Inherently Safer and More User

INHERENTLY SAFER AND MORE USER-FRIENDLY DESIGN
In the chemical and process industries, a process has inherent safety if it has a low level
of danger even if things go wrong.

An inherently safer design is one that avoids hazards instead of controlling them,
particularly by reducing the amount of hazardous material and the number of hazardous
operations in the plant.

The five main methods for achieving inherently safer design are;
1. Minimize
Reducing the amount of hazardous material present at any one time, e.g. by using smaller
batches.
2. Substitute
Replacing one material with another of less hazard, e.g. cleaning with water and
detergent rather than a flammable solvent
3. Moderate
Reducing the strength of an effect, e.g. having a cold liquid instead of a gas at high
pressure, or using material in a dilute rather than concentrated form
4. Simplify
Eliminating problems by design rather than adding additional equipment or features to
deal with them. Only fitting options and using complex procedures if they are really
necessary.
5. Knock-on Effect
Plants should be designed so that those incidents that do occur do not produce knock-on
or domino effects.
SAFETY, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS
The safety, health and environmental standards define the company standards to be
applied to the following;
1. The design and construction of all new facilities.
2. The design of modifications to existing facilities.
3. The action taken to eliminate hazards which could lead to incidents.
4. The action taken to eliminate hazards which could lead to an injury.

5. How the company will ensure that safe systems of work are available for all work
being carried out under its control.
6. How the company will ensure that all personnel-company and contract are adequately
qualified and experienced to allow them to carry out their work safely and
environmentally.
7. The safety, health and environment training which will apply to all personnel and
company.
8. What hazard studies will be carried out on all new plant and process designs to
identify hazards and assess their consequences.
9. The procedures to ensure that no modification to plant processes, facilities and
software.
10. The arrangements to ensure that emissions to the environment are monitored.
11. The arrangements to ensure that the exposure of personnel to chemical, physical and
biological agents is monitored and controlled.
12. The priority to be applied to substitution or engineering controls over controlled
access.
13. Any medical standards to be applied to personnel.
14. The incident, near miss and hazard reporting and investigation procedure.
15. The arrangements to be put in place to deal with emergences.
16. The audit program to be applied to all company activities and operations.
THE SAFETY MANAGER
The Safety Managers role includes the following;
1. Monitoring the implementation of the organizations safety, health and environmental

protection policy.
2. Advising line management to help them adhere to the safety, health and
environmental protection policy and meet their responsibilities in such matters as:
Design and correct use of plant, equipment and tools.
Identifying unsafe plant working conditions and practices.
Carrying out inspections and making recommendations for correcting defects
found.
Assisting in the formulation and implementation of safe systems of work and
emergency procedures.
Recommendation suitable protective devices and equipment.
Checking compliance with statutory requirements, codes of practice and guidance
relevant to the operation.
Ensuring that the necessary registers, records and accident/incident books are
being kept properly.
Informing line management of all new legislation, regulations, and codes of
practice.
Being a member of the safety, health and environment committee.
Recommending appropriate training programs to develop SHE awareness.
Disseminating information on accidents and incidents which occur within and
without the company.
Assessing the hazards of materials used and planned to be used and

recommending the correct protection and procedures to be used as well.
Monitoring adherence of contractors to the company safety policy and
procedures.
Assessing in the investigation of accidents, incidents and near misses to establish
the cause and recommend actions to prevent a recurrence.
Providing meaningful accident and performance-related statistics.
Ensuring that there are effective emergency response procedures.
Liaising with external bodies such as the regulatory authority and industry
organizations.
Keeping abreast of developments and techniques in the fields of SHE protection.
SAFETY AWARNESS TRAINING
There are three key elements to achieving commitment to safety;
First: Getting Attention
The objective is to overcome complacency and achieving recognition of safety as
personal as well as a company issue.

This is traditionally achieved by such means as safety briefings, safety posters and safety
meetings.
Second: Achieving Commitment
Convince personnel that familiarity can lead to accidents to themselves.
Particularly with a stable work force, there is a strong possibility that groups have
developed short cuts and routines that are not in line with good safety practice or defined
procedures.
Third: Maintaining Involvement
Safety awareness requires increased personal association with safety together with
supervisory and management commitment.
Such a program might include:

Involvement in safety inspections, on a rotating basis, either in the individuals own
or other areas.
Responsibility in safety briefings to contractors and other staff working in particular
locations.
Responsibility for identifying and progressing safety improvement projects.
Areas which need to be covered in this program including, but are not limited to:
1. Position of people
2. Action of people
3. Personal protective clothing and equipment
4. Tools and equipment
5.
Procedures
6. Housekeeping
7. Maintenance
8. Why accidents happen?
9.
Emergency plans
10. Supervisor safety training

SAFETY, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES
Good process safety management techniques in each facility will

ensure that the process technicians, maintenance workers, and
technical
personnel
are
involved
with
the
development
and
implementation of facility safety, health, and environmental policies.
The following list provides an example of many of the typical safety,

health, and environmental policies found in process industry process
facilities;
Blinding - policy that defines the process and procedure to isolate
equipment for hot work or specific activities that require equipment
removal.
Confined Space Entry (CSE) - policy that defines the process and
procedure for entering confined spaces that can include equipment,
storage tanks, and excavations below grade. Many companies
utilize a single document that covers both CSE and Hot Work
permits.
Employee Health Monitoring - policy that defines the requirements for
employee health monitoring while activities are conducted in
hazardous areas, during hazardous chemical sampling, or where
prolonged exposure to hazardous chemicals can occur, such as
during turnarounds (TARs), a planned, scheduled process unit or
facility shut-down for maintenance and repair.
Equipment Inspection and Monitoring - policy that defines inspection and

monitoring frequencies for both fixed and rotating equipment for
the purpose of managing equipment reliability and mechanical
integrity.
Hot Work - policy that defines the process and procedure for
conducting hot work such as welding, grinding, or vehicle entry in
or around process equipment.
Housekeeping - activities that must be completed to maintain the
facility in a clean, orderly, safe condition.
Lock-out/Tag-out - a procedure used in industry to isolate energy
sources from a piece of equipment.
Control of Work (COW) - a work practice that identifies the
means of safely controlling maintenance, demolition, remediation,
construction, operating tasks, and similar work.
Management of Change (MOC) - method of managing and
communicating changes to a process, changes in equipment,
changes in technology, changes in personnel, or other changes that
will impact the safety and health of employees.
Material Release Reporting - policy that defines reporting requirements of regulatory
authorities such as the EPA, or other state agencies when purging, or draining
equipment, or in the event of a material release.

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INHERENTLY SAFER AND MORE USER-FRIENDLY DESIGN

of danger even if things go wrong.

operations in the plant.

4. The action taken to eliminate hazards which could lead to an injury.

The Safety Managers role includes the following;

1. Monitoring the implementation of the organizations safety, health and environmental

Assessing the hazards of materials used and planned to be used and

There are three key elements to achieving commitment to safety;

First: Getting Attention

The objective is to overcome complacency and achieving recognition of safety as

personal as well as a company issue.

Second: Achieving Commitment

Convince personnel that familiarity can lead to accidents to themselves.

Third: Maintaining Involvement

Such a program might include:

10. Supervisor safety training

Good process safety management techniques in each facility will

implementation of facility safety, health, and environmental policies.

The following list provides an example of many of the typical safety,

Equipment Inspection and Monitoring - policy that defines inspection and

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