(44d) Continuous Improvement of SIS

The historian John Lewis Gaddis defines strategy as "the process by which ends are related to means, intentions to capabilities, and objectives to resources." The goal of the process industry is no incidents, no harm to people, and no damage to the environment. This goal can only be reached by going beyond compliance and establishing safety as a strategic business value. Developing a safety culture requires that values and policies are converted to practices and behaviors. The policy of ?Safe operation is our mission? must be backed with the authority, resources, and tools necessary to achieve the policy. Everyone from the front-line operator to the board of directors must understand and believe that safe operation is a core operating principle. Many factors affect performance expectations and the decisions made to attain them, such as the economy, market trends, and technology, along with legal and political issues. A strong safety culture expects ownership and accountability for safe and reliable performance of the process equipment over its life. Management should support continuous improvement to ensure existing equipment to determine that it is designed, maintained, inspected, tested, and operating in a safe manner.