 | In the field of Process Safety Management(PSM), 2010 may well be looked upon as the year where a new era began – the era of real-time PSM.
A New Era in Real-Time PSM [PDF 1.27MB] |
 | The practice of risk management and the Process Safety Management (PSM) mindset of many firms in the Western Canadian process market - chemicals, oil and gas, pulp and paper, water treatment and utilities, has advanced significantly from when I started writing this column back in 2003. Operational Excellence - How PSM has Evolved to Embrace OE [PDF 658KB] |
.jpg) | In our June article, we concluded by saying that a Safety Requirements Specification (SRS) was the last step in the Concept Phase (Q1) of the ACM Quad Model (see Figure 1), after it was determined that a Safety Instrumented System (SIS) was required. Now we’ll delve into some of the key issues involved in a creating a SRS and how the SRS guides the development of the SIS Specification. The ACM Quad Model for Functional Safety Process West Sep 2009 [PDF 791KB] |
 | The successful partnering of the risk management process to a control and safety system project can have a very positive impact on a company’s earnings. Good corporate practices can reduce business risk and improve process reliability and process operability, leading to improved plant uptime, reduced operating expenses and the virtual elimination of emergencies and their associated capital and reputational costs. Good risk management programs will optimize critical and non-critical safeguards to maximize safety. Yet the benefit of risk management goes beyond safety, it is an integral part of operational excellence.
The Roadmap to Functional Safety [PDF 486KB] |
 | Before the ACM Quad Model for Functional safety is introduced, it should be stated that the graphic used in the ANSI/ISA S84.00.01 / IEC 61511 Functional safety standard identifies all the Life Cycle phases and the Functional Safety Assessment stage. However, readers often find it difficult to develop the vision to achieve compliance. Even more basic, they cannot see how the ANSI/ISA S84.00.01 / IEC 61511 Functional safety standard either aligns or could align with their corporate policies and strategy. The ACM Quad Model for Functional Safety Process West Jan 2009 [PDF 815 KB] |
 | Overall, in Western Canada, our chemical and process industries have a good track record in safeguarding their workers, the public, the environment and their assets. Yes, there have been many incidents, accidents and production problems. However, we may have been only fortunate to this point, having not experienced a truly horrific disaster on the scale of Union Carbide Bhopal (1984), Occidental Petroleum Piper Alpha (1988), Phillips 66 Pasadena (1989) or BP Texas City (2006). Using New Thinking and Technology [PDF 950KB] |
 | LOPA compares the risk of a process with no safeguards to that with safeguards. The delta Risk is evaluated using tools (matrices) based on “ALARP” to suggest how much mitigation is required. These tools are Calibrated for each corporations by quantifying the corporation’s tolerance of undesirable Hazardous events. The mitigation is quantified using things like IPLs and SILs. Doing so allows a corporation to view it’s choices of mitigation and compare the cost of the alternatives. Layer of Protection Analysis for Rigorous Risk Evaluation [PDF 740 KB] |
 | Due to compressed project schedules, limited staff accessibility and engineering cost procedures, many companies want to integrate their HAZOP and SIL/LOPA studies. This is not surprising, as the IEC 61511 Functional Safety – Safety instrumented systems for the process industry sector standard promotes a tight relationship between the two. Integrating HAZOP and LOPA [PDF 1.2MB] |
 | Major incidents in the chemical and process industry such as Bhopal, Pasadena, Flixborough, Seveso, and Piper Alpha resulted in companies adopting new strategies to incorporate the use of performance-based standards into their overall safety philosophy for dealing with risk reduction methods. How Much Risk is enough? [PDF 750 KB] |
 | With the Western Canadian economy booming, particularly the oil and gas sector, many hydrocarbon processing facilities are trying to increase production to meet rising demand. These plants, initially designed and engineered, sometimes decades ago, to deliver a specific level of production, are being expanded or revamped in some way. High Integrity Pressure Protection [PDF 857 KB] |
 | Everyone knows plant critical control and safety systems grow less reliable as they advance toward the end of their life expectancy. They have been adjusted, modified, and maintained by numerous owners and engineering companies. Documentation is frequently incomplete and inaccurate. Nearing the end of their life expectancy, these critical control and safety systems start to fail, causing operating companies to face production losses from frequent spurious trips due to decreased reliability. Critical Control Systems - time for an upgrade? [PDF 860KB] |
 | Traditional approaches to mitigating risk may need to be bolstered by “thinking outside the box” September 11th 2004 marked the third anniversary of the World Trade Centre terrorism attack. It is difficult today to pick up a newspaper where there isn’t a front-page story about terrorism and security. In a world where the word “globalization” now applies to the practice of international terror as well as the practice of international business, very few things seem safe and secure as when we were kids, or even five years ago for that matter. Committing Safety Resources: Think Outside the Box [PDF 746 KB] |
 | On May 9th 1992, a spark deep in the Westray Mine in Nova Scotia ignited an invisible cloud of methane gas, triggering a missive explosion that trapped and killed 26 workers. Despite the magnitude of the loss and the organization’s disregard for the safety and welfare of their workers, neither the corporation nor any individual was convicted of criminal negligence or an Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) offence. Bill C-45: A New Benchmark [PDF 851KB] |
 | The bull market for energy projects in Western Canada and indeed the world has had a well publicized and noticeable impact on the Chemical and Process industry. Firms are struggling to recruit, retain and train staff at all levels – design, engineering, construction, operations and maintenance; trying to keep up with rising staff turnover as firm’s raid each other and employees seek new challenges which a booming market creates. Competence in SIS [PDF 1.501MB] |
 | Canada’s approach to industry to date has been predominantly consultative and performance based. However, while our overall industrial safety record has been acceptable, care must be taken by Canadian industry to keep our plants operating safely or face the prescriptive legislative approach experienced in the US and Europe. A Canadian Perspective of the History of Process Safety Management Legislation [PDF 181KB] |
 | In my September 2008 column, I mentioned three years ago, the United States Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) accepted and recognized the ANSI/ISA – S84.00.01 / IEC 61511 Functional safety - Safety instrumented systems for the process industry sector standard as good engineering practice. More specifically, this meant that employers who met the ANSI/ISA – S84.00.01 / IEC 61511 requirements related to Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) would then be consider in compliance with OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) requirements for SIS. OK, but what is Functional Safety and HOW does it fit into a PSM program? The Link Between PSM and Functional Safety [PDF - 380KB] |
 | While companies operating in Canada do not have prescribed Process Safety Management legislation like that which exists in the United States (OSHA 29 CFR Part 1910-119) and Mexico (NORMA Official Mexicana NOM-028-STPS-200), many firms headquartered in the US use OSHA's 14 elements for their Canadian facilities. Process Safety Management - The Elements of PSM [PDF 500KB] |
 | Unless your organization is one of the 70 companies with over 200 chemical manufacturing sites who are members of the Canadian Chemical Producers Association (CCPA) Responsible Care® initiative, there may be confusion over the costs and benefits of practicing PSM. The Business Case for process safety management [PDF 98KB] |
 | For owner-operators of oil & gas facilities, understanding and predicting industrial hazards and their accompanying safeguards is not only responsible business it is a competitive advantage. Safety Systems are a Competitive Advantage [PDF 1.4MB] |
 | It is human nature to let our guard down when during the course of a job or task it becomes repetitive or when we lose sight of the consequences of certain actions. The BP Texas City Incident [PDF 1.3 MB] |
 | The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (AEUB) established targets for the reduction of flaring of solution gas, from the 1996 baseline, in Guide 60, published in June 1999. These targets came from recommendations made by the Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA) in June 1998. The Implications of EUB Guide 60 |
 | Given that this column is entitled "Process Safety", it is wise to reacquaint ourselves with a broad definition of this term. Safety Management Minimizes Process Incidents [PDF, 1.0 MB] |
 | Processing plants contain many valves that perform safety functions (e.g.emergency shut down (ESD) and blow down (BD)). We always hope that these valves need never be used in earnest. Such use means that something has gone wrong and, at least, one plant system has to be shut down, with its associated disruption of operations. Partial Stroke Testing Of Emergency Shutdown Valves [PDF, 2.7 MB] |