Integrate plant reliability efforts with mechanical integrity

Abstract

Maintenance ensures the reliability of the equipment to meet operation's demands. Operations ensure the production of sufficient and high quality product. Engineering designs and installs equipment that minimizes risk. Safety ensures that the engineering and administrative controls are in place to minimize that risk. This article presents a concept that combines these reliability and safety efforts, such that the maintenance, operations, engineering and safety groups speak the same language to minimize the overall business risk. This proposed approach combines existing plant reliability efforts with several Process Safety Management elements. The basic steps include identifying safety‐critical equipment, ensuring accurate and up‐to‐date Process Safety Information (PSI), establishing the mechanical integrity (MI) Program, establishing Planned Maintenance (PM) programs, and creating equipment‐specific maintenance procedures. The resultant mechanical integrity quality assurance (MI QA) program combines equipment reliability and operational integrity efforts to ensure that the equipment is properly designed (via PSI), fabricated as designed (via PSI and MI), and installed as designed (via Pre‐Start‐up Safety Reviews). The MI QA program also ensures that the equipment is operated and maintained as designed by trained personnel. Some benefits include being able to: (1) share and document best MI and PM practices between different sites; (2) focus limited PM‐related resources on the process safety‐critical equipment; and (3) help monitor the essential reliability efforts to ensure continued safe operation. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2011

Chinese process safety management core elements and control measures

“…Complete PSI should include equipment safety information, material risk information, and process technical information. Main problems and suggestions in China are as follows : PSI is not complete, it is likely to broaden channels via equipment purchase, technology provider, the process feedback and the third party evaluation, and so forth. Process safety files are not complete. In order to facilitate the creation of corresponding documents, the link between PSI and other elements will be strengthened by the implementation of a safety information management system. PSI is out of date.…”

“…Complete PSI should include equipment safety information, material risk information, and process technical information. Main problems and suggestions in China are as follows [17]: a. PSI is not complete, it is likely to broaden channels via equipment purchase, technology provider, the process feedback and the third party evaluation, and so forth. b.…”

A case study—combining incident investigation approaches to identify system‐related root causes

“…For this case study, the hindsight bias tool proposed by Dekker, a timeline approach is shown schematically in Figure 5 using a mechanical integrity matrix [19]. This matrix represents a “life cycle” systems approach that covers the design, fabrication, inspection, installation, operation, and maintenance aspects required to reduce the risks to people, the environment, and the business [12].…”

“… The hindsight bias decision timeline “tool” (based on a mechanical integrity process matrix [19]). [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at wileyonlinelibrary.com. ]…”

Interrelations between process safety management elements

“…Interrelations of MI element[4,5,10,17,22]. ITPM, and equipment deficiency information should be accessible to all affected plant personnel PSIThe ITPM procedures and program relies heavily on the data from PSI specifically RAGAGEP PSI is referred for the development of training module for maintenance personnel PHA…”