Safety Management System involvement

Trade Secrets When a toll involves proprietary information, a system must exist to ensure that employees have the process safety related knowledge needed to meet the intent of the process safety management system. 

In this chapter we will emphasize system upsets or abnormal situations where the loss or degradation of components or controls could allow process parameters to exceed the design intent or limit of the process or equipment, resulting in an accidental chemical release. The time factor involved in an operator s ability to assess and correct an operating deviation is discussed in more detail in CCPS Guidelines for Integrating Human Factors into Process Safety Management Systems ... 

Hands-on workers can be divided into two categories. The first are those who are involved in day-to-day maintenance. The need to understand the facility s safety management systems (SMSs) thoroughly because they will often be working alone and/or quite independently. The second category consists of construction workers who are present for projects and are not a part of the facility s day-to-day operations. 

It must be recognized that the Safety Lifecycle and associated Safety Instrumented Systems need to be part of an overall Process Safety Management System (PSM) for the entire plant. PSM can be defined as a program or set of activities involving the application of management principles and analyses to ensure the overall process safety of process plants. PSM, therefore, covers aU aspects of process safety, not just functional safety. 

This commitment, however, involves more than a cursory statement to promote safety at all costs. It involves committing the organization, its board of directors, managers, and employees to a long-term, ongoing, structured process aligned to the constant identification and elimination of workplace risks, which can only be achieved by the implementation and maintenance of a world s best-practice safety management system (SMS). 

A common factor in all accredited safety management systems (SMS) is an element that calls for management leadership and commitment to the safety and health process. It is almost guaranteed that any attempt to change or improve the safety culture at any workplace will fail if there is not total commitment, leadership, and management involvement from the executive right down to and including frontline supervision. 

Critical safety elements are elements including environmental and employee factors that need to be controlled constantly to prevent accidental losses from occurring. The safety management system should contain some 70 key areas that need to be controlled. They include items such as safety training, safe work procedures, management involvement, energy and chemical control systems, and housekeeping. These are critical safety system elements. 

Safety involves all people, and safety activities that facilitate the implementation of the safety management system should involve everyone. Employees should be informed of the facts at all times and should be asked to give input and suggestions on aspects of safety that directly or indirectly concern them. 

The purpose of a safety management system is to assist management in developing and operating a system to prevent and control accidental loss, get managers and employees involved in safety activities, and increase the effectiveness of operations within the organization. A system also defines safety authorities, responsibilities, and accountabilities and sets standards for various aspects of safety, health, and environmental protection. 

So had the safety culture changed Yes The entire culture moved from a reactive mode into a proactive safety mode with the implementation and maintenance of a world s best safety management system led by the management teams. They provided the resources and allowed for the development of those resources, and also participated in the development process by attending the training and getting involved in safety inspections, committees, and recognizing employees. 

Frank Guldenmund is a lecturer in the Safety Science Group of Delft Univeisity of Technology in the Netherlands. He works primarily in the field of occupational safety, where his research involves modelling and the assessment of (the quality of) safety management systems. In this context he has developed an interest in the topic of safety culture, which he has been pondering since the late 1990s. 

Hazard recognition, analysis, and control are the first and critical steps in a preventing undesired events. They are the cornerstone of safety management systems. Engineers and others involved in the prevention of harm play key roles in ensuring safe workplaces, products, equipment, and facilities. 

Collaboration Among Work Croups Later chapters will discuss safety management systems. Work associated with hazardous materials must involve a range of management methods to assure safe working conditions and operations. 

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