Hazard Identification Methods - IChemE

Hazard identification is fundamental to the safe design and operation of any system, be it a process plant or any other facility. The tools used vary according to the situation but they are all rigorous, systematic and depend to a greater or lesser extent on the knowledge of team members. This book provides a selection guide that introduces, describes and illustrates the most commonly used techniques, and then directs the reader to more detailed references where fuller guidance may be found on the specific technique. It is not intended to provide a full listing of all of the available techniques. The selection is based on an analysis of the more common techniques used by European Process Safety Centre (EPSC) members. It should be noted that the authors found that a general technique might have some very small, industry specific, features or changes and then be known by a different name. The descriptions given here for each technique are generic and nonindustry specific, so that the techniques can be used by different industries with minor, case specific variations. In the descriptions it will be seen that a technique may sometimes use an adapted part of another technique. This too is to be expected as most methods will include the best parts of other, tried and tested techniques. The techniques selected by EPSC include some that are on the boundary between identification and assessment. These include: ( fault tree analysis (FTA); ( event tree analysis (ETA); ( failure modes effects (and criticality) analysis (FME(C)A). These techniques can be used both analytically and quantitatively. In the first mode they can be used as an investigative tool but it is in the second mode that they have most use. Each technique is described under the following headings: ( definition; ( description; ( resource requirements (both personnel and documentation); ( timing (against the process hazard analysis (PHA) time frame); ( advantages, disadvantages and uncertainties; ( applications; ( illustrated example (if needed).The timing of use is not always critical (other than possibly for HAZOP (hazard and operability) study) and is given against the main stages of the development of a `project`. It is recognized that a `project` could be a maintenance task, a modification or a large construction project. The techniques can be of value in any task; the only differences will be in the depth, effort and recording. The examples given are deliberately simple, require little or no specific prior knowledge and therefore can be easily understood. Full, real examples would be much more complex and detailed and cannot be used in an introductory text such as this. The appendices take the reader through three examples and show which of the tools and when they may be most appropriate for those particular examples. The examples then give a brief example of use in the development. The worked examples in the text give more detailed guidance.