Process safety management system elements

It is incumbent upon the toller to develop and follow internal management systems as appropriate to support business needs, production needs, process safety, environmental responsibility, and worker health. The selection process should have considered whether or not satisfactory systems are in place. Nevertheless, the contract or auxiliary documents may be the vehicle used to help ensure that the system reviewed is the system actually used for completing the toll in question. Within the process safety management system, the management of change and training elements are essential subsystems. 

The CCPS model describes process safety management systems in terms of 12 elements and 68 components. The elements and components appear as Table 1.1 on pages 2 and 3 of this book. 

Accountability is the obligation to answer for one s performance with respect to expectations, goals, and objectives. It is an important element of an effective process safety management system. To improve safety, the risk associated with human errors must be reduced. The work situation is the predominant cause of human errors and management has control over the work situation. 

Collecting the correct information to monitor and understand performance of the process safety management system, and its separate elements, can provide an unbiased and comprehensive view of system performance. This will alert the appropriate personnel to weaknesses in the process safety system. A companywide versus a site-specific approach to process safety auditing, evaluation, and improvement not only deals with better prioritization of identified improvement work but potentially provides better auditing and evaluation against those conditions that one site may accept as normal/acceptable over time. 

Process safety metrics are critical indicators for evaluating a process safety management system s performance. Tracking the number of process safety incidents is one common measure of performance, but merely tracking the number of incidents after the fact is insufficient to understand the system failure that allowed the incident to occur and what can be done to prevent a recurrence. More than one metric and more than one type of metric are needed to monitor performance of a process safety management system. A comprehensive process safety management system should contain a variety of different metrics that monitor different dimensions of the system and the performance of all critical elements. 

Periodic management review is a specific risk-based process safety (RBPS) element Providing regular checkups on the health of process safety management systems—including the metrics—will identify and correct any current or incipient deficiencies before they are revealed by an audit or incident. Such management reviews also demonstrate management interest and commitment to process safety and the metrics that describe the system. 

Once all the elements of the Process Safety Management system are in place and are being implemented, the Compliance Audit [29 CFR 1910.119 (o)] element provides a means to evaluate the program s compliance level. Every three years, the program must be audited to ensure that it is being implemented as per the regulation. The audits can be done internally, but some companies hire outside consultants to get the viewpoint of an unbiased expert. ... 

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. 

To be effective, the review process should ensure that the necessary information is available for top management to evaluate the continuing suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness of the [safety management system],. .. Reviews should present results (for example, a scorecard) to focus top management on the [safety management system] elements most in need [of] their attention.. .. 

In addition, just as employee participation is the key element of process safety management systems, worker involvement is crucial to the effective application of Safety Cases. Unfortunately, the perception among many that a Safety Case is a lengthy, highly technical document that can only be understood by specialists, mitigates effective employee participation. For example the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique used to model explosion over-pressure uses very sophisticated mathematics. This sophistication makes communication with nonspecialists a challenge. In addition the sheer size and complexity of a Safety Case may serve as a barrier to the involvement of nontechnical personnel. 

Management of Change is one of the most important elements of a process safety management system. (1)... 

Similar to company restructuring, acquisitions, mergers, and divestitures can affect the PSSR work process. Any major change in the characteristics of the site should be evaluated for the impact on PSSR and associated elements of the process safety management system. 

One approach is a generic audit protocol for any management system element. It could apply to an environmental management system, a process safety management system, a quality management system, or an integrated business management system element. This approach looks at three primary areas ... 

As issues with the current safety culture and the safety management system are identified, the PDCA/DMAIC concepts provide a framework for administration of the safety management system elements. Refer to Figure 6.2 for an Overview of the DMAIC and the PDCA Processes Relationship . 

To expand process safety management to these activities, you should first identify how each PSM element relates to the new activity, as shown in Figure 9-1. You can then determine how the existing PSM systems must be modified. For example, you may find that most elements of PSM should be installed in R D, so that pilot plant activities employ the same safety management systems as production. 

Identified hazards can either be reduced at the root (e.g., reduction of inventory) or by introduction of protective systems (e.g., automatic emergency shutdown). The increased understanding of the chemistry and the process that is obtained from hazard evaluation procedures provides guidance for many other elements of process safety management as well (e.g., procedural instructions, emergency strategies, personnel training, and preventive maintenance). 

Process security and process safety have many parallels and use many common programs and systems for achieving their ends. Process security management requires a systems approach to develop a comprehensive security program, which shares many common elements with process safety management. 

Incident investigation is only one of the many elements of a process safety management program, but it plays an essential role in identifying overall management system weaknesses on a continuous basis. 

OSHA Process A U.S. regulatory standard that requires use of a 14-element Safety management system to help prevent or mitigate the effects of... 

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