Human Response: An Effective Safeguard?

“Shallow men believe in luck; wise and strong men in the cause and effect." – Ralph Waldo Emerson In process safety, one important aspect of assessing risk is determining what safeguards are in place to protect against a hazard. Often, we see teams credit human response as a safeguard, sometimes relying on the response as [...]

By |2020-04-30T13:45:53-05:00April 30th, 2020|Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Human Response: An Effective Safeguard?

3 Criteria for Picking LOPA Scenarios

“The easiest way to solve a problem is to pick an easy one.”  — Franklin P. Jones We love having choices. We hate making choices. What if we pick wrong? There is no shortage of people ready to tell us. It is always helpful to have criteria for choosing, or to be honest, to justify [...]

By |2020-01-16T14:45:24-06:00January 16th, 2020|PHA, Process Safety Management, Risk Assessment, Safety Lifecycle|Comments Off on 3 Criteria for Picking LOPA Scenarios

Out of the Blocks: Credit for Human Response

“Fear is often our immediate response to uncertainty.”  — Gabrielle Bernstein In 2001, when the CCPS book, Layer of Protection Analysis: Simplified Process Risk Assessment, “the purple book”, stated that human response is “a relatively weak protection layer” and “less reliable than engineering controls”, many people were willing to accept that piece of conventional wisdom. [...]

Double Jeopardy: Impossible?

“Everything is impossible until it is done.”  — Robert H. Goddard In 1921, annoyed with ignorant criticism, Robert Goddard published a piece in Scientific American in defense of the potential for travel to the moon. It’s always easier to say something is impossible than to address the potential of it happening. Double Jeopardy When someone [...]

By |2019-04-25T13:26:41-05:00April 25th, 2019|PHA, Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Risk Assessment|Comments Off on Double Jeopardy: Impossible?

If It Weren’t For Bad Luck, We’d Have No Luck at All

Only bad golfers are lucky. They’re the ones bouncing balls off trees, curbs, turtles and cars. Good golfers have bad luck. When you hit the ball straight, a funny bounce is bound to be unlucky.”  –Lee Trevino At the recent Global Congress on Process Safety, a slogan showed up several times. In presentations, on displays, [...]

By |2018-06-15T01:34:16-05:00June 14th, 2018|Process Safety|Comments Off on If It Weren’t For Bad Luck, We’d Have No Luck at All

Simplifying Safety Critical

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” Stephen R Covey An important part of managing process safety is deciding what equipment is critical to the process and its safety. Of course, it is important to carefully maintain all equipment, but not all equipment is safety critical. An [...]

Red Shirts: Reducing Occupancy to Reduce Risk

“Red Shirt: In Star Trek, red-uniformed security officers and engineers who accompany the main characters on landing parties who often suffer quick deaths.[”  Wikipedia I didn’t see the NBC television series, Star Trek, until it went into syndication, when it became a staple of television viewing for everyone I knew while I was in college. [...]

Human Response: What’s It Worth?

“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.”  Napolean Bonaparte Can operator responses to unsafe conditions be considered part of safety instrumented functions?  The question frequently arises during a Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) as operators consider their existing safeguards and Independent Layers of Protection (IPLs).  [...]

By |2017-07-21T19:50:12-05:00January 4th, 2017|Risk Assessment|Comments Off on Human Response: What’s It Worth?
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