PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT EHS COMMUNICATOR
Issue 5
2
Process
Safety
Management
EHS
Communicator
August 2015
PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT
IN THIS ISSUE
December 2014
Employee Participation
This issue represents the 5th 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/) .
Employee Participation
As with any EHS program, for successful
implementation and ongoing sustainability,
active employee involvement (from people
like you) and participation is paramount.
This certainly holds true for the PSM
program as well. This is such an important
component to the PSM program that a
specific element outlines the requirements of
this involvement. The Employee
Participation (Element #6) highlights how we
intend to leverage your knowledge,
experience and unique perspectives when
evaluating process safety matters.
The fundamental objective of this element is
to have employees actively engaged in
various phases of the departmental process
safety efforts. The intent is not to delegate
process safety responsibilities to employees,
but rather to take advantage of your unique
Employee Participation
Overview of the Employee Participation Element within
the PSM Program
insights when evaluating equipment and
process safety matters.
Page 1
Employee involvement can take many forms
but the PSM program has identified the
minimum activities including:
○ PSM program development &
subsequent modifications
○ Process Hazard Analysis
○ Incident Investigation teams
○ Developing new and/or providing
input/review of process operating or
maintenance procedures
○ Management of Change evaluations
○ Pre-Startup Safety Reviews
○ Input when developing process safety
training materials
Employees are encouraged to bring forth
process safety concerns or suggestions. The
standard avenues exist which would initially
be your immediate supervisor or manager.
However, there are other resources such as
your unit safety officer, department safety
committee or the EHS department.
Employees wishing to remain anonymous
when reporting can submit their suggestions
or concerns through their department
Suggestion Box (if one exists) or the main
EHS webpage.
Program Implementation
Brief update on the PSM program implementation
throughout the University
Page 2
PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT EHS COMMUNICATOR | Issue 5
MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE
Program Implementation
Although the decision to embark on the
journey to develop a University wide Process
Safety Management program originated in
2013, the process did not really begin in
earnest until April 2014. Read below to learn
more about the implementation status of the
PSM program.
PSM Focus Group
MOC Form
Prior to making modifications within a PSM covered
process area, a detailed review of the proposed changes
must be completed by a team knowledgeable on the
unit operations.
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It was April 2014, when the newly formed
PSM Focus Group met for the first time to
begin developing one of the most
comprehensive health and safety programs
within the University (see the April 2015 Issue
for additional information on the PSM Focus
Group). From that starting point the
members crafted a 17 Element program
integrating existing activities within the
University to build on previous successes.
As of February 2015 all elements of the
program have been officially launched,
however, due to the complexity of certain
elements, implementation status varies.
Several elements have been fully
implemented including:
elements anticipated to be fully
implemented? This is a great question!
The program elements that are in various
phases of implementation include activities
that require the collection and development
of specific unit operational data. A couple
examples include the development of
numerous Operating Procedures which
includes routine maintenance activities (e.g.
replacing the oil on a compressor) and
detailed Preventive Maintenance (PM)
schedules. Although PM schedules are well
understood and practiced, getting that
existing knowledge and information into the
Facility Asset Management (FAM) software
(aka – Maximo) takes time and resources. In
addition, certain equipment information
must be collected from various sources and
consolidated. This includes complete and
accurate Piping & Instrumentation Diagrams
or P&IDs. Again it takes time to pull this data
into the appropriate form that is easily
retrievable by individuals requiring that data,
including the equipment operators. Efforts
continue within all the covered process areas
to gather this information.
What’s Next?
Maintenance Activities
Prior to beginning a maintenance activity within a PSM
covered process area – consider if it triggers an MOC?
PSM – BY THE NUMBERS
3
Number of unit operations or processes currently
covered by the PSM Program within the University.
> 200
Total Number of Focus Group & Sub-Group hours
committed by members to develop the University PSM
Program.
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
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Management Systems
Contractor Management
Management of Change
Incident Investigation
Emergency Preparedness
Maintenance Systems
Pre-Startup Safety Reviews
Compliance Audits
The above elements cover the on-going
evaluation of safe operations during nonroutine activities within covered process
areas. For example during maintenance
activities, making enhancements to existing
operations (procedural or equipment), or
evaluating failures within the covered
process – including management system
failures. Implementation of these elements
also include the use of the Management of
Change (MOC) form, the Process Safety
Incident Report form, Safe Work Permit,
PSM Contractor Qualification Questionnaire
form, Pre-Startup Safety Review (PSSR)
Checklist, PSM Hazardous Line Opening
Permit, and a defined Document Control
Management System.
As we approach the end of 2015, you may be
asking yourself - when are the other program
The PSM program was developed to
implement a structured management system
to ensure critical assets are managed and
operated within safe limits to minimize the
likelihood of a release that could lead to a
fire, explosion, exposure, or business
interruption. As additional unit operations
are identified within the University, they may
become covered by the PSM program. This
is certainly a journey that has only begun
with the overall objective to identify, control
and reduce process risks associated with
critical operations.
Please contact the EHS department to learn
more about the status of the PSM program
implementation within the University.
PRESIDENT EXECUTIVE ORDER - 13650
Responding to catastrophic chemical facility
incidents, President Obama issued an Executive
Order – “Improving Chemical Facility Safety and
Security”. To obtain additional information,
please use the following link:
https://www.osha.gov/chemicalexecutiveorder/