PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT EHS COMMUNICATOR
Issue 3
2
Process
Safety
Management
EHS
Communicator
April 2015
PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT
IN THIS ISSUE
December 2014
PSM Focus Group
PSM Focus Group
This issue represents the 3rd Edition of the
Process Safety Management – EHS
Communicator. The intent of this internal
publication is to provide updates, guidance,
information and reference material to the
University community impacted by the
Process Safety Management (PSM) initiative.
Please feel free to share the document and
forward any comments/questions to the EHS
Dept. Note – electronic version available
through EHS Webpage (www.ehs.psu.edu/) .
PSM Focus Group Members
To properly develop a workable and
sustainable Process Safety Management
(PSM) program within the University, input
was required from various departments and
work groups. Factors to be considered from
these diverse operations included work
processes, safety culture and existing safety
programs.
To effectively consider these factors, a Focus
Group was formed with representatives from
different groups that would be impacted by
the PSM program. This group included
Intercollegiate Athletics, Office of Physical
Plant, College of Agricultural Sciences,
Berkey Creamery, Materials Research
Institute, Biological Research and EHS.
Members were selected based on their
responsibilities within the University,
professional experience and knowledge that
Overview of the PSM Focus Group membership and
objectives
would significantly contribute to program
development. Original and add on members
included:
-
Mark Bodenschatz; ICA
Shawn DeRosa; ICA
Don Fronk; OPP-EHS
Harry Gebhardt; OPP-Engr.
John Henneman; Bio Research
James Hosgood; OPP-H2O Services
Mark Linsenbigler; EHS
Robert Lumley-Sapanski; FSB Facility
Phillip Melnick; OPP-B&G
Ron Nagle; OPP-Area Services
Tom Palchak; Berkey Creamery
David Sarge; MRI
Brad Smith; College of Ag Sciences
Chris Whittemore; ICA – Pegula
Charles Williams; EHS
The primary objectives of the PSM Focus
Group included 1) develop the written
program elements outlining the scope and
requirements of the University’s PSM
program, and 2) outline an implementation
schedule.
The group’s first meeting was in April 2014
and as of February 2015, they have achieved
their objectives. The group will continue to
monitor implementation progress and hold
additional sessions as required.
Page 1
Incident Reporting
Brief overview of the Incident Reporting and the critical
role it plays within the PSM Program
Page 2
PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT EHS COMMUNICATOR | Issue 3
MAINTENANCE & EQUIPMENT
Incident Reporting
The University recognizes that unforeseen
circumstances may arise that can lead to an
unexpected event. This unexpected event or
outcome is treated as an Incident and must
be reported and investigated. It is the
philosophy within the PSM program that any
incident can be traced to a failure within the
management system, and as such the
Incident Investigation element of the PSM
program is an important component of the
continuous improvement initiative.
What is a PSM Incident?
A PSM Incident is defined as:
Safe Work Permit
Non-Routine maintenance work, like Pump repair
requires use of the Safe Work Permit.
Critical Equipment
Not all critical PSM equipment is located in Mechanical
Rooms.
“an unplanned event or series of events and
circumstances which did result or could
reasonably have resulted in a catastrophic
release of a highly hazardous chemical /
biological agent from its primary containment
structure, failure of a piece of equipment as
originally designed, or deviation from an
established procedure.”
As you will note, this is a very broad
definition and typically captures events that,
historically have not been submitted through
the standard incident reporting and
investigation procedures. Several events
treated as PSM incidents have included
power interruptions causing a piece of
equipment to shut-down completely or fail to
restart as anticipated. Other examples
include activation of a High Level Alarm,
failure in communication through ALC, and
deviation from an established Standard
Operating Procedure.
PSM – BY THE NUMBERS
100
Percent of PSM Program Elements with developed and
approved written procedures.
56
Total Number of Incident Reports recorded within the
PSM program since program launch.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact: Charles Williams, Process Safety
Program Manager, EHS Dept. for more
information on Penn State’s PSM Program
865-6391 cmw33@psu.edu
2
At this point, you may be asking yourself –
why is it important to report these types of
events? That is a Great Question! Continue
reading to learn more.
The primary purpose of reporting and
investigating Process Safety Incidents is to
formally evaluate the immediate and root
cause(s) that led to the event. Once the
underlying causes of the incident are
identified, appropriate corrective actions can
be developed to improve the management
system and minimize the likelihood of similar
occurrences. Although all PSM incidents
shall be investigated, not all incidents need
to be investigated to the same depth. In
addition, the University utilizes an approach
to concentrate on those incidents with the
most serious or potentially serious effects.
Therefore, the investigation should be
suitable and sufficient in relation to the
potential severity and frequency of the
incident. The following items outline the
key issues associated with reporting and
investigating PSM incidents:
○ Report immediately when safe to do
so and begin investigation within 48
hours.
○ Investigation shall include at least one
person who is knowledgeable in the
process involved in the incident
○ A report generated that contains
- Date & time of the incident
- Date & time investigation began
- Description of the incident
- Factors contributing to the event
- Recommendations resulting from
the investigation
○ Management system to promptly
address & resolve recommendations
○ Mechanism to review investigation
results with affected personnel
Please note, that PSM incident investigations
are solely focused on identifying the facts
associated with actions leading up to, during
and post event. It will not look to assign
blame or fault with any individual or group
actions associated with the event.
Investigation Team
All incidents will be investigated, regardless
of severity; however the size of the
investigation team can be dependent on the
type of incident. Unless associated with an
incidental release or Near Miss event,
investigations should begin within 48 hours
of the event. The investigation team may
consist of the following participants: Safety
Officer, Area Supervisors, Facility
Operations, EHS, Emergency Management,
Equipment Operators, Police Services,
Engineering and other affected individuals
depending on the type of event. The
participants and size of the investigation
team will be based on the severity of the
event.
Please contact the EHS department to learn
more about incident reporting or the
investigation techniques utilized to identify
the immediate and root causes.
CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD
Chemical Safety Board (CSB) – The CSB
recently released a video associated with a 2010
anhydrous ammonia release from a
refrigeration facility in Al. The video reviews
the lessons learned from the Investigation. To
view the CSB video use the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/profile?user=USCSB