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Process Hazard Analysis

A process hazard analysis (PHA) is a systematic evaluation of potential hazards in a process. It identifies safety and health effects from possible failures. A PHA team analyzes risks from fires, explosions, chemical releases, and spills. The analysis focuses on equipment, instrumentation, human factors, and external risks that could impact the process. The goal is to improve safety and reduce risks of unplanned chemical releases.

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106 views2 pages

Process Hazard Analysis

A process hazard analysis (PHA) is a systematic evaluation of potential hazards in a process. It identifies safety and health effects from possible failures. A PHA team analyzes risks from fires, explosions, chemical releases, and spills. The analysis focuses on equipment, instrumentation, human factors, and external risks that could impact the process. The goal is to improve safety and reduce risks of unplanned chemical releases.

Uploaded by

Sarath C
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Process Hazard Analysis

A process hazard analysis (PHA) is a set of organized and systematic assessments of the
potential hazards associated with an industrial process. A PHA provides information intended to assist
managers and employees in making decisions for improving safety and reducing the consequences of
unwanted or unplanned releases of hazardous chemicals. A PHA is directed toward analyzing potential
causes and consequences of fires, explosions, releases of toxic or flammable chemicals and major spills
of hazardous chemicals, and it focuses on equipment, instrumentation, utilities, human actions, and
external factors that might impact the process.

After you’ve determined your methodology, you should ensure your PHA addresses the following seven
items outlined by OSHA:
1. The hazards of the process
2. The identification of any previous incident that had a likely potential for catastrophic
consequences in the workplace
3. Engineering/administrative controls related to hazards, such as the application of detection
methods for early warning of chemical releases (Acceptable detection methods might include
process monitoring and control instrumentation with alarms, and detection hardware such as
hydrocarbon sensors)
4. Consequences of failure of engineering and administrative controls
5. Facility siting (the location of various components within the facility)
6. Human factors
7. A qualitative evaluation covering the range of possible safety and health effects on employees
stemming from control failures in the workplace
A Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) team includes process safety specialist, engineers, operators,
supervisors and other workers who have knowledge of the standards, codes, specifications and
regulations which apply to the process being studied.
A PHA analyzes potential causes and consequences of:
 Fires, Explosions
 Releases of toxic or flammable chemicals
 Major spills of hazardous chemicals
A PHA focuses specifically on:
 Equipment
 Instrumentation
 Utilities
 Human actions
 External factors that might affect the process
Hazard and operability study

A hazard and operability study (HAZOP) is a structured and systematic examination of a


complex planned or existing process or operation in order to identify and evaluate problems that may
represent risks to personnel or equipment. The intention of performing a HAZOP is to review the design
to pick up design and engineering issues that may otherwise not have been found. The technique is
based on breaking the overall complex design of the process into a number of simpler sections called
'nodes' which are then individually reviewed. It is carried out by a suitably experienced multi-disciplinary
team (HAZOP) during a series of meetings. The HAZOP technique is qualitative, and aims to stimulate
the imagination of participants to identify potential hazards and operability problems. Structure and
direction are given to the review process by applying standardised guide-word prompts to the review of
each node.
HAZOP, or a Hazard and Operability Study, is a systematic way to identify possible hazards in a
work process. In this approach, the process is broken down into steps, and every variation in work
parameters is considered for each step, to see what could go wrong. HAZOP’s meticulous approach is
commonly used with chemical production and piping systems, where miles of pipes and numerous
containers can cause logistical headaches.

Objective of carrying out a HAZOP study:

 To check a design
 To decide whether and where to build
 To decide whether to buy a piece of equipment
 To obtain a list of questions to put to a supplier
 To check running instructions
 To improve the safety of existing facilities

A Hazard and Operability Study systematically investigates each element in a process. The goal is to find
potential situations that would cause that element to pose a hazard or limit the operability of the process
as a whole. There are four basic steps to the process:

1. Forming a HAZOP team


2. Identifying the elements of the system
3. Considering possible variations in operating parameters
4. Identifying any hazards or failure points

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