does not actually analyze the new system for hazards. 

Safety professionals cannot properly give advice on hazards and risks unless the hazards are analyzed and the risks deriving from them are assessed as to their significance. This chapter works through the process of hazard analysis and subsequent risk assessment. It explores hazard analysis and risk assessment methods, discusses the jeopardy in using some published techniques, and concludes with a practical methodology outline. Since there has been a proliferation of risk assessment matrices in recent years, some of them are examined, for their pros and cons. 

New technology is continuously developed that may not have been evaluated for safety. Thus, safety professionals are more often engaged in preoperational hazards analyses, job hazard analysis, and the additional training that those analyses indicate is necessary. 

Safety professionals should be aware that more recently issued safety standards and guidelines require hazard analysis and risk assessment. Adoption of safety through design concepts is slow-moving, but certain. In time, many more safety professionals will need to become skilled in making hazards analyses and risk assessments. That spells career opportunity. 

If safety professionals are to anticipate hazards, they must participate in the design process. To be involved in the design process effectively, they must be skilled in hazard analysis and risk assessment techniques. Being a participant in the design process and using hazard analysis and risk assessment techniques are the basics of system safety. 

Safety professionals must, therefore, be capable of using hazard analysis and risk assessment methods. 

To be effective, safety professionals must understand hazards, risks, the relationship between hazards and risks, and hazards analysis and risk assessment techniques. In the use of hazard analysis and risk assessment matrices, judgments of incident probability and consequence will often be made on a subjective basis. And such systems can be made to work. They should be considered more art than science. 

A planned effort will be necessary to convince decision makers that the safety professional s counsel on hazard analysis and risk assessment can be of value. Small steps forward, proving value, are recommended. In preparing for such an endeavor, I suggest that safety professionals ... 

Professional safety practice requires that hazards be analyzed, that the risks deriving from those hazards be assessed, and that a risk ranking system be utilized. Also, it must be understood that hazard analysis is... 

Figure 9-4 Hazard analysis techniques workshop. Course schedule for workshop recommended for safety professionals and engineers.

Analytical trees can be used in a variety of ways in the system safety effort. The most common application of analytical trees in current system safety programs is probably the use of fault trees for fault tree analysis (FTA). However, analytical trees can also be used as planning tools, project description documents, status charts, and feeder documents for several hazard analysis techniques (including fault tree analysis). Analytical trees can be multipurpose, life cycle documents and represent one of the most useful tools available to managers, engineers, and safety professionals. 

A subsystem hazard analysis (SSHA) or a system hazard analysis (SHA) may be required depending on the complexity of a given program or project. The SSHA and the SHA are often referred to as one in the same by many system safety professionals (Stephenson 1991). However, as explained here, the two methods are slightly different and, if used properly, provide for a more complete evaluation of a given system. 

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