Process Safety &
Risk Management
Overview
Robert Sherman, IA TS TA Process Safety
June 2015
Objective (What is this all about?)
¾ Provides a general background to Process
Safety Management and Risk Management
Planning
¾ Is not an in-depth discussion of PSM
PSM Background
Timeline of Major Industrial Accidents
What is process safety ?
….is the absence of loss and harm resulting from fires, explosions and hazardous
material releases at process facilities;
• is the absence of loss and harm at process facilities by:
(a) identifying process hazards,
(b) containing and controlling them,
(c) countering abnormal situations with effective safeguards.
Why to process safety incidents occur?
Incident:
An unplanned event or sequence of events that either results in, or has the
potential to result in, adverse impacts.
– Fatalities
– Injuries
– Environ. Damage
• Fires
– Property Damage
• Explosions
– Evacuations
• Toxic Releases
– Business Losses
Loss Events – Plant Closings
– Fines, Lawsuits
Impacts
Loss event:
Point in time in an abnormal situation when an irreversible physical event occurs
that has the potential for loss and harm impacts.
– CCPS 2008a Glossary
Examples:
Hazardous material release
Flammable vapor or vapour cloud explosion, BLEVE, Jet Fire, Pool Fire
Tank or vessel overpressurisation and or rupture
Understanding Major Accidents
• Why do loss events happen?
• How do loss events happen?
• What must be done to avoid them?
• We choose to handle dangerous process materials and energies
– To make a living
– To provide society with desirable products
• As long as we choose to handle them, a potential for loss events exists
Process Safety
……….is the absence of loss and harm at process facilities by:
(a) identifying process hazards,
(b) containing and controlling them,
(c) countering abnormal situations with effective safeguards.
What is a Hazard?
Presence of a stored or connected material or energy with inherent
physical or chemical characteristics having the potential for causing
loss or harm to people, plant or the environment.
These include:
• Material hazards
• Energy hazards
• Chemical interaction hazards
Material Hazards
`Material
hazard: A contained or connected process material with one or more
hazardous characteristics (e.g. hydrocarbons, acids, pyrophoric materials etc.)
Flammability Instability
Toxicity Corrosivity
`Energy hazard: Some form of physical energy contained within or connected to the
process with the potential for loss or harm (e.g. rotating equipment, electricity,
pressure systems etc.)
`Chemical interaction hazard: Presence of materials with the potential for loss or
harm upon their interaction in an unintentional or uncontrolled manner
Forms of Energy with Injury Potential
Electrical (voltage, capacitance) Chemical – Health Haz (NFPA 2 to 4)
Mechanical (spring, machine parts) Chemical – Flammable (NFPA 3 to 4)
Kinetic (moving or rotating mass) Chemical – Combustible(NFPA 2 to 4)
Positional (elevated part or equipment) Chemical – Reactive (NFPA 2 to 4)
Hydraulic (liquid under pressure) Thermal – Hot material (steam, hot oil)
Pnematic (gas/vapor under pressure) Thermal – Cryogenic Fluid (liquid N2)
How do MAH Loss Events Happen?
Loss Event Incident Sequence:
• (Hazard)
• Cause
• Deviation
• Loss event
• Impacts
During normal operation, all hazards are contained and
Hazards controlled, but they are still present and have the potential
to cause harm….
Every incident starts with an initiating cause
(also called an initiating event).
Hazards
Example initiating causes:
– Feed pump fails off
– Procedural step omitted
– Truck runs into process piping
– System integrity fails
– Extreme low ambient temperature
How do MAH Loss Events Happen?
• Deviation
The immediate result of an initiating cause is a deviation.
A deviation is an abnormal situation, outside defined
Hazards design or operational parameters.
Deviation – No Flow
– Low Temperature
– High Pressure
– Less Material Added
– Excess Impurities
– Transfer to Wrong Tank
– Loss of Containment
– etc.
• Most engineering focuses on designing a process to work:
(normal situation)
• We must also consider how a process can fail, starting with an
“abnormal situation” (e.g. What if, HAZID, HAZOP, SIL, LOPA etc)
How do MAH Loss Events Happen?
• Loss event
A loss event will result if a deviation continues uncorrected and the process
is not shut down.
Loss events are generally irreversible process material/energy releases.
Loss events may also be related to production or equipment
failures
Hazards – Release
– Fire
Deviation Loss Event – Explosion
– Unscheduled shutdown
– Compressor failure
– GT Failure
How do MAH Loss Events Happen?
• Impacts
Impacts are the losses and injuries that can result from a loss event.
Hazards
Deviation Loss Event
Impacts
– Injury / Fatality
– Asset Damage/Loss
– Environmental Damage
– Business Reputation
Process Safety Strategy - Process Hazard Analysis (PHA)
Systematic Reviews of new, existing and modified processes
Requires participation by persons operating, maintaining process (“intimate
knowledge”)
Requires participation by a technical expert (Process Engineer, Mechanical
Engineer, EC&I Engineer, Rotating Equipment Engineer ect.)
Includes an evaluation of health and safety impacts
Facilitated by person trained in method used – Process Safety Engineer!
Typical PHA Methods What-If;
Hazard Identification HAZID
Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP);
Layer of Protection Analysis (LoPA)
Safety Integrity Level Assessment (SIL)
Human Factors Review
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA);
Fault Tree Analysis; or
An appropriate equivalent methodology.
Process Safety Strategy - Barriers
• Inherent - Hazard reduction
• Passive - Process or equipment design features that reduce risk
without active functioning of any device Generall
y More
• Active - Engineering controls Reliable /
Effective
• Procedural - Administrative controls
Process Safety Strategy – Learning from the Past
Learning from past (usually bad) experiences have been embodied in various forms:
• Regulations
• Codes
• Industry standards
• Company standards
• “Best practices”
One term commonly used for non-regulatory codes and standards is “RAGAGEPs”
e.g. API, NFPA, BSI, EN, IEC, AIChE, CCPS, IChemE, HSE, OSHA, ASMI, EPSC etc.
recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices
•Take advantage of wealth of
experience
•Pass on accumulated knowledge
•Reduce recurrence of past incidents
•Enable uniformity of expectations
•Reduce liabilities when followed
Process Safety Strategy – Layers of Protection
• Also called “Safety layers”
• Multiple layers may be needed, since no protection is 100% reliable
• Each layer must be designed to be effective
• Each layer must be maintained to be effective
• Some layers of protection are contain and control measures
• Other layers of protection are safeguards
“Layers of protection” between hazards and
receptors = “Defense in depth”
Mitigative
Safeguards
Preventive
Safeguards
Contain &
Control
HAZARD
Process Safety Strategy – Layers of Protection
Contain & Control
Operational Mode: Normal operation
Objective: Maintain normal operation; keep hazards contained and controlled
Examples of contain & control measures:
– Basic process control system
– Inspections, tests, maintenance
– Operator training
• How to conduct a procedure or operate a process correctly and consistently
• How to keep process within established limits
– Guards, barriers against external forces
– Management of change
Hazards
Process Safety Strategy – Layers of Protection
Safeguards
Safeguard:
Any device, system, or action that would likely interrupt the chain of events
following an initiating cause or that would mitigate loss event impacts.
– CCPS 2008a Glossary
Preventive Mitigative
Hazards Regain control
or shut down
Deviation Mitigated
Loss Event Impacts
Unmitigated
Process Safety Strategy – Layers of Protection
Preventive & Mitigative Safeguards
Operational Mode: Abnormal operation Prevent
Objective: Regain control or shut down; keep loss events from happening
Examples of Preventive Safeguards:
– Operator response to alarm
– Safety Instrumented System
– Hardwired interlock
– ESD System
– Emergency relief system
Operational Mode: Emergency Mitigate
Objective: Minimize impacts and consequences of loss events once they have occurred
Examples of Mitigative Safeguards:
– Sprinklers, monitors, deluge
– Emergency warning systems
– Emergency response
– Secondary containment; diking/curbing
– Discharge scrubbing, flaring, treatment
Process Safety Management – Unsafe Acts & MAH Loss Event
Precursors
… will reduce the
likelihood of a
major loss event
Reducing the
frequency of
precursor events
and near misses...
Key Elements of PSM System
Process Safety Management – Leading & Lagging
Indicators
Process Safety Management System – Ensuring Continuous
Improvement and Risk Reduction