Safety Management System Audit Design

It was critical for the success of the SMS audit that the process not just identify the critical issues that led up to the accident but also document them in a thorough fashion that could be presented as evidence in a very high-profile investigation and in court. To do this, an SMS review tool was created. The tool was based on a review of international best practices in SMS application and sourced from numerous programs such as 

Qantas Airways system safety audit process 

American Public Transit Association safety audit programs 

PICTURE 4.3 (See color insert.) Waterfall rail accident pictures. (From Independent Transport NSW Files. Used with permission.) 

The selection and review criteria (Bahr, 2005a) were based on 

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Gathering audit data can be accomplished through observations, documents, and interviews. The data obtained is used to verify and validate that the process safety management systems are implemented and functioning as designed. Data gathering can be aided oy the use of audit samples, where a representative number of items are audited to draw a conclusion, and by using self-evaluation questionnaires. 

Safety instrumented system audits provide beneficial information to plant management, instrument maintenance engineers and instrument design engineers. This enables management to be proactive and aware of the degree of implementation and effectiveness of their safety instrumented systems. Many types of audits, which can be carried out exist. The actual type, scope, and frequency of the audit of any specific activity should reflect the potential impact of the activity on the safety integrity. 

Compliance Audits. Employers need to select a trained individual or assemble a trained team of people to audit the process safety management system and program. A small process or plant may need only one knowledgeable person to conduct an audit. The audit is to include an evaluation of the design and effectiveness of the process safety management system and a field... 

This subject, until recently, has not been given sufficient attention by safety professionals. Design and engineering provisions do not appear typically in outlines of safety management systems. Nor would the subject ordinarily be included in safety audits. Yet design and engineering decisions are primary in determining risk levels, and those decisions are most often made without input from safety professionals. 

In fact, the basis of an audit is the assumption that its designer does indeed understand the process and has created an instrument to ensure that the process performs properly. Audits then, derive their content from the theory of accidents held by the author(s) of the audit. For example, depending on the author s point of view, the audit might emphasize unsafe conditions, unsafe acts, deficiencies in the safety-management system, or any number of other personally held accident-causation philosophies. 

Introduction Review and audit processes are used in the chemical process industry to evaluate, examine, and verify the design of process equipment, operating procedures, and management systems. These processes assure compliance with company standards and guidelines as well as government regulations. Reviews and audits can encompass the areas of process and personnel safety, environmental and industrial hygiene protection, quality assurance, maintenance procedures, and so on. 

Quality Management system priorities to consider are management responsibility, quality system principles, auditing, contract review, design control, corrective action, document control, quality records, training, product safety and liability, and statistical techniques, because these are critical aspects of the Quality Management system where Xmple Inc. already has some systems in place. 

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