Process Safety Consulting
Hazop and Lopa and Construction Safety
OUR large team of expert HAZOP leaders has facilitated hundreds of HAZOP based PHA's worldwide, in virtually all sectors of the process and processing industries. Our HAZOP leaders are chemical and/or process engineers with a high level of process safety expertise and knowledge, and many years of experience leading HAZOPs in industry and as consultants.
Industry background
Our facilitate HAZOPs, and other types of PHAs, in a large variety of languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic and Hindi. Our worldwide presence helps ensure intimate knowledge of local codes, standards and cultures. Combined with our expertise in process safety engineering and process safety data, Jwalainc provides a HAZOP capability unrivalled in our market.
Moreover, through the Jwalainc Process Safety Academy, we train and qualify a large number of HAZOP & LOPA leaders every year. We provide HAZOP leader training through our public-enrollment courses as well as private company training, which can be tailored to our client's specific needs.
The Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) analysis methodology is a systematic team-based Process Hazards Analysis (PHA) technique that can be used to effectively identify and analyze the risks of potentially hazardous process operations. The HAZOP methodology is the most widely used PHA technique in the chemical, pharmaceutical, oil & gas and nuclear industries worldwide. It is used during the design stages of a new process or project, for major process modifications and for periodic review of existing operations.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recognize the HAZOP technique as an acceptable methodology for conducting PHA's of processes covered by the OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) standard (Title 29, CFR Part 1910.119). Other regulators around the world also accept the HAZOP methodology as appropriate for analyzing the existing and potential hazards of a complex process that involves a highly hazardous substance.
In practice, the quality of a HAZOP is influenced by the ability of the HAZOP Leader to ask the appropriate questions to ensure the team identifies all the hazards of the process being studied, not only the most obvious hazards. This ability is based on the Leader's experience, both with the HAZOP technique and the process being analyzed.
Our approach
Our approach is to use a semi-quantitative HAZOP that incorporates Layers of Protection Analysis (LOPA) to assess the reliability and number of risk reduction measures (safeguards). Our emphasis is to prevent the release of hazardous materials, followed by mitigation of the consequences should a release occur.
The general steps involved in conducting a HAZOP include:
- A review of the available Process Safety Information (PSI) and identification of missing PSI that is required to support the HAZOP.
PSI includes:
- Hazardous materials properties
- Process operation, including procedures
- Process & instrumentation drawings (P&IDs)
- Equipment design specifications
- Pressure relief systems specifications
- A review of the Risk Ranking Methodology that will be used, including failure frequencies, conditional probabilities, and Safeguard Probability of Failure on Demand (PFD).
During the HAZOP sessions, the team uses the PSI to evaluate the consequences of process deviations from normal operation, assuming existing safeguards do not operate as intended.
Consequences can be further evaluated using our expertise in consequence modeling with specialist software such as PHAST and Effects.
LOPA Services
Our LOPA methodology, which is often an extension of HAZOP, involves analyzing the layers of protection for a HAZOP's high risk scenarios. This includes identification of separate initiating event frequencies and known reliabilities, including documented failure frequencies; and determination of the probability of Failure on Demand of a process existing safeguards and then comparing it to risk tolerance criteria that have been established by the operating company.
After the team-based HAZOP or LOPA analysis is completed, a comprehensive study report is prepared to serve as a record of the completed analysis, including of the potential risks of a process with existing safeguards and recommendations for additional safeguards.
OUR Safety Engineers can provide auditing of all aspects of your Process Safety Management (PSM), Risk Management Plan (RMP), and New Jersey Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act (NJTCPA) programs. The audits can be performed to determine conformance to OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Standard (29 CFR 1910.119), Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals, EPA's risk management rule (40 CFR Part 68), Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions, the NJTCPA Consolidated Rule, or your corporate process safety standards and programs.