Elective

• Process Safety


  “a discipline that focuses on the prevention of fires, explosions, and accidental chemical releases at chemical process facilities”.
• Process Safety


  is about the prevention of, preparedness for, mitigation of, response to, or restoration from catastrophic releases of chemicals or energy from a process associated with a facility.
• Process safety


  focus is on the hazards involved with industrial processes and preventing catastrophic accidents
• Occupational safety


  focused on the safety, health, and welfare of people at their workplace
• Occupational safety


  does not go beyond the workplace and deals with things such as personal protective equipment (PPEs), noise exposure, vehicle accidents, slips, trips, and falls
• Process Safety Management


  designed to manage the integrity of operating systems and processes handling hazardous substances by applying good design principles, engineering, and operating practices.
• Importance of Process Safety Management

  • To prevent major disasters involving catastrophic releases of toxic, reactive, flammable, or explosive chemicals
  • Plants have been getting larger and more complex, thus introducing more process risks and requiring a broader and deeper approach to managing these risks
  • Weaknesses in compliance with the regulations and failure of a compliance-based approach to process safety to prevent major accidents
  • Less public tolerance for major accidents
  • Potential impact of a major disaster
  • To manage the increasing amount of people, environmental regulations, and business growth
• Two of the quantitative benefits for having a sound process safety system that affects the Business Impact are:

  • Risk Reduction
  • Sustained Value
• Risk Reduction


  ● Process safety prevents human injury; and

  ● Process safety helps significant losses and environmental damages.
• Sustained Value


  ● Process safety helps boosts productivity;

  ● It helps produce high quality products, on time, and at lower cost; and

  ● It contributes to shareholder value
• Risk Reduction


  ● Lives are saved and injuries are reduced

  ● Property damage costs are reduced

  ● Business interruptions are reduced

  ● Loss of market share is reduced

  ● Litigation costs are reduced

  ● Incident investigation costs are reduced

  ● Regulatory penalties are reduced

  ● Regulatory attention is reduced
• Sustained Value


  ● Productivity Increases

  ● Production Costs Decrease

  ● Maintenance Costs Decrease

  ● Lower Capital Budget Required

  ● Lower Insurance Premiums
• Process safety has developed and advanced over the last 50 years in response to several severe industrial accidents that have occurred because of spectacular failures in process safety systems and lackluster safety culture.
• In the middle of the 20th century, more formal review techniques began to appear in the process industries. These included the Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) review, developed by ICI in the 1960s, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), Checklist and What-If reviews. These were qualitative techniques for assessing the hazards of a process.
• These were qualitative techniques for assessing the hazards of a process.

  • Hazard and Operability (HAZOP)
  • Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)
  • Checklist and What-If reviews
• Quantitative analysis techniques

  1. Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)
  2. Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA)
  3. Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA)
• Quantitative analysis techniques began to be used in the process industries in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s
• Modeling techniques


  were developed for analyzing the consequences of spills and releases, explosions, and toxic exposures
• Design Institute of Emergency Relief Systems (DIERS)


  was established within the AIChE in 1976 to develop methods for the design of emergency relief systems to handle runaway reactions.
• Safety and Health Division


  The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) formed the _ in 1979.
• In 1985 the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA), which later became the American Chemical Council (ACC), issued PSM guidelines. By 1989, the CCPS introduced a set of 12 process safety management elements. The American Petroleum Institute (API) also issued PSM guidelines in 1990.
• In 1992 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued the Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals (OSHA PSM) regulation
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its own version in 1995 under the authority of the Clean Air Act.
• PSM


  is widely credited for reductions in major accident risk and in improved process safety performance in the process industry.
• Learning from experience


  involves monitoring, and acting on, internal and external sources of information.
• near miss


  an event in which an accident (that is, property damage, environmental impact, or human loss) or an operational interruption could have plausibly resulted if circumstances had been slightly different.
• Pillar of Commit to Process Safety

  1. Process Safety Culture
  2. Compliance with Standards
  3. Process Safety Competency
  4. Workforce Involvement
  5. Stakeholder Outreach
• Process Safety Culture


  the combination of group values and behaviors that determine the manner in which process safety is managed.
• Compliance with Standards


  standards system provides a communication mechanism for informing management and personnel about the company’s obligations and compliance status.
• Workforce Involvement


  provides a system for enabling the active participation of company and contract workers in the design, development implementation, and continuous improvement.
• Stakeholder Outreach


  encourages the sharing of relevant information and lessons learned with similar facilities within the company and with other companies in the industry group
• Pillar of Understanding Hazards and Risk

  1. Process Knowledge Management
  2. Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis
• Process Knowledge Management


  Understanding risk depends on accurate process knowledge.
• Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis


  a collective term that encompasses all activities involved in identifying hazards and evaluating risk at facilities, throughout their life cycle, to make certain that risks to employees, the public, or the environment are consistently controlled within the organization’s risk tolerance.
• Flixborough Disaster (1974)


  an explosion that occurred at a chemical plant near the village of Flixborough in North Lincolnshire, England in 1974. The explosion killed 28 people and seriously injured 36 people.
• Flixborough disaster


  explosion occurred because of a temporary plant modification in which a leaking reactor was removed and bypassed using a temporary pipe while the repairs to the reactor were made.
• Seveso Disaster (1976)


  chemical plant in Italy, released a toxic cloud containing dioxin, a deadly chemical. The accident contaminated a residential area, leading to the death of thousands of animals, destruction of vegetation, and health issues for residents.
• Bhopal Incident (1984)


  India, faced a horrific tragedy when a Union Carbide pesticide plant released over 40 tons of deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas. The toxic cloud affected thousands, causing immediate deaths, permanent disabilities, and chronic health issues.
• Piper Alpha Disaster (1988)


  120 miles northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland, experienced a devastating disaster. A condensate pump was started without a crucial safety valve, causing a small explosion. Due to the absence of blast walls, the explosion ruptured crude oil pipes, leading to an oil fire.
• Pasadena Explosion (1989)


  Phillips Petroleum Company's Houston Chemical Complex. Explosions fueled by volatile gases used in polyethylene production resulted in a devastating blast, registering 3.5 on the Richter scale.