EPSC Reports Available
Report 35
How to Set up a Process Safety Competence Management System
This report is a continuously updated "living document" providing detailed guidance on skills and experience management for process safety. A successful system will ensure that the knowledge necessary for safe operation is always present at an active facility. This will take into account the minimum site workforce competence requirements for normal operations and for emergency situations, selection of personnel, training and assessment, managing competence gaps, and developing a safety culture.
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Report 34
Atypical Scenarios: Known and Unknown Unknowns
It is impossible to plan for all possible events, and yet risk management relies on identifying the potential hazards. There is a special challenge in identifying the hazardous scenarios in complex linked systems, where some hazard events may seem to be of such low probability that they can be discounted. This report extends traditional risk and hazard analysis methods to cover high impact extreme events and worst case scenarios, to ensure that these atypical scenarios are included in risk management.
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Report 33
Safety Critical Measures
Whether they are mechanical, instrumental or procedural, whether active or passive, whether they prevent harm or mitigate its effects, safety critical measures are the systems that keep the risks of a process to an acceptably low level. This report examines how to identify the critical elements that protect against a major accident, and how to design, maintain and test these safety critical measures.
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Report 32
Process Safety Auditing
Process Safety Auditing stands as one of the most important tools for ensuring that reality matches theory in the management of risks. A strong audit program can drive continuous improvement, but a bad audit program may waste time and resources, or worse, give a false sense of security. This report is a complete step-by-step guide to implementing an effective audit program, and deriving the benefits of correction and improvement.
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Report 30
Learning from Accidents
Incident reporting is established as a means to ensure that flaws leading to an accident or near miss can be corrected, but this data must lead to improvements if it is to be of value. In large organisations, an investigation can be complex, and must be tracked from the initial report, through improvement plans, to lessons for the wider organisation.
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Report 29
Process Safety and Risk Management of Chemical Parks in Europe
Many organisations operate facilities as part of shared chemical parks, in which infrastructure may be shared between many legal entities within a single boundary. This report explores the approaches needed for safe operation in a shared chemical park, taking into account domino effects, emergency management with multiple entities, site security, placement of facilities within a park, shared inspections or audits, and the role of infrastructure companies within the site.
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Report 26
EHS Requirements in the Design of Vent and Relief Systems
Almost all processes will involve some vent streams or other discharges to the atmosphere. It is recognised that any impact which these may have on the environment needs to be minimised and for this reason a number of vent or relief streams often need to be brought together for treatment. The combination of streams may introduce a number of new hazards and an increase in the risks to people, to the environment and to the business. Unless great care is directed to the design and assessment of the system, harmful incidents may result. This guide draws on the experience of EPSC members in order to assist in the design and assessment of systems that will be safe to operate.
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Report 22
The Fire Protection of Pressurised Liquefied Flammable Gas Storage
Large pressurised vessels for storage of flammable gases have an overall good safety record, but the consequences of a release, fire or explosion can be severe. This report follows the methods for passive and active protection of a tank in case of fire, and the limits that local environment, inspection access, and emergency response put on tank design.
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Report 21
Mis-Identification of Chemicals
A characteristic of batch processes is the reliance on organisational and human measures to get the correct substances in the correct places. Mis-identification of chemicals can happen at any point along the supply chain or within a facility. This report examines case studies of mis-identified substances and the organisational or procedural barriers that failed in each case. Appropriate and effective measures are considered, taking into account ergonomics and the human factor.
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Report 18
Risk Management Practice in the Process Industries
Risk assessment and risk management are fundamental to the safe handling of hazardous substances. Whether using a rule based system for well understood hazards, or risk-based analysis, some form of risk management must always be present to ensure proportionate defenses are in place to prevent harm. The report provides an overview of the key principles of risk management and gives examples illustrating how the principles can be put into practice.
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Report 17
Safety Management for Process Transfer of Batch and Semi-Batch Processes
The challenges for implementing safe process in batch production are similar to those of a continuous production facility, but are often more dynamic. Where change and optimisation happens rapidly and continuously, management of change must be sufficient to ensure safety. This report considers the management of process transfers - the moving of production to new, remote, or modified equipment.
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EPSC Learning Sheet
The Learning Sheets are meant to stimulate discussion on important process safety topics at operational sites and to improve competency & awareness. Latest topic: Isobutylene Gas Explosion. Subscribe to our Learning Sheet Mailing List here.