Process Safety Management Tips for Preventing Crises

by | Oct 5, 2015

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IHS logoThis article is sponsored by IHS.

Advancements in technology and the application of “lessons-learned” in the field of process safety management (PSM) have led to a reduction in process safety incidents. Yet catastrophic events continue to occur and increase in severity. Organizations can improve process safety management efforts to ensure safe, reliable operations by following six steps – including a program of increasing risk awareness and supporting sustained learning – revealed in a new IHS white paper.

Without such process safety management steps, incidents that could have been preventable may occur. Say, for example, that in one plant, immense pressure had built in a pipe that was scheduled for routine maintenance. A worker, new to the job and eager to complete his tasks on time, overlooked procedure and loosened the bull plug without checking the pressure gauge upstream. The pressure released from the pipe knocked the employee on his back, but without injury. The company’s SOP called for a near miss to be reported and for a risk analysis to be performed but he did not report the event. The next month, when the same task was performed by a different worker, the pressure release knocked the worker off the maintenance truck, resulting in a fatality. At another plant, a job safety analysis had already identified this risk and put a safeguard in place. Had the first plant followed procedure, the fatality could have been prevented. The IHS process safety management white paper offers a detailed roadmap showing how companies can avoid incidents like the one above by putting a number of steps into place. The white paper explains in depth how to improve process safety management by:

  • Increasing risk awareness and visibility;
  • Improving process execution;
  • Enhancing and sustaining learning;
  • Giving people the permission and support to learn;
  • Implementing a “lessons-learned” process;
  • And engaging leadership to assess process safety management quality.

The detailed information in the process safety management white paper includes:

  • background information and stats regarding PSM;
  • helpful charts;
  • tips and tactics;
  • precise, step-by-step instructions for reducing the likelihood of significant incidents.

The paper provides the knowledge about risk that organizations need in order to avoid future significant incidents in any industry.

Download the white paper here.

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