The most successful companies know not only what (the “what”) needs to be done but also how (the “how”) to do it. If you are in a line of business you mostly know what is needed to run the business. Important for success, though, is how you are going to execute your business plan. How are you going to use your limited resources and how are you going to allocate them among all the “whats” that need to get done? Are you going to have permanent, contract employees, or both? Does the success of your business require competent people? Do you have plans for unforeseen events? There are many ways for achieving your objectives and you must have a vision for which ones are best.
All this applies to process safety. Process safety has evolved significantly in the last 30 years, but we still see too many incidents involving injuries and fatalities, derailments with toxic releases that necessitate evacuations, and large-scale loss of containment with significant environmental impacts. These are the events that make the national, and sometimes world, news. Unfortunately, there are many other events where there is “only” one fatality or a local fire, and they sometimes, but not always, make the local paper.
Why do we continue to have all these incidents if we know what is to be done? We got guidance on what needs to be done from the U.S. Chemical Manufacturers Association before OSHA came on board, then OSHA promulgated the PSM Standard in 1992 (more than 30 years ago!) containing 14 elements that need to be complied with, later followed by 20 elements provided by CCPS, and down the line directives from the EU (e.g. the Seveso Directives). Other countries are following through. Large companies, using the economy of scale, can have experts for every element of PSM. Smaller companies do not have that luxury and must be efficient. But many procedures become too detailed and cumbersome and sometimes this leads to a “check the box” performance.
In periodic postings I will try to convey my thoughts on how to comply with all the requirements, prioritizing them (using risk for starters) and applying efficiencies without compromising quality. These are not going to be procedures or instructions but rather the essence, informally describing sometimes seemingly unorthodox ways to make process safety work for all sizes of companies with varying resources. In the next posting I’ll talk about safety culture and the application of PSM beyond compliance with regulations.
