Safety:
The state of being safe, not being dangerous or in a danger.
Plant Safety:
It encompasses all measures taken to ensure a safe and healthy working environment in industrial facilities, focusing on preventing accidents, injuries, and other incidents. This includes minimizing risks associated with hazardous substances, implementing safety procedures, and maintaining equipment to prevent malfunctions.
Process Safety
Process safety is an interdisciplinary field aimed at preventing catastrophic failures in chemical plants, refineries, and industrial facilities. While mechanical integrity and automation play a significant role, human factors contribute significantly to process safety incidents.
Hazard
A substance/physical effect/condition that has potential to harm person, property or company reputation.
Hazard Assessment
The process whereby the results of an analysis of a hazard are considered against either judgment, standards or criteria developed as a basis for decision making.
Hazard analysis
The systematic process of developing an understanding of hazards.The process consists of hazard identification, assessment and risk determination.
Consequence
Adverse effects or harm on realization of a hazard which causes the quality of human health or the scale environment to be impaired.
Risk
Risk is the product of Consequence severity and probabilities of its occurrence.
Objectives of Hazard Management
Everyone involved in the design, commissioning, operation, maintenance and modification of the installation of plant or is facilities should have sufficient knowledge of the hazards their contribution to the overall risks and able to manage the hazards. The principles of hazard elimination should be applied early in the plant design as far as is reasonably practicable;
Hazard management systems should be selected based on the hierarchy of inherent safety, prevention, detection, control and mitigation;
- All hazards should be identified, analysed and understood;
- Risks should be tolerable and As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP);
- An appropriate combination of inherent safety, health and environment, prevention, detection, control and mitigation systems should be implemented and maintained throughout the lifecycle of the installation;
- Systems that are provided to protect personnel should be suitable for the hazardous events and have performance standards commensurate with the required risk reduction;
- The design, operation and maintenance of the systems should be undertaken by competent people who understand their responsibilities in the management of the hazards and potential hazardous events; and
- Any changes to the installation which may affect the likelihood or consequences of HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) hazards should be identified, assessed and the management systems revised as necessary.
HAZOP:
Hazop’s full form is Hazard and Operability Study. It studies both hazards and operability aspects of a plant. In Hazop analysis an interdisciplinary team uses a systematic approach to identify hazards and operability problems occurring as a result of deviations from the intended range of process conditions in a particular scenario and in a particular node. An experienced team leader systematically guides the team through the plant design, using a fixed set of guidewords, which are applied to specific process parameters at discrete locations or study nodes in the process system. The study node may be either a discrete point of the process system or it may be a particular run of piping or particular procedure or action. The team analyses the effect of any deviations at the point of question and determines the possible causes for the deviation (operator error, blockage in outflow, malfunction of control system etc.),the consequence of deviations (e.g. spillage of liquid/solid, pollution etc.) are analyzed and the safeguards in place to prevent the deviation (e,g. Level control, piped overflow etc.) are examined. If the causes and consequences are significant and the safeguards are inadequate the details of recommendations are recorded so that follow-up action can be taken. Recommendations for changes are for design procedures etc. to improve the system for each node studied.
For any comment, query or clarification, please contact:
Krishn Kumar Bhatnagar,
Process and Process Safety Consultant,
Noida, India,
+919650584384