Process Safety Technical Areas
CEP: YPOV - Engineering Cyber Security
Arjun Gopalratnam
Between March and April 2010, a powerful but seemingly limited computer worm, now referred to as Stuxnet, infected computers around the world, beginning in Iran and spreading to Indonesia and India. A recently published book uncovers findings on the origin of the worm and raises concerns that are relevant to chemical engineers everywhere.
Managing Transportation Safety and Security Risks
Brad A. Fuller
Effective transportation risk management (TRM) balances safety and security with operational efficiency. When developing a TRM program, use this comprehensive framework and these practical techniques to identify and screen risks.
It's Time to Consider Human Factors in Alarm Management
Ian Nimmo
Implement these procedures to consider human factors, not simply human error, in control-room architecture and reduce the chance for incidents in the plant.
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...
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 (...
LIKELIHOOD of IGNITION of RELEASED FLAMMABLES: CCPS Book—Scope, Status, and Relationship to Other CCPS Books
Mar 15, 2011
Mike Moosemiller
When a flammable material is released from process equipment, the result may be a fire, an explosion, or the release may simply dissipate with no apparent effect other than a minor environmental impact. Depending on the circumstances, the probability of ignition can range from 0 to 1. For anyone...
Can Functional Testing Be Replaced by Inspection After Demands?
Mar 14, 2011
Hui Jin
Safety instrumented systems are used to reduce the risk of major accidents in the process industry. To claim a certain risk reduction from such systems, it is necessary to perform reliability analyses, within internationally accepted frameworks, such as the IEC 61511. The main factors that...
Inherent Safety In Front End Engineering
Mar 14, 2011
Ian Sutton
The best time to apply the principles of inherent safety is during the early stages of a design. In particular it is at the early stages that the ?Eliminate? option is best applied. For example, in the early stages of one design the process engineers had come up with a system of three knockout...
Improving Process Safety Culture: An Audit Checklist for Effective First Line Supervision Based on Common Operations Failure Modes
Mar 14, 2011
Peter Bullemer
The Abnormal Situation Management® Consortium funded a study to investigate common failure modes and root causes associated with operations practices. The study team analyzed 20 public and 12 private incidents for common operations practice failure modes including the BP Texas City Incident. A key...
Strong Reporting Culture as Stepping Stone to Continuously Drive Safety Performance Improvement
Mar 14, 2011
Joe Stough
This session will review the leading indicator research findings drawn from analyzing a large Energy and Chemicals industry data set. The source of research includes data sets and Safety business practices spanning operating sites in over 100 countries involving some global industry leading...
The Buncefield Explosion: Were the Resulting Overpressures Really Unforeseeable?
Mar 14, 2011
Jérôme R. Taveau
On Sunday 11 December 2005, a severe unconfined vapour cloud explosion followed by several tank fires occurred at the Buncefield oil storage depot in England, causing widespread damage to homes and businesses surrounding the site, hopefully without any victim. The damage caused by the resulting...
Methods for Precluding the Existence of a Dust-Explosion Hazard
Mar 14, 2011
Richard Prugh
The "generic" standard for preventing fires and explosions involving combustible dusts is the National Fire Protection Association publication NFPA 654. In this document, fifteen of the requirements are prefaced with the phrase "if an explosion hazard exists", and an additional four requirements...
Making Existing Process Plants Inherently Safer
Mar 14, 2011
Victor H. Edwards
Making process plants inherently safer has obvious advantages and is easiest to do when designing a new plant. Modification of existing plants to make them inherently safer can often be much more difficult and costly, including any costs due to lost production. However, an inherently safer design...
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