You're running a plant operation. What safety management tools should you rely on?

Even during the plant operation risk assessment is very essential tool before preparing the standard operating procedure (SOP). As the preparation of SOP required to find out the potential risk or hazards and to identify the way to mitigate them. Engineering control, knowledge, experience and skills are the some measures to control the risk or hazards. By doing the proper risk assessment we may increase the productivity by reducing accidents, losses etc.

In my journey as a Production personnel, having a risk assessement of my site has been quite essential. I have been able to drive a safety culture awareness (bottom-up approach) having identified potential risks and hazards. Shop floor operatives take ownership of safety programs and become safety advocates in their different capacities. A RAM also helps to prepare safety budgets so that cost-effective countermeasures can be put in place to lessen those risks identified and, possibly long-term cost saving. My favorite part is that it ensures compliance with safety standards and regulations; and also ensures continous improvements in safety management systems over time and and evaluating the effectiveness of existing safety measures.

Safety is the first priority in oil and gas industries .The oil and gas sector has always been inherently risky. No matter how far mitigating efforts go, and by how much technology improves, it is unlikely that risk will be removed entirely from industry operations anytime soon. so for us Critical task analysis ,technological risk analysis and HIRA is must for us . In daily operation PPE compliances, SOP for all designated area ,traffic rules and skilled man power with periodic training is mandatory for us .

By conducting an effective risk assessment, you get to always pick up residual, new and personnel/ tooling/ regulatory risks that generic procedures do not pick up. In the rapidly evolving way of doing things and the advancement in instrumentation and in some cases use of AI, it has become important to always have a risk assessment to recheck the risks associated with tasks. Risk assessment is one of the key ways to prevent accidents and incidents in the industry.

HIRA is the first basic tool and assessment technique to identify risks and take Counter measures. It should be conducted at the workplace prior to work start to identify potential hazards wiz physical, chemical, ergonomical. Post identification risk is accessed by defined scoring system. Industry defined scoring allows users to take preventive actions before work start.

Safety or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) provide clear instructions on handling hazardous materials, equipment, and emergency situations. Ensure uniformity by providing step-by-step guidelines. SOPs streamlines workflows, minimizes errors, and reduces downtime. Well-defined procedures help employees perform tasks efficiently, leading to optimized production processes. SOPs help to identify critical control points and address potential risk. Regularly reviewing and updating SOPs allows Operations to incorporate lessons learned and industry best practices. SOPs facilitate clear communication among different teams In essence, SOPs provide a structured framework for safe and efficient operations

Follow safe operating procedures to prevent any safety abnormalities in the plant......Continuous improvement by practicing best practices and religiously following preventive measures, periodical checking and predictive activities of safe working environmental conditions.

It's a must to have procedures, in order to develop better strategies in the future, according to the study of this procedures, how they work in certain environments and evolve. All of this, to ensure the continuous improvement.

One thing that have stood me out in plant operations is adherence to safety measures. Firstly, before manning or running a plant operations irrespective of your academic qualifications, one is run through the 'dos' and "don't' of the operations system. There's also SoP in any organization. Master it. Then lastly, call out system failures, so that if adequate maintenance, overhauling is done, one may not be imposed to higher risk as a result of plant malfunctioning.

SOPs give you all instructions and steps needed to operate the plant normally from initial start-up to shut-down. but the problem could happen that when you apply any modification in the plant like , revamp or resizing and did not update SOPs which could make disturbance or make newcomers not align with these modifications because they try to take the knowledge form old SOPs. conclusion : updating SOPs is crucial to run the plant safely with best performance.

A safety audit is a broad term that refers to a procedure in which a facility collects data on one or more workplace components to assess the risk of health or safety concerns. The purpose of safety audits is accountability. Safety audits are intended to guarantee that a company's physical and human assets are protected by compelling program features for recognizing, reducing, or mitigating hazards.

A safety audit serves as a crucial safety management tool by systematically assessing and evaluating an organization's safety practices, procedures, and compliance with regulations. It helps identify potential hazards, ensures adherence to safety protocols, and promotes a proactive approach to preventing accidents and injuries. Regular safety audits contribute to a culture of continuous improvement in workplace safety.

ISO 45001 when understood, implemented in the right way is a very easy and available systemic tool to implement safety related preventive and improvement based integrated business management systems across the organisation. Certification may be a second step. Just having a system that is compliant and continually improved is enough in my opinion and is the best available tool. In short people and organisational knowledge of the organisations helps evolve a tool / mechanism that perfectly suits the organisation based on need of the business.

Health and safety audits are designed to identify any health or safety hazards, review the effectiveness of internal controls in place to manage such hazards, and to ensure compliance with OSHA or HSE standards.Safety inspections look for risky behaviors and hazards that might lead to accidents. Safety audits look at programs and processes to ensure they meet a company's safety goals.

Safety audits can be multiple times. One can be of weekly or monthly audit by employees or sample by safety to ensure behaviours or practices compliance. These behaviour based audits if done atleast once or few times a month gives perspective areas to focus and also helps reach KPIs for safety.

We can add value in these committees by first dividing them among departments or units. Afterwards, arranging scoring competition among them based on some quality inputs from committee's. This may improve overall workings of the committee.

Safety committees bring together workers and employers through regularly scheduled meetings where safety issues are addressed. The goal of a safety committee is to create and nurture a culture of safety. Safety committees play a critical role in promoting workplace safety by fostering communication, collaboration, and continuous improvement. These committees bring together employees from various levels and departments within an organisation to address safety concerns and implement effective safety strategies. In this article, we will discuss the importance of safety committees and provide guidance on establishing and maintaining an effective committee within your organisation.

Safety committees due to my presence in one of these committees. their importance lies in discussing all safety topics, including risk management, risk assessment, training employees to work according to safety instructions and standard operating instructions, and reducing work injuries and individual safety by discussing and reducing everything that happens or is expected to happen , through highly experienced employees or even young employees who are passionate and have constructive ideas. It is documented and submitted in the form of reports and letters to the concerned departments.

Forming a safety committee is next important step to have a structured & well defined team for safety in place timely actions & reviews

Safety committees play a crucial role in plant operations by providing a forum for collaboration and aspects on safety matters. Those covered by safety committees include discussions on past incidents, near misses, and lessons learned. These committees facilitate the exchange of experiences among members, enabling the identification of potential risks, the development of preventive measures, and the continuous improvement of safety protocols based on collective knowledge and past incidents.

Safety training refers to learning programs designed to train employees on precautionary processes and procedures to mitigate risk or the chance of injury or fatality on the job. Safety training is a form of compliance training delivered to protect the organization and its people.

Regular safety training is essential in educating the workers in safety awareness, assessment and behavior. Frequent refresher courses in use of safety equipments like breathing apparatus, fire suppression techniques and on ground safety common sense is very important.

Next step to have a training need identification for the team and thier training & assessment part. The team members will have to trained for basic awareness, how to act, escalate, tackle, in case of hazardous situation

I believe proper training can make a world of difference in all aspects when it comes to a job. Proper training with the follow through makes things into a habit and that becomes a safety culture.

Es importante promover el refrescamiento continuo de las capacitaciones y así asegurarse que tanto los empleados nuevos como los no tan nuevos tengan una aplicación constante de los mismos.

Safety incentives encourage a positive safety culture and recognizes efforts to prevent incidents. The insights covered by safety incentives include the acknowledgment of employees who have contributed to maintaining a safe working environment. By rewarding safe behavior and promoting a proactive approach to safety, organizations gain valuable insights into what practices are effective in preventing accidents. This feedback loop helps refine safety programs, fostering continuous improvement and emphasizing the importance of past experiences in shaping safety initiatives within plant operations.

A safety incentive program is a reward-based initiative used to encourage employees to meet and exceed safety standards in the workplace. Safety incentive programs promote existing safety protocols and highlight effective safety processes performed by employees.

The rush for action especially with operators who have done it for quite long could be a trap. A good tool is to standardize a short pause before taking action. We used to call it “take five” meaning 5 seconds to think of what operators are just about to do. This short reflection is a good safety practice

Process safety Management SOP Competency Management Asset integrity Management Safety Culture Safe to Operate HAZOP Alarm Management Override Management system Emergency Response Management Operations Management System Risk Registered RBI Safety policy Operations excellence Rational Organization OPEX & CAPEX SMART Objectives and Targets Benchmarking Gap Analysis Loss prevention ????? ??? ??

Pre-start up safety review Override management MOC Tool box talk SOP ERP PHA Permit to work system Alarm management system PSM

As an example we can add: PSIC register & control HAZOP meetings MOC TBT IOGP start to work checks PTM Alarm management system

Safety as a CORE VALUE Another safety management system that enhances safe work place and safe work culture is by building safety as one of the " core. Value" into the management system. These core values represent what the organization stands for hence everyone in the organization wares the batches with pride. Since safety is more of behavioral, a safety culture is built into the system which is preached like the gospel truth from top to bottom and vice versa. This can be further cemented having in place an SBO card that stipulate minimum observation in terms of safety per employee each month as a build up to PMS at the end of the year.

To ensure the highest safety standards: 1. Identify workplace hazards and regularly assess risks. Risk assessment is the most important aspect to estimate safety hazards. 2. Implement preventive controls like guards, barriers and standard operating procedures. 3. Provide safety training and protective equipment. 4. Conduct emergency drills and audits frequently. 5. Investigate all incidents to prevent recurrence. 6. Make an efficient and well trained safety response team. 7. Define the KPIs and review them each month. As a leader one must promote the culture of safety in the organization.