(152f) Using Measured Performance as a Process Safety Leading Indicator

Periodic demands on layers of protection (i.e. pre-alarms, safety instrumented functions, relief devices, emergency response systems, etc.) are precursors to more serious incidents. Failure of one or more layers of protect are always part of an accident sequence. Documenting these demands when they occur and the associated consequences in a way to facilitate analysis provides a means to implement valuable process safety leading indicators. While process safety metrics are still in their adolescence, this paper reviews experiences of development and implementation of a ?Challenges to Safety Systems? process safety metric. The paper includes a discussion of automating significant portions of the data collection process based upon the technical work documented by the CCPS PERD (Process Equipment Reliability Database) initiative. The paper recommends various key performance indicators that can be calculated and describes how the initial foundation developed to support improved process safety can be leveraged to achieve other benefits, such as design improvements, reliability, and improvements in the operation and maintenance of the facility.