Risk Assessment Challenges to 20:20 Vision

A wide variety of hazard identification and risk analysis techniques are available.  All techniques require knowledge in the fundamentals of the process design and experience in the process operation as is.  Every technique has uncertainty and no technique yields any better reflection of the risk than the level of engagement that the analyst or team has in the assessment.  Traditional approaches seem to work well on simple processes, but are becoming increasingly difficult to apply in the rapidly evolving environment of modern manufacturing.   

This paper discusses the challenges that the risk analysis process is facing in today’s work environment.  These challenges include advances in chemical manufacturing, rapid evolution of vogue practices, myopic focus on hazard scenarios, hypnotic lure of calculations, rampant pace of technology change, and increased complexity in human and automation interaction.