The Management System

A laboratory s management system is a system that establishes policy and objectives and how to achieve those objectives. A component of this will be the management system covering all aspects of quality in the laboratory. In many ways, a system is really just common sense procedures adopted by a laboratory, written down on paper, to ensure consistency of application. 

List the work instructions and standard procedures used in your laboratory that you think contribute to your laboratory s quality management system and should therefore appear in a Quality Manual. 

Your list will probably include the names of those who are responsible for various aspects of the work, what happens to samples and in what sequence, how equipment is calibrated and operated, how samples are 

The content of a Quality Manual for a reasonably large laboratory might be along the lines of the list given in Table 9.1. 

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Deahng with the immediate technical causes of a leak, for example, will prevent another leak for the same reason. If so little of the hazardous material can be used that leaks do not matter or a safer material can be used instead, as previously discussed, all significant leaks of this hazardous material can be prevented. If the management system can be improved, we may be able to prevent many more accidents of other sorts. 

An understanding of the management systems in place to control and direct the process safety of the facility can be obtained from reading engineering and administrative standards, guidelines, and procedures that shoiud be available in the background information supplied... 

Employee Participation Preparation for startup is an excellent opportunity to document employee participation. If a toller is covered under the OSHA PSM regulation, they must record PHA participants, procedure writers and reviewers, PSSR team members and test run team members. All these roles reflect the true intent of this element of process safety. Eveiyone benefits from intimate involvement in the management system used to protect life and health. 

Good The management systems audited provided reasonable protection against significant loss or noncompliance with regulations and directives. Any deficiencies found were deemed minor. Relevant management systems are documented and routinely followed. Some corrective action may be necessary. 

Needs Improvement The management systems audited provided limited protection from significant loss or non-compliance. Some required management systems may be... 

Is there a quality manual clearly describing the management system, i.e. as per ISO 9000 series or other ... 

The economic factors must be considered in every application. It is important to find a technique that will meet both the technical and economical requirements. In short, pollution control costs depend on the system characteristics and the application. Some cost equations that generalize the economics of the managing systems are available in the literature. Most of these equations give rough estimates and have an accuracy of only about 30% to 50%. For a comprehensive cost comparison of different units, a detailed cost analysis based on the equipment tender proposals and the special characteristics of the project is necessary. 

Maintenance of records to demonstrate compliance with the prescribed regulations and effective operation of the management system... 

The welders should have known that they should never enter a vessel until they or their foreman has checked that the vessel is isolated. by slip-plates or disconnection, and has accepted (and signed) an entry permit. Power supplies should have been disconnected, or if merely locked off, each person entering should have added his or her personal lock and kept the key. It is hard to believe that this was the first time normal good practice had not been followed. The management system was at fault. 

As a group, consider each of the management systems you have identified in terms of what it suggests about your company s approach to supervision and delegation. You will almost certainly discover variations, but some common findings will emerge. 

Many companies have specific protocols for the development and description of standard operating procedures. Like the management systems they detail, these SOPs vary considerably in terms of their otganization and level of detail. While it s clearly premature to develop a specific format within which PSM systems will be described, you can get useful ideas in advance by reviewing written protocols and existing SOPs. 

Expect broad variations in style. Many companies (and individual facilities) have both formal and informal management systems. The degree of formality (e.g., documentation, authorization, follow-up) is often a function of the degree of risk associated with the activity the management system is designed to control, as well as of the structure or culture of the organization itself. 

The centralized team(s) will approach PSM element by element. The teams develop detailed guidelines, procedures, and standards for each PSM element, which can then installed by facility management. Howevei in handling one PSM element at a time, teams must be careful to incorporate a consistent approach to those elements that are interrelated (e.g., training), and to the management system characteristics (e.g., documentation) that apply to the whole PSM system. 

At the same time, relying on model programs has its share of pitfalls, in large part because a PSM system cannot succeed unless it can be properly integrated into the management systems in place for other activities. By definition a model program reflects the specific needs, operations, and practices of a given company, all of which may be quite different from your own. 

What Is the Expected Output or Work Product. The specific form of the finished product will vaiy according to your company s practices and needs. However, it s reasonable to expect that the team s efforts will ultimately produce a set of documented Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the management system, or their equivalent within your organization (see Section 6.3). Interim work products may include progress reports (see Chapter 8), documentation of discussions and analyses, flowcharts, or other materials. 

Compliance. Compare achievement in specific PSM elements against previous audit findings for the site. This helps indicate the effectiveness of the management system. For example, if previous audits found that preventive maintenance was not kept up to date on pressure relief systems, has the system weakness (or absence) that allowed this to occur been corrected ... 

If there are no existing measures of PSM and ESH, do not panic Use the results of an independent audit of the management systems conducted before and after the pilot study or use the results of existing audits. 

Some measures of PSM and ESH performance are easy to identify, establish and track. These include accident rates, effluent tonnages and composition and number of days lost to illness. Almost all of these traditional performance measures are end-of-pipe that is, they measure the output of the management system and allow corrective action only after a failure has occurred. The ideal measurement system identifies potential problems ahead of actual failure allowing corrective action to be taken. This requires using techniques such as audits and hazard assessments. 

It is clear that water quality management of the Great Lakes has resulted in a number of successes. However, major problems remain or will arise continually to test the management system and its capability. Some of these issues are summarized briefly below. 

Management systems for chemical process safety are comprehensive sets of policies, procedures, and practices designed to ensure that barriers to major incidents are in place, in use, and effective. The management systems serve to integrate process safety concepts into ongoing activities of everyone involved in operations— from the chemical process operator to the chief executive officer. 

CH4 emitted from manure depends primarily on (i) the management system such as solid disposal system, liquid disposal systems, e.g., ponds, lagoons, and tanks, which can emit up to 80% of manure-based CH4 emissions, while solid manure emits little or no CH4. (ii) Environmental conditions are also important. The higher the temperature and moisture, the more CH4 produced, (iii) CH4 emissions also depend on the quantity of the manure produced, which depends on the number of animals housed, the amount of feed the consumed, and the digestibility of the feed, (iv) Manure characteristics depend on the animal type, feed quality, and rumen microbes present in the rumen and digestive tracks. Manure handled in liquid form tends to release more amount of CH4 when compared to solid or manures thrown into the pasture, which do not decompose anaerobically. High temperatures with neutral pH and high moisture content enhance CH4 production [45],... 

The management system has to contain procedures for dealing with complaints. This will generate yet another form of record. The complaint has to be recorded and the action(s) taken to resolve it. There will be corrective actions and preventive measures put in place as a result of the complaint. 

As mentioned previously, it is possible to include opinions and interpretations within the scope of accreditation. It should be realized that the opinions and interpretations themselves are not accredited. This accreditation is only given if the work is already accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 [1]. What is required by the Standard is evidence of the procedure used by the laboratory to authorize an individual to give an opinion or interpretation. This means there has to be a procedure within the management system of the laboratory that sets out the criteria upon which the quality of the person giving the opinion is assessed. This may be split into two parts, namely the criteria for assessing competence and the criteria for assessing experience. 

This chapter covers the different types of documentation found in an analytical laboratory. These include the documents which are part of the management system and those dealing with the activities in specific areas of the laboratory. The control of documents is also covered. There are sections on the production and management of records. Finally, there is a brief description of what is meant by the accreditation of opinions and interpretations. 

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