Process Safety Fundamentals
Preventing fires, explosions and toxic releases in process plants: lessons from major accidents, material hazards and consequence estimates, OSHA Process Safety Management and the EPA Risk Management Program, HAZOP, LOPA & bow-ties, relief and safety instrumented systems (IEC 61511), management of change, mechanical integrity, alarms and human factors, culture and metrics, with a capstone hazard analysis of a small chemical unit.
HSE-311 12 lessons · 5 h 25 min
Offered by HSM University · Safety Training
This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.
What you'll learn
- Distinguish process safety from personal safety and classify process safety events using leading and lagging indicators.
- Explain the causes and lessons of major process accidents and identify the common organizational threads behind them.
- Interpret flammability, reactivity and toxicity data for process materials and recognize conditions that lead to runaway reactions.
- Describe how fires, explosions and toxic releases develop and estimate their effects with simple consequence models.
- Explain the structure of process safety management systems, including OSHA Process Safety Management, the EPA Risk Management Program and state programs.
- Lead or take part in hazard identification using checklists, what-if analysis and HAZOP, and apply inherently safer design principles.
- Assess scenario risk using LOPA, fault trees, event trees and bow-tie diagrams against tolerable risk criteria.
- Select and evaluate safeguards, including pressure relief and safety instrumented functions under IEC 61511, and control bypasses.
- Apply management of change, including temporary and organizational changes, and carry out a pre-startup safety review.
- Plan mechanical integrity activities using damage mechanisms, risk-based inspection, remaining life and integrity operating windows.
- Improve operating discipline through good procedures, shift handover, fatigue management, alarm management and controls matched to error types.
- Evaluate process safety culture and metrics and carry out a process hazard analysis and safeguard review for a small chemical unit.
Course content
12 lessons · 5 h 25 min total · final exam
- 1 Process safety versus personal safety 28 min · quiz
- 2 Lessons from major accidents 29 min · quiz
- 3 Hazards of process materials: flammability, reactivity and toxicity 28 min · quiz
- 4 Fires, explosions and toxic releases 27 min · quiz
- 5 Process safety management systems and the law 27 min · quiz
- 6 Hazard identification: checklists, what-if and HAZOP 27 min · quiz
- 7 Risk assessment: LOPA, fault trees, event trees and bow-ties 25 min · quiz
- 8 Safeguards and safety instrumented systems 25 min · quiz
- 9 Management of change and pre-startup safety review 30 min · quiz
- 10 Mechanical integrity and inspection 25 min · quiz
- 11 Operating discipline, procedures, alarms and human factors 27 min · quiz
- 12 Process safety culture, leadership and metrics, and capstone: a process hazard analysis and safeguard review for a small chemical unit 27 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
Preventing fires, explosions and toxic releases in process plants: lessons from major accidents, material hazards and consequence estimates, OSHA Process Safety Management and the EPA Risk Management Program, HAZOP, LOPA & bow-ties, relief and safety instrumented systems (IEC 61511), management of change, mechanical integrity, alarms and human factors, culture and metrics, with a capstone hazard analysis of a small chemical unit.