(16a) Eli Lilly PSM Implementation Case Study

Eli Lilly and Company (a global pharmaceutical firm) undertook an initiative to implement a Process Safety Management Program Globally at manufacturing facilities containing PSM covered materials, beginning in 1998.

At Eli Lilly, Implementing PSM is a journey, but in the end, catastrophic prevention is mostly about people. It means:

• getting people home alive and in good condition at the end of the workday;
• ensuring our neighbors stay alive and unharmed and;
• having a safe workplace where employees can return.

This case study provides lessons learned, tools and implementation details, as it follows the approach taken by Eli Lilly and Company (a global pharmaceutical firm) during implementation of their PSM program.

These included:

1. Establish a PSM champion, with ongoing governance and oversight, at the senior management level
2. Utilize credible, experienced PSM staff and HSE leadership with site experience
3. Provide a simple reason to implement PSM to  create a sense of vulnerability and a sense of urgency among people
4. Recognize the need for various risk levels and ensuring higher risk processes have additional safeguards/requirements (e.g. Safety Critical Operations - SCO concept)
5. Measure progress during implementation
6. Create practical tools to help the business (not just add-ons) and integrate them into existing business processes (e.g. HSE incident and change management)
7. Establish a credible PSM audit program to help with sustainment
8. Assist management with sustainment through fundamental leading and lagging metrics that sites can self-report
9. Seek outside advice from credible consultants to help with communication, sustainment, and improvement initiatives among personnel and management
10. Periodically reinvigorate PSM to keep it continuously alive

We hope participants find these lessons learned, tools and implementation details helpful in implementing and sustaining PSM at your firm.