(12b) ...and the Regulator Clapped! New Approaches to Maximizing Worker Engagement in Process Safety Management

Many industrial sites struggle to achieve consistently strong business performance in Process Safety Management (PSM). For these work sites, leading indicators may show that there is good participation in process safety activities, but unfortunately the process safety incident rate remains above targets. Oftentimes, these sites must be very reactive as incident follow-up consumes much of their available resources and incident avoidance continues to be elusive.

This paper discusses new approaches used to break free from lackluster PSM performance. These new approaches are designed to maximize worker engagement which in-turn will boost the culture and lead to a step-change improvement in Process Safety Management performance.

The new approaches incorporate the swiss cheese model at the center of a framework that is easily understood by all workers. Workers’ knowledge of PSM and how it pertains to their specific role is then strengthened through routine sharing of external events. Workers are then encouraged to apply learnings to their work and they are rewarded for breakthroughs in hazard identification or mitigation.

These approaches have not only received applause from regulators, but have also been successfully used to break-out of mediocrity and attain “best-in-class” PSM performance, as measured by API RP 754 criteria.