(53g) Process Safety Information Review and PHA Team Engagement

This paper will discuss methods to thoroughly review process safety information (PSI) while encouraging PHA team engagement and participation.

A long-standing problem with review and revalidation of process safety information is: How to have the team reviewing it in the proper mindset to enable more than a cursory review concentrating solely changes since the previous review? To enable to the review team to determine if all the proper relief scenarios are properly considered in a relief design record or that an interlock is designed to protect against all possible causes of overpressure, excess high temperature, etc, the review team must be deeply into the details of the process design. The PHA process presents a team of diverse professionals that are in this mindset.

Another long-standing problem with PHAs is how to keep the team fully or nearly fully engaged during the long and tedious meetings. A technique that is a symbiotic solution to both problems is to have each team member reviewing and commenting on the key items of the process safety information as the subject are addressed by the team. For instance, if an interlock is listed as a safeguard, have an instrument technician or process operator lookup and review the key parameters of the interlock. This can be done with all initiating events and safeguards. For instance, a process engineer will be asked to review the relief scenarios in the design record to ensure that the event that the relief device is proposed as a safeguard is included in the design record. Further is the relief discharge to a safe location? How is this documented and substantiated? If applicable the process engineer will be asked to review any documents and identify gaps in the PSI regarding chemical reactivity events.

Each of the PHA team except the scribe and facilitator is assigned a key piece of the PSI to review. Process operators will have the operating procedures. Maintenance technicians will have maintenance procedures, equipment design records, etc.