How do you handle process safety incidents and emergencies in project operations and maintenance?

The incidents occurred in process operations are less frequenct but have high severity. In order to avoid such catastrophic incidents the following measures might be constructive. - Follow up of risk management tools i.e Hazop, whatif, HAZID, FMEA studies. - Implementation of robust Maintenance program(Planned Preventive maintenance, condition based, break down. - Adherence of Risk based-inspection program to avoid equip failure. - Implementation of Corrosion Prevention Program to maintain equipment integrity. - Management of change procedure. - Strict adherence of permit to work system - Effective shift handover. - Close monitoring of subcon work. - Training Program for operators. - Emergency Preparedness - Mock drills

It should be noted that identifying “emergency “ scenarios is a bit different from identifying general project hazards. Although similar methods could be used but in identifying emergencies more attention should be paid to potential consequences rather than risk ( which takes likelihood into account as well). Emergencies even with little past occurrence record should be considered if there is credible chance for those.

Organizations that understand the hazards and risks are better equipped to distribute scarce resources as efficiently as possible. Industry experience has shown that companies are far more likely to have long-term success when they use hazard and risk information to plan, develop, and implement reliable, lower-risk operations. In order to understand the Hazard and risk there are to main schools to be followed: - According to CCPS RBPS Element: the pillar foundational block Understand Hazards and Risk included: Process Knowledge Management. Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis. - According to OSHA PSM Elements: the pillar foundational block Understand Hazards and Risk is included: Process Safety Information. Process Hazard Analysis

In the HAZID and HAZOP workshops we are moving away from likelihood assessment for high severity consequences. Instead we use a follow on process called LOPA to evaluate likelihood more reliably. This allows consistent identification of the number of protection layers for a scenario across different assets. Thereby driving consistency in risk management at different facilities.

As high hazard operating business, it's important to be aware of high consequence events also known as Major Accident Hazards. These are studied systemically (for example LOPA) to see the where is the risk and what are the safety critical safeguards preventing us from the risk. Then to put this MAH on bowtie will further help to know about risk representation. If a SIF goes without PM or fails dangerously , you can have a look at bowtie and know what is remaining to protect us against a hazardous situation.

The four main components of risk management and control are: (1) operating and maintaining risky processes properly; (2) controlling process modifications to keep risk manageable; (3) maintaining equipment integrity and ensuring the quality of materials, fabrications, and repairs; and (4) preparing for, managing, and responding to incidents that do arise. Risk management allows an organization or facility to implement management systems to ensure profitable, long-term, incident-free operations.

Planning for emergency situations, supplying resources to carry out the plan, practicing and refining the plan on a regular basis, educating and training staff, contractors, neighbors, and local authorities on what to do, how to report an emergency, and how to be notified in the event that an incident does occur are all included in emergency management. The emergency element's purview goes beyond putting out the fire. Aspects of emergency response are: Preserving human life, including emergency responders and others who are present or offsite. Reacting to catastrophic events including explosions, significant chemical spills, or other significant energy releases. Interacting with interested parties, such as the media and neighbors

ERP is an important mitigative barrier and here are the few things which is important to know -Well developed emergency pre plan (e.g toxic release, fire case) -Well trained emergency squad team against above plans. Good to have periodic announced drill followed by unannounced drills. The results should be analyzed for weak link in this safeguard and should be strengthened. -Community awareness: The surrounding community should be aware of what to do in case of leve-II leak or leak which can effect them. The local authorities should also be aware. It's also important that local authorities+company should be able to handle worst case (hospital + ambulance + staff).

Root cause in my opinion is Production load; Which flows from higher management to site management, As a result shouting, rushing & teasing environment produced. It would be controlled by adoption of TPM techniques.

Handling process safety incidents and emergencies in project, operations, and maintenance involves a comprehensive approach. Implementing a robust safety management system, conducting Hazard studies, FMEA and risk assessments, and ensuring effective communication and training are key components. However, Regular drills and simulations help prepare personnel for emergencies, and continuous monitoring and auditing help identify and address potential risks. Collaborating with regulatory bodies and staying updated on industry best practices further enhances safety measures.

Two critical aspects -Good company will always investigate incidents and identify systems or weak links. And then the responsible people will work on improving that system. When organizations do otherwise (always accountability of who did what) then investigations are reverse engineered. First they identify who should get hit and then do the RCA and that's the last thing happening to a safety culture. No one will report it until it comes on national TV. -A good organization will learn from past mistakes of their own or other facilities. Developing a PSM culture is important and employees should know about when wrong in Bhopal or Piper Alpha. IChemE also provides a comprehensive register on what went wrong in many industries.

A formal procedure for conducting incident investigations, which involves staffing, carrying out, documenting, and tracking investigations of process safety occurrences, is part of the incident investigation process, which is a procedure for reporting, recording, and looking into incidents and near misses. In order to find reoccurring incidents, it also offers trending incident and incident investigation data. Finding and removing event causes is the aim of incident investigation, which aims to enhance organizational performance & to be lesson learn. The resolution and recording of the investigations' recommendations are overseen by the incident investigation procedure. It is not appropriate to assign blame based on incident investigation

A comparable system must be in place for all PSM aspects in order to schedule, staff, and evaluate them efficiently. Additionally, a mechanism for putting any improvement or corrective action plans into action and assessing their efficacy must be in place. However, compared to audits, management reviews are more regular, have a wider scope, and are usually carried out less formally because their goal is to identify any present or potential shortcomings. For instance, necessary training activities can be interrupted if the training coordinator for the facility suddenly left. There would be no visible signs of a defect because the process would continue to be operated by the current qualified personnel. Such finding, will be flaw in the PSM.

In order to effectively review and improve a PSMS, one of the critical requirements is the support from senior management. Reviewing and improving a PSMS requires a lot of commitment, effort and resources such as time and personnel from different disciplines. Each pillar of the PSMS must be assigned a champion who is an expert in that particular discipline. Unfortunately, this means that their scope of work increases and they may be reluctant to adopt this responsibility as part of their scope. Without senior management support, the selected champion can be reluctant in executing their responsibilities as a champion and this can consequently have a negative impact in the efforts of improving the PSMS.

Company should have a history of Process Safety culture. There should be a high power committee to control any process safety incident. Always report near-miss to avoid process safety incident. Implement the recommendation of Previous investigation when a process safety incident occur.

A positive process safety culture in an organisation can be identified in several ways such as PSM communication that is displayed on notice boards and updated regularly, PSM discussions during operations' morning meetings (this could be a discussion about PS events in or outside of the organisation, discussion about PS metrics, PS daily activities, or any PS awareness campaigns that are ongoing), other means of identifying the culture relate to how PS elements are incorporated into daily activities of operations and the number of audits conducted. For this to be possible, it needs to be driven from top management eg Top management suggesting how morning meetings should be structured to include eg PS discussions.

The above are pillars Foundations Blocks of Risk Base Process Safety management system. The RBPS pillars according to CCPS are: Commitment to process safety: process safety culture compliance with standards process safety competency workforce involvement stakeholder engagement Understand hazard & risk: hazard identification & risk analysis process knowledge management Risk manage: operating procedures safe work practices asset integrity & reliability contractor management Training and performance assurance: management of change operational readiness conduct of operations emergency management learning from experience incident investigation measurement & metrics auditing. management review & continuous improvement

Process safety incidents in project operations are managed through robust emergency response plans, regular training, and thorough risk assessments. In renewable energy, like offshore wind farms, dedicated response teams are trained for scenarios such as equipment failures or extreme weather events. Grid code studies ensure emergency protocols align with regulatory requirements, while in manufacturing and battery storage, incident response plans prioritize swift containment and mitigation to prevent escalation.

Constant training of PS practitioners on new PS advancements, constant and ongoing training on PS investigations and Hazard identification. Hazard identification is key in identifying hidden or unknown or previously unconsidered risks. Afterall, the value of a risk assessment lies in the hazards identified and the risks they pose as well as preventative and corrective measures needed. Regular training on investigations can include a discussion by the PS team on investigations of incidents from other investigative organisations such as the Chemical Safety Board (CSB). Without refresher courses on new advancements in investigations, incidents will be investigated in the same manner and yield the same results of reoccurrence.