Human factors process safety management

In July 2012, the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE 2012) organized a Summit on the topic of The Human Factor, Process Safety and Culture. The meeting lasted for 2 days and there were approximately 70 attendees, all of whom were experts in the area of risk management and/or human factors in the energy and process industries. The title page of the Summit document states, This paper is not intended to be a recommendation or guideline, but the consensus view of Summit attendees. ... 

Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), 2012. The Human Factor, Process Safety and Culture. Patrick Hudson and John L. Thorogood (eds). Summit Paper, November 2012. Transportation Research Board, 2012. Evaluating the effectiveness of offshore safety and environmental management systems. Spec. Rep. 309, 2012. 

The book begins with a discussion of the theories of error causation and then goes on to describe the various ways in which data can be collected, analyzed, and used to reduce the potential for error. Case studies are used to teach the methodology of error reduction in specific industry operations. Finally, the book concludes with a plan for a plant error reduction program and a discussion of how human factors principles impact on the process safety management system. 

These publications contain information on twelve key elements of chemical process safety management. In this section, seven of those elements that can be significantly impacted by paying careful attention to human factors principles are addressed. These are ... 

This book was written by Dr. David Embrey of Human Reliability Associates, with the assistance of the CCPS Human Reliability Subcommittee. Section 8.2, Managing Human Error by Design, which deals with the application of human factors principles in the process safety management system, was written by the Human Reliability Subcommittee. 

In this chapter we will emphasize system upsets or abnormal situations where the loss or degradation of components or controls could allow process parameters to exceed the design intent or limit of the process or equipment, resulting in an accidental chemical release. The time factor involved in an operator s ability to assess and correct an operating deviation is discussed in more detail in CCPS Guidelines for Integrating Human Factors into Process Safety Management Systems ... 

For additional information on this topic, refer to Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) publication Guidelines for Integrating Human Factors into Process Safety Management Systems, New York, New York, 1995. 

From today s Process Safety Management perspective, we should say a lack of process safety culture prevailed. We should also say human factors and facility siting issues contributed to this incident. The gas-fired heater was originally adjacent to the process with no separation. The accidental heater fire destroyed adjacent process equipment at several levels of the structure. Detailed discussion on the human factors and the facility siting issues are beyond the scope of the one-minute modification... 

It was this topic of culture and the human factor aspect of process safety management that the Summit sought to address, as can be seen in the following quotation ... 

Apart from the reference provided, no guidance is given in either SEMS or SEMP (or in the OSHA Process Safety Management standard) as to how human factors analysis and management is to be implemented. 

Because human factors are to do with the man—machine interface, it enters into almost all aspects of process safety management (PSM). Yet, in spite of its... 

Chapter 8, A Systematic Approach to the Management of Human Error, explains how the manager and safety professional can use human factors principles in the management of process safety. This chapter also provides a practical plan for a plant human error reduction program that will improve productivity and quality as well. 

The major benefits that arise from the application of human factors principles to process operations are improved safety and reduced down time. In addition, the elimination of error has substantial potential benefits for both quality and productivity. There is now a considerable interest in applying quality management approaches in the CPI. Many of the major quality experts em-... 

Where loss of control could lead to severe consequences, the integrity of the basic process control system and the protective safeguards must be designed, operated and maintained to a high standard. Industry standards such as ANSI/ISA-S84.01 (1996) and IEC 61508 (2000) address the issues of how to design, operate and maintain safety instrumented systems such as high temperature interlocks to achieve the necessary level of functional safety. The scope of these standards includes hardware, software, human factors and management (HSE 2000). 

MS Carey, "Safety Management of Process Faults A Position Paper on Human Factors Approaches for the Design of Operator Interfaces to Computer Based Control Systems", HSE Contract Research Report No 60/1993, HSE Books, 1993... 

Sanders, Roy E., Human Factors Case Histories of Improperly Managed Changes in Chemical Plants, Process Safety Progress 15 no. 3, Fall 1996 pp. 132-39. 

---