Essential Practices for Process Safety Culture-book HSSE WORLD

Essential Practices for Creating, Strengthening, and Sustaining Process Safety Culture by American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS). This book offers several definitions of process safety culture. Even though there may be some disagreement about a report of process safety culture, when you visit a facility you very quickly get a sense of how strong a positive process safety culture is to the facility. You will know it when you see it. As you read this book you will learn many aspects of how to develop a sound process safety culture. From my experience, a strong process safety culture must start with leadership. ( Also Read: The Process and Benefits of Process Safety

This book offers several definitions of process safety culture. Even though there may be some disagreement about a definition of process safety culture, when you visit a facility you very quickly
get a sense of how important a positive process safety culture is to the facility. You will know it when you see it. From the first moment when you encounter a security guard or a receptionist to a tour of a control room, you can quickly gauge the culture. Are process safety metrics displayed around the plant? Are operators communicating with each other in a professional manner? Is the senior manager well versed in the hazards of the operation

As you read this book you will learn many aspects of how to develop a sound process safety culture. From my experience, a strong process safety culture must start with leadership. By leadership, I mean everyone in a leadership position from the chairman of the board to the supervisor on the shop floor. They must set an example. It starts with leadership being aware of the hazards in their processes and putting in place the organization and expertise to control those hazards. Just as important, the senior leadership must communicate his or her concerns about the need for an effective process safety program. These concerns should be an ongoing part of senior leadership’s communications with the organization. This is the way to ensure the establishment of a culture of process safety across the organization.

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Culture: When used alone in this book, the term culture specifically means process safety culture, and the two terms are used interchangeably. When used to refer to other types of corporate culture, the specific type of culture will be specified, e.g.
business culture.
Element Names: Process safety element names have been taken from CCPS Guidelines for Risk Based Process Safety. When alternative names are in common use, both the RBPS name and the common name are used, e.g., HIRA/PHA.
Operations: The full spectrum of tasks and activities involved in running a facility, including process operation, maintenance, engineering, construction, and purchasing.
Operator: An individual who runs the process from the control
room and/or the field. Process safety: A disciplined framework for managing the integrity of operating systems and processes handling hazardous substances by applying good design principles, engineering, and operating practices. It deals with the prevention and control of incidents that have the potential to release hazardous materials or energy. Such incidents can cause toxic effects, fire, or explosion and could ultimately result in serious injuries, property damage, lost production, and environmental impact.

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Process safety management system (PSMS) : A management system for implementing process safety. PSMSs include Risk Based on Process Safety (RBPS) as defined by CCPS, the many PSMSs developed by companies to suit their specific requirements, PSMSs specified by regulations, and others.

References to process safety culture core principles: Throughout the book, the names of the core principles of process safety culture are typeset in italics. Italics are also used when the context requires use of different syntax, including the negative forms, such as “They allowed deviance to be normalized, leading to…”
Should vs. must and shall: The term should be used throughout the book, refers to actions or guidance that are recommended or presented as options, but not mandatory. The pursuit of a process safety culture is very personal, and therefore a single approach cannot be mandated. The terms must and shall, commonly used in voluntary consensus standards and regulations, appear in this book only when quoting other sources. Quotes are offered only to provide perspective, and their use in this book does not mean that the authors consider the quoted text to be mandatory.

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