{"id":375,"date":"2010-04-01T17:06:16","date_gmt":"2010-04-01T17:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jmcampbell.com\/tip-of-the-month\/?p=375"},"modified":"2011-06-02T11:51:10","modified_gmt":"2011-06-02T16:51:10","slug":"three-simple-things-to-improve-process-safety-management-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jmcampbell.com\/tip-of-the-month\/2010\/04\/three-simple-things-to-improve-process-safety-management-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Simple Things to Improve Process Safety Management"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this Tip of the Month, we look at how to deal with some of the challenges of managing process safety.\u00a0 This TOTM is an excerpt of a paper presented by JMC Instructor\/Consultant, Clyde Young at the 2008\u00a0Mary K. O\u2019Connor Process Safety Symposium<\/a>.\u00a0 This TOTM continues where the February 2009, TOTM left off.<\/p>\n

When there are newspaper accounts of process incidents that have occurred, there is usually a statement along the lines of, \u201cIt just happened with no warning.\u201d\u00a0 There are warning signs for every incident. Latent failures exist in all processes and eventually lead to active failures when circumstances align.\u00a0\u00a0 Personnel must be taught how to see and react to these warning signs.<\/p>\n

Throughout the lifecycle of a process, many tasks are performed.\u00a0 Even when a process is running in \u201cnormal\u201d mode, operators perform routine tasks and maintenance to keep the process at \u201cnormal\u201d.\u00a0 Now and then, the process is shut down for maintenance and then started again.\u00a0 Every time a task is performed there is the possibility that a latent condition may expose itself and lead to an active failure.\u00a0 Many organizations have implemented a requirement that all job tasks be analyzed through a process known as Job Task Analysis (JTA), Job Safety Analysis (JSA), or Job Hazard Analysis (JHA).\u00a0 There are many titles and acronyms for this process, but all have one common theme.\u00a0 Analyze the task to be performed, identify hazards and mitigate those hazards.\u00a0 Sadly, these analyses become routine and the documentation associated with them becomes nothing more than a checklist that needs to be filled out and turned in.\u00a0\u00a0 This is sometimes known as \u201cpencil whipping\u201d the form.<\/p>\n

Performing a job hazard analysis is not difficult, but does need to be a formalized process that controls or eliminates the hazards identified.\u00a0 This is the third simple thing we can do to improve our process safety management systems.<\/p>\n

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Review the checklist below:<\/p>\n