System Safety for the 21st Century, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 25Process Safety Reviews

INTRODUCTION

In everyday life, while we usually trust people who work for us to perform professionally and do their jobs, we also check that those job tasks are done correctly and to our satisfaction. That’s what audits are about, only in a more formal manner. This chapter discusses the Process Safety Management (PSM)/Risk Management Program (RMP) requirement (U.S. Department of Labor 1992; U.S. EPA 1996) to perform audits of covered processes to ensure that they are adequately operating. After the basics are defined, after requirements are understood, and after the PSM/RMP system has been developed, it is time to perform internal reviews and prepare for external reviews.

Topics addressed in this chapter include audit purpose, QA interface, internal and external audits, conduct of audits, lessons learned, and information about the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. Conduct of audits will include a section on the mechanics of an individual audit that should be most helpful during the periodic review process.

Purpose

Audits or some equivalent means of operational reviews are an important segment of any quality assurance program. They provide feedback to management and are the means of ensuring a continuous improvement of the system and overall facility. In the context of audits for process safety, there is a close linkage with quality assurance. Quality assurance encompasses the spectrum of not only ensuring that the requirements ...