Process Safety Performance Indicators

he process industry has a long history of major incidents that are well-publicised with many valuable lessons to be learned. It has been  recognised that the focus on personal safety is one side of preventing accidents. However, a major incident can cause as much harm  to people in an instant as all the injuries that have been avoided in a decade of personal safety programmes. The underlying causes of  major incidents are often related to failures in what is commonly known as “process safety management”

As with any aspect of management systems, it is important to have metrics in place to understand how effectively a system is working to  deliver its objective. The metrics for process safety management systems are commonly called “process safety performance indicators”  (PSPIs).

PSPIs can be separated into leading and lagging indicators; leading indicators being those that precede a failure of the process safety  management system and lagging indicators being those that follow a failure of the process safety management system. For example, a  measurement of the completion of pressure safety valve (PSV) testing would be a leading indicator and the number of times PSVs fail to  lift at the set pressure (in use or during testing) would be a corresponding lagging indicator.

PSPIs should be tailored to show how well the relevant barriers are being maintained (a leading indication) and how well they are working  (a lagging indication). To strengthen safety barriers and prevent major incidents from occurring at all, it is necessary to collect, collate and  analyse data from less severe incidents and shortfalls in management system performance. Process Safety practitioners are advised to  select the right KPIs for each phase to prevent major incidents and mitigation of risks.

This course, run by an internationally acclaimed process safety professional and aimed at senior managers, production, reliability and  safety personnel will provide a comprehensive coverage of process safety KPIs, including underpinning theory, practical tools and  processes, how to measure process safety, establishing an effective process safety culture and managing process safety risks.