Risk Management Program development

The discussion in Chapter 1 showed how safety and risk management programs developed over the last 200 years. Typically new programs and approaches were introduced once existing systems had become mature and well established. The discussion also showed that current risk management initiatives are largely to do with the topic of culture and employee participation. Hence much of the recent literature to do with Process Safety Management (PSM) speaks to the topic of company culture. For example, the Baker Commission report to do with the 2005 accident at Texas City... 

Developed under tlie Clean Air Acts (CAA s) Section 112(r), tlie Risk Management Program (RMP) rule is designed to reduce tlie risk of accidental releases of acutely toxic, flanunable and explosive substances. USEPA finalized its list of regulated substances (138 chemicals) and defined tlireshold quantities for these chemicals. 

It is useful to consider these same criteria during drug development. Should the product label carry information about, and should the risk management program include, plasma concentration monitoring A few worked examples may be of use. 

The EPA s "Risk Management Programs for Chemical Accidental Release Prevention Proposed Rule 40 CFR Part 68" estimates the cost for developing standard operating procedures at 2,500 for simple processes to... 

The owner or operator of a stationary source shall develop a management system to oversee the implementation of the risk management program elements. 

Risk management programs can be divided into two broad categories prescriptive and nonprescrip-tive. Prescriptive standards, in which a set of detailed standards are developed, usually by a regulator or industry standards-setting body, are what most people think of when safety is discussed, are often associated with traditional occupational safety standards. To pick an example almost at random, OSHA has the following rule to do with ladders ... 

The third example is used for discussions of the management of risk. Figure 1.20 illustrates the major steps in the development of a representative risk management program. 

Because external standards do not generally provide enough detail to actually develop and run a risk management program additional nuts-and-bolts guidance is needed. Such guidance can be internally generated or it can be provided by outside experts and consultants. 

The next step in the development of a risk management program is to set up an organization. This is often done through use of a steering committee, subcommittees, and a risk/process safety management (PSM) coordinator, as shown in Figure 17.1. 

The principal resources required by a risk management program are money to fund activities such as external audits and equipment inspections, and the time of key pCTSonnel to participate in activities such as hazards analyses and the writing of operating procedures. The second of these is often the most critical because the key people are busy with many other activities, including operations, maintenance, and other types of project work. Hence, the process safety schedule will often be developed around the availability of these people. 

For in-plant personnel, and especially for offsite persons, the map or the plot plan is an effective way to describe the size and the location of the site. It also helps locate where the emergency has developed. When the risk management program (RMP) was being developed by the companies of the Gulf Coast area, computer-based maps were extensively used to display the areas in and around the plants. 

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