How a Company Can Achieve Quick Improvements in Process Safety

Many companies have adopted continuous improvement as their primary strategy toward pursuing operational excellence in Process Safety. The CCPS has extended this strategy with its Vision 2020. However, some companies (or countries) may not be succeeding in their efforts to strive for the highest levels of process safety performance. Perhaps, they may first need to “backtrack” and re‐implement some basic steps to create a solid foundation for moving forward in process safety.

This paper discusses an approach for creating the foundation for an effective process safety management system and specific "plant‐tested" practices that can get your facility/company "quick wins" on its initial road toward process safety success:

• Essential features of a fit‐for‐purpose" PSM system ‐ highlight the essential features of a PSM system based upon hazards, complexity, resources and culture using the CCPS Guidelines for Risk Based Process Safety
• Practical tips for implementing PSM so that it will work every day ‐ overview key success factors to adopt and failure modes to avoid when implementing or improving a PSM system. The presentation will highlight aspects from CCPS's Guidelines for Implementing PSM, 2nd edition
• Top six things to create quickest/inexpensive improvements in process safety

1. Implement a management review process
2. Improve process safety leadership at the shift leader level
3. Create, monitor, and react to simple process safety metrics
4. Make everyone an MOC sensor
5. Do simple, effective root cause analysis to learn from everything
6. Conduct effective process safety reviews/audits

The presentation will give case study examples of each process safety performance improvement tactic.