This course provides an introduction to process safety at the undergraduate level so that the chemical engineering student gains an understanding of what process safety consists of and how process safety concepts are put into practice in the real world.
The course introduces the student to basic process safety definitions and terms, provides a brief overview of how hazards are identified, and briefly discusses how process safety risks are evaluated and reduced. The course presents a simplified risk equation used when estimating process safety risk. The course also introduces the barrier/protection layer model in the context of helping reduce process safety incidents when applying the elements of CCPS’ Risk Based Process Safety (RBPS).
Unit 1:
- Define "process safety" and distinguish it from workplace safety and industrial hygiene
- Describe the potential impacts of process safety incidents
- Describe several incidents that resulted in improvements in process safety
- Define key terms related to process safety
- Illustrate how a process safety incident can be prevented or its consequences reduced
Unit 2:
- Explain what a process safety hazard is and provide examples
- Explain how a scenario is used to help evaluate risk
- Describe possible consequences, given a scenario
- Determine the likelihood of a scenario and
- Estimate the risk of a given scenario
Unit 3:
- List and describe the hierarchy of controls to manage process safety risks
- List the four pillars of the Risk Based Process Safety (RBPS) model
- Differentiate between codes, standards, and global regulations and directives and give examples of each
- Describe the SAChE course framework
This course is designed as the introductory course to the SAChE Process Safety curriculum. This course is primarily intended for those who have little or no previous exposure to process safety – that is, students early in their undergraduate chemical engineering studies.
The basic concepts covered in this course provide the background needed to begin the study of process safety, setting the stage for the subsequent SAChE courses in this series and helping chemical engineering students better understand how to effectively manage the risks when designing and operating processes with hazardous materials and energies.
Unit 1 - What is Process Safety and Risk?
- Define "process safety" and distinguish it from workplace safety and industrial hygiene
- Describe the potential impacts of process safety incidents
- Describe several incidents that resulted in improvements in process safety
- Define key terms related to process safety
- Illustrate how a process safety incident can be prevented or its consequences reduced
Unit 2 - How are Process Safety Risks Assessed?
- Explain what a process safety hazard is and provide examples
- Explain how a scenario is used to help evalute risk
- Describe possible consequences, given a scenario
- Determine the likelihood of a scenario and
- Estimate the risk of a given scenario
Unit 3 - How are Process Safety Risks Managed?
- List and describe the hierarchy of controls to manage process safety risk
- List the four pillars of the Risk Based Process Safety (RBPS) model
- Differentiate between codes, standards, and global regulations and directives and give examples of each
- Describe the SAChE course framework
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