Integrated Operational Risk Management: Connecting the Impact of Process Safety Management Performance to Daily Operations

Operators need to understand the cumulative impact operating activities, plant conditions, and working processes have on fundamental process safety barriers in order to make better, safer operating decisions.

Optimizing production without increasing risk can be a daunting challenge. Everything operators do and every operational decision made has an element of risk, and all operational risk comes together and impacts the business at the frontline. Whether deferring maintenance on a non-conforming SCE, extending a shift, delaying frontline supervisor training, changing suppliers for spares, or combination of these and other drivers, the consequences manifest in terms of operational inefficiencies, unplanned shutdowns, incidents, accidents, injuries and/or fatalities. By taking a step back to look at how operational risk is managed across the key business processes that impact the frontline, there is big opportunity to not only reduce risk but improve the productivity of operations.

Often risk is identified, assessed and managed in different ways, by different functions, and all risks are not in a single place. As a result, there is no way to understand the cumulative impact of risk on frontline operations - not just in terms of the overall risk profile, but its impact on production. Operators need to simplify operational risk management by employing a common means of balancing risk against productivity, so everyone across the business can make better decisions.

Understanding and managing the cumulative risk impact of deviations and non-conformances with process safety management performance standards is a powerful driver of operational performance. With increased visibility into operations, having all of the risks in one place, plant operators can improve decision making and get more of the right work done in the right way to safely and efficiently extract the maximum value from their assets.

This presentation will outline best practices and a framework for managing operational risk and optimizing operational performance. By moving beyond traditional KPIs and developing a “common currency of risk,” operators can connect the impact of PSM performance to daily operations. Through a unified approach to risk management, disparate functions such as Maintenance, Engineering, Planning and Operations can get more of the right activity done to improve the safety, efficiency and effectiveness of their operations.