IDENTIFYING HAZARDS AND OPERATIONAL PROBLEMS "

Hazard identification is the single most important step in the management of process risks. This is one area where, unfortunately, ignorance is not bliss, but a disaster. It has been shown in commissions of inquiry and legal proceedings following major accidents that, not identifying potential accident causes when there are systematic techniques available for such identification, is no defence for the corporation.
The questions often asked after an accident event are:
• Why were these events not identified a priori during the design stage, or as a proactive measure in an operating plant?
• Even when a potential event was identified, though remote, why was no action taken by the management? In other words, what is the basis on which remoteness was ascribed to the event, for justifying inaction?

Process systems are complex. Unlike an assembly line, where in most situations material processing occurs sequentially, there is significant coupling of the subsystems that interact on one another. If these couplings and interactions are not identified systematically, the potential accident event can slip through the scrutiny net.