A comparative analysis of process safety management (PSM) systems in the process industry

The root cause of most accidents in the process industry has been attributed to process safety issues ranging from poor safety culture, lack of communication, asset integrity issues, lack of management leadership and human factors. These accidents could have been prevented with adequate implementation of a robust process safety management (PSM) system. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop a comparative framework which could aid in selecting an appropriate and suitable PSM system for specific industry sectors within the process industry. A total of 21 PSM systems are selected for this study and their theoretical frameworks, industry of application and deficiencies are explored. Next, a comparative framework is developed using eleven key factors that are applicable to the process industry such as framework and room for continuous improvement, design specification, industry adaptability and applicability, human factors, scope of application, usability in complex systems, safety culture, primary or secondary mode of application, regulatory enforcement, competency level, as well as inductive or deductive approach. After conducting the comparative analysis using these factors, the Integrated Process Safety Management System (IPSMS) model seems to be the most robust PSM system as it addressed almost every key area regarding process safety. However, inferences drawn from study findings suggest that there is still no one-size-fits-all PSM system for all sectors of the process industry.     

The effective control of major industrial accidents by the Major Industrial Accident Prevention Centers (MAPC) through the Process Safety Management (PSM) grading system in Korea

This paper examines effectiveness of a regulatory enforcement organization (Major industrial Accident Prevention Center, MAPC), and a grading system for implementation of the Process Safety Management (PSM) regulation in Korea. A lot of chemical installations have been built in Korea since the 1960s. The frequent occurrence of major industrial accidents had made people's concerns grow. The Korean government enacted PSM regulations in 1996 in order to curb these accidents.However, a key question is how to make sure companies comply with the PSM regulations. In order to improve company’ compliance with PSM regulations the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) responsible for the regulation introduced a grading management system in 2001 and then established special supervisory centers for enforcement of PSM regulations in 2005. This paper reviews the role and effectiveness of the system in term of PSM enforcement. The author found that the grade-based approach has encouraged employers to implement the requirements of the PSM regulations. MAPCs play an effective role in enhancing enforcement performance. Although the more chemical plants have been established in Korea, the fewer major industrial accidents have occurred since the introduction of the system. The results may be useful for the policy maker to build an effective and efficient enforcement system.     

Smart chemical industry parks in China: Current status,challenges, and pathways for future sustainable development

The chemical industry has been pivotal to the rapid economic expansion and high standards of living in China. As an important carrier of the chemical industry, China has designated as many as 723 chemical industrial parks (CIPs). Unfortunately, safety concerns have become an obstacle to the sustainability of China's CIPs. Ever since the two devastating hazardous chemical accidents, namely “Tianjin Port 8·12 Explosion” and “Jiangsu 3·21 Explosion,” which occurred in 2015 and 2019 respectively, China has prioritized the safety of CIPs. The smart chemical industrial parks (SCIPs) are considered the optimal strategies toward the goal of sustainable development in China's CIPs. However, there has been a lack of research and subsequent discussion on the role of SCIPs in the forthcoming years. The period between 2020 and 2025 is considered a crucial period for the future development of CIPs and SCIPs in China mainly because the country has released a series of important government documents and national standards (such as “Fourteenth Five-Year (2020–2025) Plan for Hazardous Chemical Safety” and “Guidelines of SCIPs construction”) to promote hazardous chemical safety. With the aim of analyzing the future sustainable development for the construction of SCIPs in China, this paper proposes a systematic methodology in order to conduct an integrated and in-depth review on the standardization construction status (framework with Chinese characteristics, key events, spatial features, and national pilots), future tasks, problems, and sustainable development pathways of China's SCIPs. The method is implemented in accordance with the current scenarios of hazardous chemical safety in China and the latest government documents, regulations, and standards. Furthermore, this study provides basic data and a basis for future studies associated with the safety and sustainability of the SCIPs construction and chemical industry, both within China and in other countries.     

Lessons learned for process safety management in China

A number of chemical accidents have occurred in China over the past two decades with significant impact on humans and the environment. It is expected that lessons will have been learned from these accidents that will help industries to reduce the risk that catastrophic chemical accidents occur in future. In fact, to some extent there is evidence that lessons have been learned, to the extent that the Chinese government has substantially strengthened legislation and regulatory standards. Nonetheless, there remains a concern that much more still needs to be done to reduce chemical accidents risks in China. Important progress in this area requires not only government support but a commitment across all hazardous industries to learn from past accidents that may in many cases require establishment or considerable improvement of their safety management systems. To assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in this effort, results of an analysis of common causes of the chemical accidents reported in the Major Accident Information (MAI) website of Chinese State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) are presented in this paper In particular, inadequate process hazard analysis (PHA), training and emergency response planning (ERP) were identified as the top three process safety management (PSM) elements that contribute to most of the SMEs accidents in China. Seven recommendations are proposed in order to improve the effectiveness of lesson learning for government agencies and SMEs.     

跨区域应急协作视角下化工园区空间布局的失衡与应对策略分析

随着工业化进程加快,我国化工园区呈现出数量逐年递增且集中分布的态势,增加了跨区域重大突发事件的风险,如何实现跨区域的应急协作成为化工园区安全规划所面临的重点与难点问题之一。基于此,搜集近15 a全国化工园区的安全事故,采用自组织特征映射神经网络分类方法与多元回归模型研究全国范围内化工园区安全事故的空间分布规律及影响因素,进而从风险分布与应急协作需求的匹配性角度讨论我国现有应急协作机制存在的潜在问题。研究结果表明:我国化工园区整体空间布局呈现出以区域优势为导向的趋势,其选址大多忽略了化工园区集中区域的高风险与应急能力不足的问题,这种布局的失衡使得政府无法形成高效的跨区域应急协作体制;化工园区数量上的增加并非是导致危机事故的主要原因,强调了化工园区自身特征与危机事故严重程度的相关性,区域间应急联动协作在化工园区危机应对过程中的重要作用;最后,从空间布局、跨区域协作角度提出化工园区区域应急协作的相应政策建议。     

化工园区安全规划方法与程序研究

针对我国化工园区急剧发展,且无统一的安全规划方法指导的现状,分析了化工园区安全规划的目的、指导思想与一般原则;对国外常用的"基于安全距离"、"基于后果"和"基于风险"等3种安全规划技术方法进行比较研究,给出基于区域性定量风险评价方法的化工园区安全规划技术思路;进而提出了化工园区安全规划应至少包括化工园区工厂选址与土地使用安全规划、化工园区安全管理模式研究和化工园区应急体系建设及应急预案编制等3项内容,并给出了化工园区安全规划的基本程序。笔者建议,将化工园区安全规划的内容纳入化工园区的总体规划,在化工园区规划、开发和建设过程中编制化工园区安全规划。     

A rising tide raises all boats: Regional promotion of process safety through joint government/industry management

With the development of increasingly complex processes and technologies in chemical and manufacturing industries, Process Safety Management (PSM) has been globally recognized as the primary tool for operating companies to reduce process accidents on their industrial sites and the risks posed to their employees and surrounding communities. Yet, industrial facilities are often interdependent and collocated with others. Recognizing this, regional authorities are also applying PSM principles to reduce the cumulative incidents associated with high density industrial areas and the multiplicative risks posed to broader communities. This paper compares Strathcona County Emergency Service (SCES) in Alberta, Contra Costa County Health Service Hazard Material Programs (CCCHSHMP) in California, and Technical Standards & Safety Authority (TSSA) in Ontario and their PSM systems to provide practical recommendations to improve SCES's system. Four aspects of PSM are considered: regulation and guidance, auditing and inspection, annual performance indicators, and public participation. Based on the results of this comparison, we recommend that SCES develop comprehensive PSM regulations based on CSA Z767-17 PSM including clear instructions for assessing technologies and methodologies for consequence analysis. Both worst-case scenarios and alternative scenarios need to be considered as well as the domino effect of primary accidents. Furthermore, regular audits and inspections will ensure compliance with PSM regulations while helping the design of planning, performing, and following-up strategies to ensure effectiveness. In addition, we suggest the use of lagging and leading performance indicators to evaluate the performance of the PSM program. Finally, we recommend using advisory councils or commissions to increase public participation and ensure the representation of stakeholders' perspectives with the PSM system.     

Process Safety Management (PSM) for managing contractors in process plant

Accidents involving contractors continue to occur with regular frequency. By using the standard set within the PSM 29 CFR 1910.119(h) regulations, it has been identified that certain aspects of the way contractors do work are not up to the stipulated regulatory requirements especially regarding matters like not providing mandatory personal protective equipment (PPE) to the workers, not discussing hazards related to handling procedures with the workforce and improper control of non-routine activities during changes in shifts. The PSM 29 CFR 1910.119(h) regulations promulgated in 1992 provides standards that covered processes to obtain and evaluate data regarding contractors' health and safety programs as well as the contractors' performance evaluation. Many of the accidents involving contractors are direct result of poor training of contractors and/or poor control of the contracted work. Even though most organizations have their own contractor management systems, there are issues in meeting the requirements of PSM. The PSM standard only state “what to do” not “how to do it”. This is known as self-regulatory policy which depends on the industries understanding to interpret the standard that also contribute to this problem. This paper presents a structured and easy technique to plan and implement a practical and comprehensive contractors' management system in process industries that will comply with OSHA CFR 1910.119. A model has been developed based on this technique and its application has been tested in a pilot plant for compliance to PSM regulation. The model is beneficial to the process industries as any deficiencies in the PSM contractors' management program will be highlighted by the model which will then easily correct the identified deficiency so as to minimize and prevent catastrophic accidents.     

Global process industry initiatives to reduce major accident hazards

In the past 10 years, the vapor cloud explosion at Texas City, the ammonium nitrate explosion in Toulouse, a pipeline disaster in Belgium, and three near total loss events in Norway have highlighted that major accident process safety is still a serious issue. Hopes that PSM or Safety Case regulations would reduce process events by 80% have not proven true. The Baker Panel, convened after Texas City developed a series of recommendations, mainly around leadership, incentives, safety culture and more effective implementation of PSM systems. Many US-based companies are working hard to implement the Baker recommendations. In Europe, an approach built around safety barriers, especially relating to technical safety systems, is being widely adopted.The author’s company has carried out a global survey of process industry initiatives, for both upstream and downstream activities, to identify what the industry itself is planning to enhance process safety in the next 5-10 years. This paper presents a summary of some of the major programs and initiatives as apply to traditional oil majors, newer national oil companies, and the chemical industry. These are a mixture of Baker recommendations, barrier approaches and tighter integration of process safety and asset integrity. While the factor of 10 improvement achieved in occupational safety over the past 20 years seems unattainable for process safety, a factor of 3-4 improvement in the next 20 years does seem possible. This would call for significant effort on the part of operators, but the benefits fully justify the effort.     

我国化工园区安全监管存在问题及对策研究

指出当前我国化工园区开发建设过程中面临的突出问题,分析目前我国化工园区安全监管的运作模式和存在问题,提出化工园区安全监管应遵循的原则,分析解决化工园区复杂的安全监管问题的有效途径,提出建立化工园区综合安全管理体系的新思路,最后对化工园区安全监管过程中存在的问题提出解决对策.     

地质勘查劳动防护和野外救生、特殊生活用品（用具）配备标准编制要点

《地质勘查劳动防护和野外救生、特殊生活用品（用具）配备标准》是地质勘查行业的首个劳动防护领域职业安全健康标准。《地质勘查劳动防护和野外救生、特殊生活用品（用具）配备标准》的制定,将对提高地质勘查行业从业人员的劳动防护水平,降低职业危害,减少安全事故,促进我国地质勘查行业安全生产等方面起到积极推动作用。文章从行业安全现状以及地质勘查事故风险等方面介绍《地质勘查劳动防护和野外救生、特殊生活用品（用具）配备标准》编制背景,并对标准编制方法与思路、内容划分、作业人员分类、重点内容等进行了讨论。针对该标准的讨论有助于标准的贯彻执行,对安全技术类标准的编制也具有一定参考价值。     

Revising HFACS for SMEs in the chemical industry: HFACS-CSMEs

Chemical accidents have occurred frequently in recent years, and most have occurred in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs in the chemical industry face greater challenges than large enterprises with regard to accident prevention. However, SMEs have been unable to effectively learn from accidents due to the limited resources. The accident causation model is an effective tool to help the analyst learn from accidents. As a systematic accident causation model, the causes classification in the human factors analysis and classification system (HFACS) can match the characteristics of SMEs, but the cause of chemical accidents can be ineffectively identified by HFACS. In this study, HFACS was revised for the SMEs in the chemical industry, mainly consisting of three parts. First, based on the definition of factors in the original HFACS, the extended HFACS framework was obtained, which include 78 manifestations with the characteristics of the chemical accidents. Second, 101 accidents occurring in a SME in the chemical industry from 2012 to 2016 were analyzed though the extended HFACS framework. Finally, a new model, known as the HFACS-CSMEs, was obtained by further revising the manifestations and causes classification according to the statistical results of the accident analysis. HFACS-CSMEs consists of 15 cause factors and 56 manifestations, which can effectually identify and distinguish the causes in chemical accidents. Moreover, the easy-to-understand and statistically acceptable features of HFACS-CSMEs can cater to the SMEs regarding accident analysis. HFACS-CSMEs solves the problem that HFACS cannot be directly applied to chemical accidents and provides new ideas about preventing accidents in SMEs in the chemical industry.     

Enhancement of occupational health and safety requirements in chemical tanker operations: The case of cargo explosion

Operational precautions for chemical tankers are vitally important in reducing the potential threat to shipboard crew by products carried. This paper enhances the International Safety Management (ISM) code in compliance with Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSAS 18001:2007) requirements in respect to operational constraints related to chemical tankers. As research methodology, Fuzzy Axiomatic Design (FAD) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) are referred to redesign the extended ISM code procedure, which identifies key points for occupational accident prevention on board chemical tankers. To illustrate the expected benefits of an extended ISM code procedure, the principle root causes of chemical tanker explosion are also discussed. In particular, the main results of the case study highlight the urgent need to ensure the competency of shipboard personnel and their familiarization with the characteristics of chemical cargos under differing circumstances. The outcomes set out in this paper contribute to regulatory compliance and to the management of occupational health and safety requirements on board chemical tankers.     

化工园区安全生产监管存在问题及对策

系统分析了我国现阶段化工园区的基本特点及其安全监管中存在的问题，提出了建立以政府为主导、社会中介机构技术支撑、企业落实一体化的化工园区综合管理体系。实现化：亡园区应急救援资源整合及资源共享，提高化工园区应急救援资源有效利用率。数字化管理对化工园区的整体安全性的提高将发挥巨大的作用。     

Enhancing corporate compliance with worksite safety and health legislation

Introduction: A 2-year prospective study evaluated the effectiveness of a managerial training program to enhance corporate compliance with statewide worksite safety and health regulations. The program offered participants information about regulatory requirements and emphasized organizational and environmental strategies for reducing occupational injuries and illnesses. Objectives: To assess the effects of a train-the-trainer program on business managers' knowledge of statewide occupational safety and health legislation and on levels of corporate compliance with regulatory requirements. Methods: Forty-eight small- and medium-sized companies participated in the training sessions during the first year of the study. These firms were compared with 46 control companies that did not receive the training until the conclusion of the study. Results: Participation in the program was associated with higher levels of corporate regulatory compliance 12 months after the training sessions were held (controlling for baseline levels of corporate compliance with the regulations). Program effects on compliance levels were mediated by posttraining changes in managers' knowledge of regulatory requirements. Conclusions: The REACH OUT training program raised managers' awareness of and corporate compliance with statewide worksite safety and health regulations. Impact on Industry: Smaller companies face greater challenges than larger ones in developing and maintaining worksite safety and health programs. Barriers to regulatory compliance, especially in small- and medium-size companies, should be identified and removed to enhance the efficacy of these programs.     

化工园区安全规划主要内容探讨

随着我国经济的高速发展,各地先后建设了大量化工园区。近几年一些化工园区也陆续开展了园区整体安全评价与安全规划的试点工作。但由于对于化工园区安全规划的内容目前并无统一的标准,致使各化工园区安全规划的内容不尽相同,甚至差异很大。本文提出了化工园区安全规划的基本程序,并详细论述了化工园区安全规划的主要内容。     

民营中小企业安全文化建设探讨

企业安全文化建设对于企业安全管理起着至关重要的作用,民营中小企业作为我国经济体系的生力军,其安全管理工作必须注入新的安全管理理念、理论和方法。分析了民营中小企业安全文化建设的制约因素,在基于"本质安全、目标统一和全员参与"三个原则的基础上,初步构建由观念文化、制度文化、行为文化和物态文化四部分组成的民营中小企业安全文化建设框架,并提出相应的建设方法,对于民营中小企业的安全发展有着极其重要的意义。     

基于临水区域化工园区的整体安全研究

针对临水区域化工园区的生产特点及在整体安全方面存在的普遍问题,提出在临水区域化工园区内要进行合理布局,做到功能分区明确;同时需建立园区安全生产管理、监测预警及应急处置系统,主要是由固定危险源和移动危险源动态安全管理子系统、安全生产监测预警系统、突发事故应急处置平台等所组成;坚持安全监控信息化与标准化,对化工园区的整体安全性的提高将发挥巨大的作用,为建设"平安园区"打下坚实的基础。     

关于“四沿”化工安全的战略性思考与探索

以基本能浓缩中国化工概貌的江苏省沿江、沿河、沿湖、沿海化工企业为背景,依据其形成和发展及基本概况,结合重大化工事故灾难,以安全与环境相耦合,对"四沿"化工安全进行了战略性思考,试图勾画临水化工本质安全的模型,提出在"四沿"地区构建化工本质安全化科技支撑体系的宏观构架,即建设"江苏省四沿区域化工本质安全和化工事故防范及应急系统"的思路、探索与实践。还提出了立法深化研究和技术标准制定、严格区域规划设计与建设的监督、强化监管执法力度等急需关注的问题。以江苏省"四沿"区域的化工安全为背景所提出的思路与对策,应该对整个华东地区乃至全国临水性化工企业安全具有重要的现实和借鉴意义,对我国高危行业的安全生产和环境保护有重大的示范效应。     

我国危险化学品重大危险源安全监管存在问题及建议

近些年发生的一些危险化学品重大事故和石化项目的群体性事件暴露出我国重大危险源监管体系还存在很多问题。对我国和欧美在重大危险源安全监管进行对比分析,总结出我国重大危险源安全监管存在几方面问题。重大危险源的土地利用规划未纳入城市规划控制程序;重大危险源建设项目公众参与不足;部分法规对一般危险化学品企业安全监管要求过高,重点不突出;某些安全监管提法相互重复、混乱;政府监管和企业管理界限不清晰;缺乏安全监察程序、指南,安全监察落实不到位;对化工园区安全发展认识不足。在吸收、借鉴美国和欧洲发达国家在重大危险源管理方面的经验和良好做法基础上,提出相对应的措施建议。政府部门应加快重大危险源的立法工作,在制定重大危险源的相关法规和政策时应科学、合理。