Introduction to Process Safety for Managers

8 CPD hours Process safety relates to the management and control of risks from process hazards such as fires, explosions and releases of toxic materials. These are the “major accident hazards” covered by the UK COMAHControl of Major Accident Hazards Regulations regulations. But how do we achieve process safety in practice?

This course is a 1-day introduction to process safety. It is intended for managers and team leaders who have responsibility for process safety, as well as occupational safety professionals who are moving into process safety or suddenly find process safety responsibilities thrust upon them!

This training is classroom or online based with group and individual exercises designed to explore process safety in more detail and help delegates to relate the course content to their own situations and working environments.

Course Content

Introduction

What is Safety?
Hazard and Risk.
The difference between process safety and occupational safety.
Accident case studies - individual and group exercise.
The commercial and legal importance of process safety.

UK regulatory framework

UK process safety legislation within the context of the Health & Safety at Work act.
Process Risk Assessment & HazOp Hazard and Operability Study Study.
The Hierarchy of controls and the importance of “inherently safer design”.
Process safeguards and the layer of protection concept.

An Introduction to The COMAH Regulations

The requirements of COMAH.
The concept of ALARP.

The management of flammable atmospheres - an introduction to DSEARDangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations and ATEX The European ATmosphere EXplosible" directives

The Principles of Process Safety Management

Frameworks for Process Safety Management.
Process Safety Culture.
- Human factors in process safety.
Process Safety Leadership.
Leading and Lagging Indicators.
- Leading and lagging indicators group exercise.
The role of managers and team leaders in process safety management.
- The journey towards process safety maturity within an organization.

Course Conclusion

Who should attend

Site, operations and production managers who have responsibility for ensuring process safety on their sites.
Project and engineering managers on high-hazard sites.
Occupational safety professionals moving into process safety or taking on process safety management responsibilities.
Anybody who wants to gain an overview of process safety in the chemical industry, and how to achieve it.

Pre qualification

This course assumes no-prior knowledge of process safety. However, it is assumed that delegates will already have experience of working within the chemical or manufacturing industry, for example operations personnel or engineers recently promoted to management roles.

Please note that this course is intended within a UK context and will refer to UK legislation and UK accepted methods of achieving process safety. However, it is based on widely accepted principles of process safety management which are applicable worldwide.

After this Workshop

After this Workshop you will be able to

Explain what process safety is, why it is important, and how it can be achieved.
Describe typical major accident hazards and their consequences – what can go wrong on chemical plants, and how to prevent that.
Describe the regulatory framework for process safety within the UK
Explain the importance of inherently safer design and the layer of protection concept within process safety.
Describe the purpose of a HazOp study and how it works
Explain the main elements of effective process safety management system
Assess the maturity of an organisation with respect to process safety management

What you will get

The course material in printed format.
A Certificate of Attendance for each delegate that attends the full course.

Course options

Classroom

The Course is delivered over 1-day in public classroom sessions.

In-House

The course is delivered at a client's premises as a closed course, and can be customized to suit your needs. Please contact us for more information.

Live Online

The Course is delivered as 2 x 4 hours sessions (usually mornings).

About the Trainer

David Sparkes

This course is led by David Sparkes, who is also Technical Director of Method Process Safety Ltd. He is an experienced process safety engineer, and a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers. David is also registered with the IChemE as a Professional Process Safety Engineer (PPSE) and is a Member of the Safety and Reliability Society (SaRS).