If you are responsible for process safety, then you know how important it is to perform a high-quality hazard and operability study (HAZOP) analysis. HAZOPs are highly effective at identifying potential hazards and risks in industrial facilities and processes. A good HAZOP will help identify potential issues and mitigate risks before they cause problems. However, conducting a successful HAZOP requires careful planning and execution.

Failure propagation (and the potential severity we are facing) in processing systems is a key factor to consider when assessing the reliability and stability of any system. It can occur due to a variety of causes, such as hardware or software malfunctions, environmental factors, or user errors. The effects of failure propagation can be devastating if left unchecked, resulting in data loss, system downtime, and other costly consequences. Therefore, it's necessary to understand how failure propagates through systems so that risks can be detected and mitigated, before they become critical issues.

As soon as we hear the words safety, integrity and changes in combination, we start thinking about Safety Lifecycle Management or Management of Change (MoC) processes. This process is then naturally always applicable. When you work within a production facility with hazards, you have to follow different standards to ensure that your plant is always operating safely.

Process industries are using various techniques to identify and prevent hazards. There are several different approaches to hazard identification. The many available techniques of performing hazard identifications have various features and may fit all the phases of a development project at their defined milestones.

HAZOP is a process for performing Hazards and Operability studies that was introduced in the 1970’s. It is a valuable structured way of addressing the possible hazards and operability problems when an asset potentially operates outside its original design conditions.

Putting safety first is fundamental in all complex high-risk process and energy industries. However, throughout the history there have been countless of plant incidents proving the catastrophic consequences of safety breaches in the design or operations. This has resulted in tragic losses of lives, enormous material damages, oil spills, and chemical pollution. It has even put major companies out of business.

The safe operation of an asset is one of the most important things to ensure. We all know that the possible consequences of an incident may involve damage to people, asset, and the environment. Process industries are using various techniques to identify and prevent hazards and incidents. So how can we sleep well at night, and know that the safety has been maintained using the best practices available? One approach is to use hazard study techniques to understand and prepare for the different risks. This is only one part of a complex challenge where several important factors can have an influence, such as training, safety culture, workload, and process design.

Everyday life puts all of us in situations where we must make decisions, some of them concerning safety. Think about the last time you overtook another car. What kind of safety margins do need to decide to step on the gas?