Process Safety Management At DuPont Do Brasil

PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT at
DuPont do Brasil

Eduardo de Maio Francisco

DuPont do Brasil

Mario Fantazzinni

DuPont do Brasil

Prepared for
Presentation at

Central for Chemical
Process Safety - CCPS

2011 Regional Meeting

CCPS Latin America
2011 Conference

Buenos Aires, Argentina

August  8-10, 2011

Copyright ©  E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company

April, 2011

UNPUBLISHED

Abstract

            DuPont has
developed along his company history a consistent Process Safety Management
program that has been giving strong results and allowing a performance that
position among the world class top industry representatives.

            This
abstract is intended to present the development of Process Safety Management at
DuPont, current status of development and its future tendencies.

Introduction

            Managing
potentially hazardous materials and processes to prevent serious injuries and
incidents is an essential part of safety management programs, requiring the
continuous dedication and commitment of everyone in an organization. While
founded over 200 years ago in 1802 for the manufacture of gunpowder on the
banks of the Brandywine River in Delaware [1], this commitment ? now often
characterized as operational discipline ? has always been an important piece of
DuPont safety culture and programs. Reflecting on the hazards of the gunpowder
business in 1808, the founder, E. I. Du Pont, wrote:

The safety of our family, the
safety of the farmers who live in our neighborhood, has imposed upon us the
absolute duty of making choice of steady, sober men and of establishing the most
rigid discipline among our workmen [2].

While the company has evolved in many ways since then, the
need for operational discipline along with other core DuPont safety
philosophies, including that management is responsible for safe operations,
that it is necessary to train all people to work safely, and that all injuries
and incidents can be prevented, have remained fundamental beliefs. For example,
DuPont CEO Edward Jefferson stated in 1986:

On one hand there is the
day-to-day analysis required of each employee. A safe employee sees what he or
she is looking at, instead of looking over or through it. This results in
greater concentration, a habit of mind that will make a person work more safely
as well as more intelligently. Everyone in every job must participate in this
process of analysis. There are no exceptions [3].

Process Safety Management

            While
operational discipline is fundamental to the success of all safety programs, it
is especially important in process safety management (PSM) programs, where the
risk associated with higher hazard processes could potentially result in
catastrophic incidents with multiple injuries. Many of the current DuPont
operational discipline practices were therefore developed by the PSM competency
and then adopted and modified by other EHS competencies, as needed. PSM is the
application of management systems and controls (programs, procedures, audits,
evaluations) to a manufacturing or chemical process in a way that process
hazards are identified, understood, and controlled, so that process-related
injuries and incidents are prevented. Operational discipline is recognized as
an essential part of the four steps used for implementation of PSM at DuPont
[4]:

·       
Step 1 ? Establishing the Safety Culture

·       
Step 2 ? Providing Management Leadership and
Commitment

·       
Step 3 ? Implementing a Comprehensive PSRM
Program

·       
Step 4 ? Achieving Operational Excellence
through Operational Discipline

            The PSM
program at DuPont today is defined by corporate safety standards that both
reflect and extend OSHA 1910:119 PSM and other regulations. The principles and
essential features of the PSM program are described by 14 elements grouped by
Technology, Personnel, and Facilities, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 is
typically called the PSM Wheel, with each of the 14 elements, such as Process
Hazards Analysis, Operating Procedures and Safe Work Practices, and Personnel
Training and Performance, arranged around the spokes of the wheel. Management
leadership and commitment, necessary for implementing PSM and providing
resources, is shown at the center of the PSM Wheel. Operational discipline is
shown as the rim of the PSM Wheel, connecting all of the elements and
translating the required management systems into real results for preventing
injuries and incidents. The requirement for operational discipline in the
corporate PSM standard is:

Sites shall implement and
maintain programs and systems to achieve and maintain a high degree of
operational discipline for all PSM elements in a manner that supports business
and operating objectives.

Process Safety
Management at DuPont

            While
operational process safety management, operating discipline and operating
excellence have long been important expectations at DuPont, formal programs were
developed up to the late 1980's. PSM training in 1989 [5], for example,
included a section on ?The Importance of Operating Discipline,? based on the
principle that:

The most technologically advanced
plant in the world cannot be made completely safe unless the individuals
managing and working there are dedicated and committed to keeping it free from
accidents.

Figure 1 ? DuPont PSM Wheel

Premises supporting the importance of operational discipline
were based on the following:

• There is no pound worth an injury. (former CEO)
• Quality work can only be done when safety is step #1. (operator)
• Ye have the time to do the job right! (area manager)

Catastrophic incidents at Flixborough, Seveso, and
Bhopal were cited as
examples of where lack of operational discipline was a major contributing
factor in the cause of the accident. The primary focus was:

All of the principles and
essential features [of PSM] mean nothing when it comes to operating a facility
safely and preventing catastrophes ? if the principles, procedures and
practices established and set in place are not followed! Stated another way,
the most technologically advanced plant in the world will not have a safe
operating track record unless the individuals managing and working there are
dedicated and committed to keeping it free from accident?

Essential practices for establishing high levels of
operational discipline were:

• ?Leadership by example? from the site's manager on down.
• Follow established principles, procedures, and practices as documented in the site's PSM Program.
• Production priorities should not be placed ahead of safety and health of personnel.
• If there is not sufficient time available to do the job the right way, then the job must be stopped until there is sufficient time.

            By
the mid-1990's, the four key steps for effective PSM programs had been
developed [4, 6], with step #4 ?Achieving Operating Excellence via Operational
Discipline? receiving additional emphasis. The principle for operating
excellence was:

The manufacture, use, and
handling of hazardous materials requires the dedication and commitment of those
individuals managing and handling such material to complete each job the right
way every time.

The characteristics of an organization that had achieved
high levels of operational discipline
were:

• Management exerts leadership by example.
• Management action consistent with words.
• Open lines of communication.
• Strong sense of teamwork.
• Employees dedicated and committed to doing the job the right way every time.

Operational discipline was also linked to operating
excellence and overall business success, since ?the benefits and rewards of
achieving operating excellence are many and extend well beyond the areas of
safety, health, and the environment.? Operational discipline was viewed as
consistent with major quality initiatives, trying to achieve the same end
result of outstanding performance ?in every aspect of every endeavor.?  Common points with other programs needed for
business success were:

• Sound and up-to-date technology.
• Trained personnel.
• Equipment that is maintained and reliable.
• Standard procedures.
• Effective management of change.
• Audits, including control and feedback.
• Doing the job the ?right way.?
• Continuous improvement.

Current Process
Safety Management Practice

            As result
of catastrophic events occurred in the last years, in special since de BP event
of Texas City refinery and more recently the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, changes
have been introduced to the Process Safety Management strategy. Areas like
Leading Indicators in Process Safety Management have been introduced and
closely followed. Also, consistent action in Quality Assurance and Mechanical
Integrity have been also introduced.

Future Tendencies
on Process Safety Management at DuPont

As result of DuPont developments,
technology advances, industry incidents and law upgrades there are areas that
will have shortly advances. Subejcts like Fadigue Management and Alarm
Management are in study and focal point for advancements.