Abstract
Guidance on best practice for Process Safety exists in the form of HSE documents and literature from the Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG), but in general the high hazard industry’s approach to it has been somewhat disjointed. In order to address this, HFL Risk Services, together with the Chemical Industries Association and the National Skills Academy for the Process Industries embarked on what was the first ever Process Safety Management benchmarking programme for UK COMAH sites. The focus of the benchmarking programme was Asset Integrity Management, one of the most fundamental aspects of an effective PSM system and a topic that is of concern on account of the continuing use of ageing plant. Further studies were later carried out across Europe, independently of the UK stakeholders, with 18 sites taking part in all. Whilst is it recognised that countries may operate under differing regulatory requirements and that sites may have differing cultures it emerged that, irrespective of geography or language, the same safety issues arose within benchmarked sites in each of the separate global production plants. The challenge for any dispersed global organisation is to operate a world class process safety management system appropriate for all sites regardless of geographical location or language.
It was clear from the research that although there were several instances of world class performance in terms of PSM, there were weaknesses in other areas, most notably Process Safety Leadership.
This paper examines the key results of the benchmarking programmes, their implications for the chemical industry as a whole and provides examples of best practice in implementing and sustaining effective safety management system.
