Handbook for Process Safety in Laboratories and Pilot Plants

1 Purpose and Scope

1.1 Purpose

The purpose of this book is to help organizations better control hazards and risks in Laboratories and Pilot Plants (LAPPs). Hazards control starts with hazards identification, consequence evaluation, likelihood estimation and then risk analysis and assessment. This book provides methods for determining the controls needed to manage the risk in a LAPP. For example, when designing, operating, maintaining, and changing experimental and testing equipment, the CCPS Risk Based Process Safety (RBPS) concepts and related good management practices can be applied to help reduce the LAPP's risk. In particular, this book shows how to prevent LAPP incidents and helps LAPP staff identify the specific engineered and administrative controls that are needed to prevent the loss of control of hazardous materials and stored energies. Since the overall risk includes the impact of the release, this book also identifies the controls can be used to help reduce the impact of a release if it occurs.

This book is intended to supplement available information and guidance for identifying the hazards, controlling the risks, and managing process safety in LAPPs. It describes the proven risk management systems and approaches that have evolved at industrial facilities over since the 1980's. These industrial practices help eliminate or reduce many of the causes and impact of process safety incidents. The factors that were weak or missing altogether, identified as contributors ...