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Elements of Process Safety

The four pillars and the twenty elements of risk based process safety can be designed and implemented at varying levels of rigor to optimize process safety management, performance, efficiency, and effectiveness.

A Treasure Hunt towards Process Safety In the Unit Operations Laboratory

Oct 17, 2011
Ronald J. Willey
Integration of the process safety in the chemical engineering curriculum is a requirement. Several places exist and with a multitude of approaches. One approach we have used in our unit operations laboratories for over 30 years is an introductory treasure hunt, mandatory during the first meeting of...

Exposing the Blurry Lines Between Personal Safety and Process Safety Education

Oct 17, 2011
Delmar R. Morrison
Chemical engineering curricula have long been focused on instilling the fundamentals of chemical engineering science in undergraduates and advancing the state of the art through postgraduate study. Unfortunately, a comprehensive focus on safety has never been in the core of the chemical engineering...

The 3rd Edition of Chemical Process Safety, Fundamentals with Applications

Oct 17, 2011
Dr. Daniel A. Crowl
The 3 rd edition of Chemical Process Safety, Fundamentals with Applications was published in the early summer of 2011. The third edition has been rewritten to include new process safety technology, new references, and updated data that have appeared since the first edition was published in 1990 and...

Good Engineering Practices - Inspection and Test Frequencies

Mar 15, 2011
Richard Prugh
The "Process Safety Management" standard of the Occupational Safety and Health Act [OSHA] requires that "The frequency of inspections and tests of process equipment shall be consistent with applicable manufacturers' recommendations and good engineering practices, and more frequently if determined...

A Frequency Based Approach to Hole Size Selection for Consequence Analysis

Mar 15, 2011
Mike W. Stahl
When performing a consequence based facility siting study, it is often necessary to choose a criteria for the maximum credible hole size that is the source for a hazardous release. Many companies choose a variable hole size using a fraction of the pipe size to determine the source hole. Other...

The Challenge to Implement and Maintain An Effective PSM Program

Mar 15, 2011
Ken Hanchey
While researching to develop responses to help a client respond to OSHA citations, we discovered a presentation to the same industry segment from 1997; we could change the date and present the same presentation today. OSHA is still finding the same gaps as 14 years ago. Chemical plants generally...

An Update on OSHA's PSM National Emphasis Programs

Mar 15, 2011
Lisa Long
Since 2007, OSHA has initiated two major National Emphasis Programs (NEPs) in process safety. The Petroleum Refinery Process Safety Management NEP (Refinery NEP) was effective on June 7, 2007; the PSM Covered Chemical Facilities NEP (Chemical NEP) was effective on July 27, 2009. This presentation...

QRA Method for Land-Use Planning around on-Shore Oil and Gas Facilities

Mar 15, 2011
Eelke S. Kooi
In the Dutch legislative context, facilities that handle or store large amounts of hazardous substances must carry out a quantitative risk analysis (QRA) for land-use planning purposes. The outcomes of the QRA determine the kinds of activities that are tolerable in the surroundings of the facility...

Acid Release From Catalyst Tanks

Mar 15, 2011
R. Wayne Garland
This is the story of how the cumulative effects of several seemingly innocent changes to a catalyst system resulted in a near miss Process Safety incident. Several aspects will be discussed including cumulative effects of multiple changes to the system, identification of potential scenarios in...

Fatal Explosion Caused by An Intermittently-Used Fuel Gas Piping System

Mar 15, 2011
Russell A. Ogle
A fatal explosion occurred at a foundry during a routine test of an intermittently used propane standby system. Just prior to the explosion, maintenance personnel were preparing the propane standby system for a startup test. While preparing for the startup test, the group was alerted that employees...

PSM Metrics Impact on Process Safety Culture

Mar 15, 2011
Bill Patton
Several years ago our facility recognized the need to expand from a PSM Program managed by a small group to a PSM Culture owned by the full facility. Development and implementation of effective and consistent PSM metrics were utilized to achieve the following: (1) Set the vision for a PSM Culture (...

What to Do When Nothing Has Happened?

Mar 15, 2011
Raymond "Randy" Freeman
Often during a Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) or a Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA) study, historical information indicates no occurrences of a particular undesired event in the plant or system. The analyst must decide on an appropriate measure of the frequency of the undesired event. The...

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