PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT EHS COMMUNICATOR
Issue 6
2
Process
Safety
Management
EHS
Communicator
December 2015
PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT
IN THIS ISSUE
December 2014
PSM Steering Committee
This issue represents the 6th 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 Steering Committee
A Process Safety Management (PSM)
Steering Committee was recently formed
within the University. The group consists of
high level program stakeholders and/or
experts within the University to consult with
on key PSM issues, review objectives and
assess overall program effectiveness. Please
continue reading to learn more about this
important group.
The origins of the PSM Steering Committee
goes back to the PSM Focus Group that was
created in early 2014 (see April 2015
Communicator for additional information –
Issue 3). They were charged with developing
the PSM Program and implementation
schedule which was accomplished in August
2015. The Focus Group members however,
recognized the on-going requirement to
have a central core group engaged with
PSM Steering Committee
Background information on the University’s new PSM
Steering Committee
Page 1
various aspects of the University’s
developing PSM Program (e.g. assessing new
Covered Process Areas, reviewing metrics,
evaluating implementation status, etc.). It
was through that need that the PSM Steering
Committee was born. Based on their unique
understanding of the PSM Program, many of
the PSM Focus Group members transitioned
over to the Steering Committee.
The group held their first meeting in
November and their first order of business
was to develop the PSM Steering Committee
Charter outlining the Mission Statement,
member Responsibilities and Role within the
group. The group also raised an existing unit
operation that should be evaluated for
coverage under the PSM Program. A
Steering Committee session will be
scheduled in 1Q16 to review the details on
the existing equipment including risk/control
measures.
Additional information on the Steering
Committee activities will be provided in
upcoming Process Safety Management EHS Communicator issues. In addition,
check the EHS webpage after the New Year
for more information on the PSM Steering
Committee including membership and the
finalized Charter.
New Covered Process
The University has identified a new Covered Process
within the PSM Program
Page 2
Operating Procedures
Overview of the Operating Procedures Element within
the PSM Program.
Page 2
PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT EHS COMMUNICATOR | Issue 6
MAINTENANCE SYSTEMS
New PSM Covered Process
One of the last acts of the PSM Focus Group
in 2015 was to evaluate an existing unit
operation within the University’s Risk Matrix
Assessment process. The unit operation was
the Effluent Decontamination System (EDS)
used in support of the Pell Laboratory.
Although the equipment is well designed and
has many safe guards built into its operation,
the Focus Group believed there were some
benefits to including it within the PSM
Program.
Hazardous Line Opening Permit
Prior to opening any equipment or lines that contain a
hazardous material, the Hazardous Line Opening (HLO)
Permit must be completed.
Prior to beginning a maintenance activity within a PSM
covered process area – consider if it triggers an HLO
Permit.
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Initial / Subsequent Start-Up
Normal Operations
Temporary Operations
Emergency Operations
Emergency Shutdown
Normal Shutdown
Routine Maintenance Activities
(defined by equipment operators)
PSM – BY THE NUMBERS
15
Number of current members of the University’s PSM
Steering Committee.
5
Number of PSM Metrics established and tracked for
2015 and 2016.
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
EDS Operation
A small team has recently begun to outline
the implementation process for including the
EDS equipment and operations within the
PSM Program. This activity is being led by
the Facility personnel and the OPP
Technicians involved with the equipment.
With the addition of the EDS process, this
brings the total number of University PSM
Covered Processes to three (3).
Operating Procedures
To ensure operations are performed in a
consistent, safe and efficient manner,
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
provide written guidance to authorized
employees on how equipment shall be
operated. At a minimum, the following
procedures are required for PSM covered
process areas:
Maintenance Activities
2
Safety and Health considerations should be
outlined within the written procedures to
provide information to the operator on
associated hazards and precautions
necessary to prevent exposure including
engineering controls, administrative controls
and personal protective equipment. In
addition, any special unique hazards
identified for a specific step within the
procedure should be identified.
How are SOP’s Used?
Although the first step is to develop accurate
operating procedures, the documents must
be readily available to those individuals that
operate the equipment. Employees must be
aware, understand and be able to easily
locate the written procedures covered under
this element. This will be accomplished
through appropriate training programs and
must occur prior to starting up a new covered
process area. In addition, refresher training
must occur at least every three (3) years.
New employees (newly hired or transfers) to
the covered process area will be trained on all
appropriate procedures prior to operating
the specific equipment without direct
supervision.
Operating procedures are also important
parts of other elements within the PSM
program. Operating procedures are required
to be available to the Process Hazard
Analysis (PHA) team prior to conducting their
assessment (PHA – Element #3). As
referenced earlier, procedures should be
incorporated into employee training
requirements (Element #9).
Since operating procedures represent a
critical part of the covered process, proposed
modifications to the written procedure must
go through the Management of Change
(MOC – Element #14) requirements.
Basically, the proposed revisions are
reviewed by a team of individuals familiar
with the process and approval is required
prior to updating the document.
Please contact the EHS department to learn
more about PSM Operating Procedures.
CENTER FOR CHEMICAL PROCESS SAFETY
Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) is a
technical workgroup of AIChE to advance
process safety globally. To view a brief video
highlighting their efforts over the last 30 years,
please follow the link below:
http://www.aiche.org/ccps/safety