Process Safety Management is the application of management principles and systems to the identification, understanding, and control of process hazards to protect employees, facility assets and the environment. Unexpected release of toxic, reactive or flammable liquids or gases in industries leads to accidents which in turn creates the possibility of disaster. Process design, Process technology, Process changes, Operational & Maintenance activities , non-routine activities & procedures, Emergency preparedness plans & procedures, Training programs, and other elements that affect the process are all considered in the evaluation.
1.Safety Organisation
2.Employee Participation
3.Process Safety Information
4.Process Hazard Analysis
5.Operating Procedures
6.Training
7.Contractors
8.Pre-Start up Safety Review
9.Mechanical Integrity Work Permit
10.Management of Change
11.Incident Investigation and analysis
12.Emergency Planning and Response
13.Compliance Audit
14.Occupational Health
15.Off-the Job safety
16.Customers and Products Road & transport
Employees are required to be an active part of the process and written programs need to document what roles employees play, their involvement in the development of the programs, and continuing participation in the process.
Physical, chemical, and toxicological information related to the chemicals, process, and equipment. It is used to document the configuration of a process, its characteristics, its limitations, and used data for process hazard analyses.
One of the most Technical elements of PSM is Process Hazard Analysis, which is a "Catastrophic" release - meaning a major uncontrolled emission, fire, or explosion involving one or more highly hazardous chemicals, that presents serious danger to employees in the workplace. It requires engineers and maintenance leaders to analyze the consequences of safety failures.
There are plenty of potential chemical hazards following turnarounds and emergency shutdowns, which needs to be regularly assessed, and companies should have plans to keep everyone safe.
Workers involved in processes with hazardous chemicals need to be trained in an efficient and competent manner from a reliable source and also be well aware of safety procedures to be followed. The training should be a well-documented one which includes the following.
All employees and contractors must be well informed with the risk they are exposed to in the workplace. They must be well trained and aware of all precautions and measures to be taken.
OSHA expects employers to perform pre-startup safety reviews for both new and modified facilities. This rule applies even if the procedural changes only affect a single component or process.
The employer shall develop and maintain a master list of all equipment specifically covered by the standard, and equipment that is important for safety of the process. Periodic, document inspections are required for several systems, including:
The employee must possess permit when exposed to high heat,Welding, cutting, braising & make sure only trained personnel perform these functions. Training must be provided and state these documents as when and required.
In the process safety management standard, change includes all modifications to equipment, procedures, raw materials, and processing conditions other than "replacement in kind." If the operator finds any change in the operating parameters, a review and approval by a written management of change procedure is to be followed.
Create formalized system to review all changes to process areas including:
This is usually done to avoid mishaps from recurring by learning from past experiences. The incidents OSHA expects employers to recognize and to investigate are the types of events that resulted in or could reasonably have resulted in a catastrophic release. These events are sometimes referred to as "near misses," meaning that a serious consequence did not occur, but could have happened.
Emergency preparedness need to be inculcated in all employers and always be alert of the sudden mishap which can lead to major accidents.
An audit is a technique to gather all information to verify compliance with standards. It is always beneficial to retain the recent audit reports for ready reference you can always:
Plans and policies depends on the adaptability of employees on maintaining health.
Encouraging employees to be safely away from the work help to preserve skills
Management availability to their customer intended product without causing any harm to human and the environment
To ensure safety of product and human beings involved directly or indirectly, it is essential that such vehicles are designed as per standards and driven by competent personnel.
