Developing Creative Thinking Skills for Process Safety Management

Creative thinking is an essential tool for process hazard analysis when brainstorming how a process can fail, as well as for incident investigation, procedure writing, management of change reviews, and developing emergency response plans. While empirical evidence suggests that some people are more gifted or predisposed to think creatively, the prevailing view is that creative thinking can be learned. This article provides guidelines and suggestions based on a review of the literature for developing creative thinking skills that can be used to address process safety challenges.