Following recent incidents at offshore installations, refineries and storage facilities, the UK-based Energy Institute (EI) has published a ‘high level framework’ for process safety management (PSM), a 40 page download1. The PSM framework provides a ‘simple and systematic approach’ to defining what organizations need to get right in order to assure the integrity of their operations.
Process safety is a blend of engineering and management skills focused on preventing catastrophic accidents such as structural collapse, explosions, fires and dangerous releases.
PSM builds on the findings of the Baker Report on BP’s Texas City refinery fire which noted that ‘The passing of time without a process safety accident is not necessarily an indication that all is well!’
The Framework defines four ‘focus areas’—’process safety,’ ‘risk assessment,’ ‘risk management’ and ‘review and improvement.’ Alongside these, a set of guidelines is provided to ensure adequate leadership, compliance, workforce selection and involvement and other aspects of PSM. The EI is also working on an online Process Safety Survey (EIPSS) self-assessment and benchmarking service to assess compliance with the framework.
This article originally appeared in Oil IT Journal 2011 Issue # 3.
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