Operating procedures process safety management

The audit team, through its systematic analysis, should document areas that require corrective action as well as where the process safety management system is effective. This provides a record of the audit procedures and findings and serves as a baseline of operation data for future audits. It will assist in determining changes or trends in future audits. 

Develop specific process safety management systems. Working within the pian, the task groups will develop specific systems and procedures for implementing PSM. The Division A team will focus on its own operations, while (name s) group will direct its efforts toward the other divisions. 

Under the management of change section of the PSM standard employees are required to develop and implement documented procedures to manage changes in the process chemistry, process equipment, and operating procedures. Before a change occurs (except for replacement-in-kind), it must be reviewed to ascertain that it will not affect the safety of the operation. After the change has been made, all the affected employees are trained, and a pre-startup review is conducted. 

Document Chemical Reactivity Risks and Management Decisions Process Knowledge and Documentation Process Risk Management Process Safety Information Process Hazard Analysis Operating Procedures Operational Control... 

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. 

Another present-day investigator could have attributed this incident in part to the lack of readily available process information. This incident occurred some time after a major expansion in that unit. Most of the chemical process operators had less than 18 months of service and several sections of the unit did not have written operating procedures a ailable. By today s Process Safety Management standards, such vital information as up-to-date standard operating procedures is mandatory. Also by today s standards, a Management of Change procedure would be in place. 

Pick up a dictionary and find the entry for procedure. One definition is a particular course or mode of action. A simple statement, but to procedure users, writers, and managers concerned with process safety, the word procedure impUes much more. The Center for Chemical Process Safety s approach to Process Safety Management relies on written procedures to document both hands-on operations and maintenance activities as well as to describe the Process Safety Management S5retem itself. This book was written to help select and implement actions that will... 

Chapter 8 summarizes why operating and maintenance procedures are a critical part of Process Safety Management, the typical costs associated with procedure development, and the return on investment. 

The need to keep procedures up-to-date and accurate is a theme that mns throughout this book. Chapter 2 clearly shows that document control is a key element of process safety, environmental responsibihty, and quality. A workable Process Safety Management system requires that you control the access, review, approval, revision, and maintenance of procedures. If your plant has a Total Quality Management System in place, such as ISO 9000, document control for operating and maintenance procedures is essential to keep your certification current. 

Unfortunately, according to Industrial Safety and Hygiene News Process Safety Management Report Card, the written operating procedure requirement is the element of the OSHA PSM Rule for which most citations are written. "Many facihties don t document the procedure or they make changes and don t gp through and document them formally in writing." ... 

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