(86a) Viewing Human Factors as Part of Process Safety

Air Products Process Safety Performance over the past few years is good, but not improving. We have been tracking Leading and Lagging Process Safety Indicators based on American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice 754 for ten years. In order to continue the drive to zero, new ways of thinking and acting are required. It is important to become more intentional around analyzing trends in leading and lagging indicators in Process Safety. An analysis was done to look at factors in Process Safety Tier 1 Incidents over the past five years. This analysis showed that approximately 60% of Process Safety Tier 1 Incidents in the past five years have a human error element to them. In addition, over 50% of these Process Safety Tier 1 Incidents are occurring in the supply chain areas. Supply chain incidents are defined as those that occur while loading or unloading product or raw materials on site or at a customer retail site. Many supply chain incidents that involve loading or loading involve multiple steps with human involvement, so the two topics are related.

The paper will look at several recent Air Products Process Safety Events in the supply chain area where one of the root causes of the event is an Error. In this context Errors are defined as “Actions that are unintentional and can happen to even the most experienced employees”. The paper will look at events were operators’ errors such as ‘incorrectly following a check list’, ‘improper sequencing of valves’ or ‘opening the incorrect valve’ have resulted in Process Safety Events.

Human Operational Performance and human factors are not traditionally Process Safety topics. There is currently no Air Products Process Safety Leading Indicator that focuses on Human Operational Performance. Overdue Safety Training will be tracked Globally starting in 2024 as a Human Operational Performance Leading Indicator. Other metrics will also be introduced to the monthly Process Safety Reporting that focus on conditions that potentially impair judgement. The internal definition of Process Safety Scope has been expanded to ensure that Supply Chain Loss of Containment Incidents are tracked as Process Safety Incidents. Adding Human Operational Performance to the Process Safety Culture and expanding the focus to include Supply Chain Incidents will take time but it has the potential to have a significant impact on the overall safety performance.