Personnel metrics system

Successful implementation of the metrics system requires commitment of the site and unit managers as well as those who supervise personnel directly responsible for collecting the data. Managers and supervisors will play a key role in the success of the metrics system, and it is important for them to understand what the metrics measure, why the metrics are valuable, and how they and the company will benefit. As managers and supervisor gain a full understanding of what the metrics mean, they can take appropriate actions and decisions, and can reinforce the commitment to fully complete the metrics system procedures. The managers and supervisor will have the responsibility to ensure personnel understand their role in the metrics system, review metrics results, and help formulate actions based upon those results. 

Procedures and activities associated with the collection of metrics are best integrated into the normal work of the personnel collecting the data. Any special procedures that are viewed as extra or unrelated work may not be endorsed by personnel charged with the data collection. If an individual is focused solely on the metrics program, data collection and analysis tasks are defined as part of his or her job. However, much of the data will be collected by personnel whose major responsibilities are not directly associated with the metrics system. 

For instance, many objectives and data collection similarities exist between the mechanical integrity (MI) system and the process safety metrics system, and data available in the MI system can be used to judge process safety performance. How information from the MI system will be captured and used needs to be defined, including who will be responsible for ensuring the proper information flow. This requires the metrics system developers to coordinate with the MI personnel regarding what information will be monitored and how it will be... 

Individuals who collect and analyze metrics—those who will lead the implementation as well as those who will receive and use the metrics—need to understand why the metrics are valuable and how the company, and they personally, will benefit from their adoption. If the personnel involved in collecting the data understand the objectives and benefits of the metrics program, it is more likely they will develop the commitment to execute the metrics system procedures. Understanding value is important but not sufficient, and personnel responsible for collecting information must also be trained on how to collect the information accurately and consistently. Training and education is therefore important to the success of the metrics program. 

The metrics system will require informed practitioners to reliably complete the system tasks. There are many examples where poorly trained personnel collected data that was misunderstood or just wrong. This wastes resources by collecting improper and potentially useless data and may lead to erroneous conclusions about performance. A false sense of confidence could result fl-om improper data that indicates the process safety system is operating more reliably than is true. On the other hand, invalid data may lead to a conclusion that action is needed when, in fact, the process safety system is meeting expectations. 

In addition, responsible parties—from the shop floor to the board of directors—should be rewarded for good process safety performance, and there should be consequences for poor performance. Linking process safety results with personnel compensation must be done carefully to avoid counterproductive incentives. The compensation systems must not discourage reporting unsafe conditions or other gaming of the metrics system. 

Personnel responsible for mechanical integrity (MI), management of change (MOC), and other elements of the process safety system who can use metrics to measure the performance of their systems ... 

The process safety professional will have primary interest in the data that indicates process safety system performance. This audience includes both process safety professionals at a given site as well as those who have multiple-site or corporate responsibilities. Process safety professionals often document and report selected metrics, but much of the raw data is generated by others, such as operations and maintenance personnel. It is important for the process safety professional to reach agreement with those generating the data on how that data is transmitted to him or her. Issues to resolve in developing a data exchange plan include, but are not limited to ... 

Some companies have a suite of metrics that they update weekly, monthly, or quarterly depending upon their needs. This data is usually system performance metrics that summarize the status of activities or metrics determined to be of interest. These systems can provide process safety information as soon as it is developed and entered into a network database. With the proper access, operators and craft personnel and their supervisors can view this information, and nearly any audience can view the reported data in a predetermined format. 

As described in Chapter 4, in an ideal process safety system, the organization s goals, objectives, and metrics should be reflected across the organization and, as appropriate, in the performance expectations and contracts of individuals with responsibilities under the system. A key factor in ensuring that systems perform as intended is to hold responsible personnel accountable for desired results—objective metrics are one way to measure and document... 

A process safety program must be relevant to the company and its operations. The program must also be relevant to employees personal safety and success. The link between safety actions and safety outcomes is most obvious in operations that directly handle highly hazardous materials. Unfortunately, that nexus may not be as obvious in the systems that support and are otherwise indirectly associated with hazardous materials. Appropriately developed, implemented, and communicated process safety metrics can help educate personnel on the importance of different aspects of the process safety system. 

Success stories demonstrate that positive change can be made within an organization. These stories provide a basis for dialogue with all personnel in an organization and facilitate education and training efforts. Metrics help document systems improvement trends and provide data to reinforce desired behaviors. 

Advertising successes of the process safety improvement effort demonstrates that improvement is possible. Well-crafted stories also explain the benefits that accrue to everyone in the organization. Of particular interest are stories where a process safety weakness was observed, possibly during a process safety audit, and an improvement effort corrected the identified weakness before it could manifest into an accident. Metrics can validate such improvements. Another example is improved reliability from timely maintenance of safety devices as demonstrated by metrics that educate personnel not only about the hazards, but also about the importance of reliable safety systems in managing those hazards. 

The operational aspects of building protection are important considerations, even though they are less quantifiable than the protection metrics. The need for continuous operation has an important influence on protection system design. If part of the protective response is building evacuation or movement of personnel to an interior shelter, essential operations could be disrupted. Key activities that cannot be disrupted must be accounted for by the protective architecture. Similarly, the tolerance for false alarms could vary from building to building depending on the need for continuous operation. 

Some passive controls will live outside the user interface and may not be apparent to day-to-day operators. For example, HIT systems typically need to exhibit resiliency in their architecture whether brought about through redundancy or other systematic means. These design features represent active engineered controls. However it is common for this to be supported by other more passive controls which require some degree of human intervention. The platforms on which systems reside can often be monitored for availability and performance. In some cases systems may be specifically instrumented to provide metrics on the execution of specific functions or the success of database transactions. Similarly systems may log errors or failed messages which are then made available for inspection by service management personnel. 

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