(65a) Realizing the Importance of PSM: A Young Engineer's Perspective

Most young engineers experience a defining moment or moments in their career that shape their attitude towards importance of Process Safety Management (PSM), in particular, relief systems analysis.  Whether it’s experiencing a plant upset first-hand, or working on a relief systems study knowing that there were actual capital or human life impacts or both from an incident at the site, one soon realizes early in their engineering career why process safety is so important.  It becomes evident that the most successful corporations are those who are willing to invest large capital costs into relief systems documentation projects or projects that have come as a result of findings identified during a relief systems study, allowing them to prevent incidents from occurring.  The findings generated during the course of a relief systems study may result in simple documentation update action items, or they may require a multi-million dollar investment that involves reconfiguration of a flare header and addition or replacement of flare stacks.  For young engineers, this exposure puts into perspective the value of their work, and emphasizes the importance of a thorough and adequate relief systems study.