How to Maintain a Process Safety System

Related Vendors

DÜPERTHAL Sicherheitstechnik GmbH & Co. KG

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Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)

The Times Are A-Changing … Safety is More than Just Rules

Currently, some major industries in India, especially the petrochemical industries start looking beyond regulatory norms for health, safety, and the environment (HSE). The meaning of safety has much more to do with engineering and behavior than just PPE, industry insiders believe. Reliance, Tata, DuPont, etc., are some examples of this change of mindsets in India. A CEO once said, “No amount of money is worth making by sacrificing a life. My peace of mind depends on the safety of my people. And what we’re starting today is a journey without destination.” These companies as well as others have realized that this transformation is a journey impacting people individually and collectively. A paradigm shift is taking place from an era of reactive measures to an interdependent/predictive era for safety.

It is important to keep in mind that process safety incidents like Bhopal are ‘high consequences, low frequency events’. Therefore, it is possible for a plant, and even the entire industry to have declining numbers of incidents for many years, and then suddenly have a very serious incident with little or no chance to react in operation. Thus any progress in process safety must be viewed over a horizon of many years, experts say. In the longterm, processes are made inherently safer through the elimination of hazards rather than their control.

Don’t Wait for an Accident to Happen — Act Now!

Consequently, the use of inherently safer processes and techniques and significantly aware workers is the best approach to a safe design and operation of industrial facilities. This approach relies upon the intrinsic safety characteristics of people, processes and equipment to prevent injuries, environmental damage and property damage rather than on control systems, interlocks or procedures that prevent, stop or mitigate incidents. It is essential for industry practitioners, research professionals and academicians to fulfill their responsibility by learning and propagating PSM. One might argue that this process is probably a little slow for changing the course of occasional incidents and a lot more still needs to be done. But the first steps towards a safer work environment are made. There is still a lot to do, yet India’s process industry looks forward to the change: “It’s a huge effort“, one professional stated, “and the best part is, it is happening.”

* The author worked as Site President for RIL

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