Enhancing Functional Safety Awareness in Industrial Environments: Bridging the Gap

Functional safety in industrial environments stands as a cornerstone of operational integrity and risk mitigation. Yet, despite its paramount importance, why does personal and family safety often garner more attention and concern? Let's delve into the reasons behind this discrepancy and explore how we can bridge the gap to foster a culture of heightened awareness and responsibility across all levels of an organization.

1- Proximity and Familiarity: Personal and family safety concerns are immediate and close to home. Individuals interact with their family members and personal environments daily, making safety concerns more salient and tangible.

2- Emotional Connection: People have strong emotional ties to their loved ones and prioritize their safety above other considerations. The emotional connection drives individuals to take proactive measures to ensure the well-being of themselves and their families.

3- Sense of Responsibility: Parents, guardians, and caregivers feel a heightened sense of responsibility towards their families. They perceive it as their duty to protect their loved ones from harm and prioritize safety precautions accordingly.

4- Accessibility of Information: Safety information related to personal and family well-being is often readily available through various channels, such as healthcare providers, educational institutions, and online resources. This accessibility contributes to increased awareness and concern.

5- Perceived Control: Individuals often feel they have more control over personal and family safety compared to industrial environment safety, where they may perceive themselves as having less influence or authority.

These are few reasons why personal, family & loved one safety works quite better than safety in industrial environment irrespective of impacts are not only limited to personal but also environment, assets/large economical scale as well as reputation.

What is your through process of such reason from individual perspective being an technician, operator, engineer OR manager whatever....why such as difference ?

Here is few thoughts based on experiencing the Lifecycle starts from scratch since concept, design, construction, commissioning/start-up & maintainability.

First of all Functional Safety is not just a concept of compliance because of to maintain any international standard because one is doing business in particular sector OR wanted to have benefit of transfer of risk (such as insurance). It is not just quantitative computational equations to satisfy the reliability calculations to show that one is in compliance to particular SIL band but its all about to understand that there are realistic consequences, to feel those consequences like loss of oneself of loved ones, to feel that ignorance an unsafe act can spoil the asset and reputation just like individual own tangible OR intangible losses.

Few key facts:

• Lack of understanding of "Functional Safety Lifecycle" integrity starts from concept up to maintainability leads to "Systematic (Qualitative) Gaps" in respective phases which become significant at last piece of the safety lifecycle
• Functional Safety is not just limited to engineers/managers job to carry-out HAZOP/LOPA, finding the SIL levels, having reliability calculations, procuring, installing and happy with safety instrumented function in place BUT it is much more heavy reasonability to make aware each individual last linked employee of the chain including Control Room panel operators, Field Operators up to instrument technicians and electrical electricians who must understand the magnitude of consequences in more viable manner that SIL1/2/3 or risk reduction factor. They must understand hazardous in practice, loss of life & no. of people impacts with ref. to QRA data
• Technicians and operators must also understand the modes of failures for respective type of instruments (sensors/final elements etc.) as a part of safety function for which they are involved to test/functional test/partial test OR proof test.
• Engineers, operators & technicians must also realize the importance of manufacturer's safety manual data and important of critical values of as detected/undetected failures & rate of failure these are not just values but a gauge/perimeter to judge the level of reliability of that particular instrument and to decide fair strategy to tackle during lifecycle based on manufacturer's provided safety data as well as to build own database based on MTBF and testing.
• Importance of process safety time, proof test & partial stroke test is not only limited to documented compliance but these may lead to severe consequences - this concept must be well understood by each stakeholders of safety lifecycle up to shop floor than limited to SMEs & engineers only.
• Bypassing of any particular safety instrumented function (safety interlock) means bypassing the protective safety function barrier with transferring the risk of ownership must be understand by panel operators/shift IN-charge & supervisors 1st than engineers, managers & management personnel. They must understand the severity in much more simplified manner with loosing/bypassing of such safety interlock may lead to such as damage of a compressor, lead to runaway reaction OR lead to explosion etc. if not fulfilled on demand scenario...instead of just that bypassing SIL1/2/3 SIF loop. A risk assessment must be followed along with accessing the independent protection layers in places as a ultimate protection OR other mitigative plans etc.

Now, let's address how we can narrow this gap and cultivate a culture of holistic safety consciousness within industrial settings:

1. Education and Awareness: Implement comprehensive training programs that extend beyond functional safety professionals and engineers. Every individual within the organization, from technicians to operators, should receive thorough education on the importance of functional safety and their role in maintaining it.
2. Emotional Engagement: Foster a culture where employees feel emotionally connected to the concept of functional safety. Draw parallels between industrial safety measures and the protection of one's own family, highlighting the profound impact of safety lapses on individuals and communities.
3. Continuous Improvement: Conduct periodic assessments and gap analyses to identify areas for improvement in functional safety practices. Provide constructive feedback and support to empower employees at all levels to actively contribute to the organization's safety objectives.
4. Integration into Daily Operations: Incorporate functional safety discussions into regular safety toolbox talks and meetings. By integrating these discussions into daily operations, employees become more cognizant of the importance of functional safety in their day-to-day tasks.
5. Cultural Shift: Cultivate a culture where functional safety is not just a compliance requirement but a deeply ingrained value. Encourage open communication, transparency, and accountability regarding safety matters, fostering a collective commitment to operational excellence and risk mitigation.

In conclusion, while personal and family safety may inherently hold greater significance to individuals, it's imperative to bridge the gap and elevate awareness and vigilance regarding functional safety in industrial environments. By fostering a culture of holistic safety consciousness and empowerment, we can pave the way for a safer, more resilient future for all.