Page 19 - Effectively using metrics
P. 19
Leading metrics are intended for local use to address local issues and are not typically
appropriate for long term trending or corporate/external reporting.
A company created a metric to measure
safety instrumented system (SIS)
activations/failures. They found that the A company created a metric to
metric spiked when a new project was address pressure safety valve (PSV)
test failures. Through using this
being implemented. Having focused on metric, they found issues with the
the SIS metric and driving it down to the inspection, testing and maintenance
target, they moved on to the next topic.
This next topic was process safety program. They also saw the metric
issues in new project implementation. spike when a new Inspection,
Testing, Maintenance (ITM) vendor
Through this they found issues with was contracted. Both of these areas
time available to complete a task, were the topic of subsequent
setting adjustments, and design issues
– all topics that could be addressed process safety metrics.
next. Anonymous
Anonymous
The use of Loss of Containment (LOC) Reporting as a leading indicator was so successful
at one facility that leadership established it as a corporate leading metric. Several sites
used this approach to great effect, increasing both the awareness of spills and leaks as
well as improving the timely repair or prevention of leaks. After more than a year of using
this metric, reporting started to taper off, perhaps partly due to reduction in LOC events,
partly due to attention being shifted to ‘the next problem’. As a result, LOC reporting
numbers began to decline. When the metric was shared at a leadership team meeting,
the leaders celebrated that LOC events were trending downward, having forgotten (or
not understood) that the purpose of the metric was to encourage more reporting so that
LOCs could be repaired.
Anonymous
17
Effectively Using Metrics to Improve Process Safety Performance
AIChE 2023. All rights reserved. Reproduction for non-commercial, educational purposes is encouraged.
However, reproduction for any commercial purpose without express written consent of AIChE is strictly prohibited.