Development of a Process Safety Program: a Successful Case Between BRASKEM and DNV

Process Safety Management (PSM) has been considered nowadays one key aspect of sustainability for industrial companies, mainly those who deal with dangerous products. Events of major accident in world and their trend show a contradictious scenario: a good evolution of occupational safety management and results, but a poor evolution of process safety management. The non evolution of PSM, in general, is also reinforced by a general stable of major industry accidents occurrences in the last decades.

Process Safety requires an effective management of different organizational process, those are reflected in the management of main criticalities of the company assets. It means that PSM is always focused on main potential process scenarios that can cause high damages mainly to people (workers and community) and environment. In this way, BRASKEM with DNV partnership has implemented a specific PSM program, composed by two main approaches: A systemic view, based on OSHA PSM standard, and the approach of safety barriers integrity.

The approach of barriers focus on the management of the highest risk scenarios from the facility, through the evaluation of this mitigating and preventing protection barriers integrity, which correspond to a required reduction the event probability or its consequences in potential process event. On the other hand, the systemic approach uses the prescriptive vision of OSHA, based on the guidelines and requirements of OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119.

BRASKEM, as the most important Brazilian petrochemical company, understands that the culture of PSM and their real effectiveness is one essential criterion for reaching excellence on Heath, Safety and Environmental as well as sustaining a future new status of one of the best petrochemical companies in world.