Management discipline

2015

Proc. Safety Prog.

Process safety management systems should be in place to ensure repeatability in operations. A good system consists of higher level procedures that describe what to do. At the plant level, the management system describes who does the activity and how it is done. Following procedures leads to predictability in operations. In 1996, Celanese had established a rigorous management system that consisted of 21 elements of process safety. However, before the elements could be fully implanted globally, failure to rigorously apply several elements led to an explosion in our Cangrejera facility resulting in two fatalities. This article discusses the management system failures of conduct of operations elements, safe operating limits, standard operating procedures and training, and critical safety equipment management and how each failed due to a common weakness of management systems. An overview of the Celanese Process Safety Lessons Learned program is presented as our way of embedding knowledge of this and other incidents in our culture to prevent similar incidents in the future.

“…COO reduces the likelihood of human error. The term operating discipline is often used to describe how to bring a consistent approach to various operations to minimize errors .…”

Section: Primary Causesmentioning

confidence: 99%

1996 amines plant explosion

2015

Proc. Safety Prog.

“…If an operator does not know with certainty where the material will travel during a transfer, then the line must be physically inspected prior to the transfer. There are, however, several OD topics that help the operator understand with certainty the current state of equipment and flow of materials .…”

Section: Od Topics For Energy Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Walk the Line

Process Safety Progress

2014

Self Cite

Analysis of incident and event sharing data from sources such as the American Fuels and Petrochemical Manufacturers process safety portal indicate that a large number of process safety incidents have control of energy causes. The most fundamental responsibility of the process plant operator is to control the energy between any two points in the process. Failure to control this energy due to improper line-up can lead to inadvertent mixing, challenges to safe operating limits, and loss of primary containment (LOPC). This article discusses a variety of practical conduct of operations topics that help the process operator bring consistency to operation in order to minimize line-up errors and the process safety incidents that result from them. The concepts are: setting and reinforcing the expectation for energy control and establishing operational discipline (OD) and operational readiness. The OD topics discussed are: improved communication through shift notes, shift instructions, and operator evaluation, returning equipment to operation from maintenance, line labeling, and commissioning and process safety start-up review activities. A brief case study is presented that discusses results from these activitiescollectively called Walk the Line. Walk the line represents a culture change for operations where understanding of energy control each time a change is made in the process eliminates LOPC incidents.

“…These COO activities are often called engineering discipline (ED). Engineers or technical people bring predictability to OD by checking the human performance and acting on that data .…”

Section: Management Discipline Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to acting on the data, managers should be planning for continuous improvement based on that data. Management discipline (MD) describes the activities that managers do to act on data and plan for continuous improvement in COO .…”

Section: Management Discipline Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Management discipline: Defining a process safety strategy

2013

Proc. Safety Prog.

Self Cite

We often associate operational discipline with conduct of operations and define discipline as the tools to achieve repeatable results. While discipline in operations is primarily focused on the operator, engineers, and management contribute to the success in achieving consistent results. A Plan‐Do‐Check‐Act model, or Deming Cycle, can be used to represent the relationship among operational, engineering, and management disciplines. The management discipline part of the cycle involves making decisions (act) based on the output of the operations, and planning for success. This article describes a modified strategic business analysis (SBA) planning tool that managers can apply to process safety in order to achieve a desired vision and objective. Too often we are reactive to incidents and create activity lists from year to year in order to achieve objectives and goals. The process safety SBA tool is a structured approach of data analysis. It helps us to understand the company's internal and external environment in order to set strategic alternatives that will bring a company from its present state to the desired future state. By planning for and following a strategy, consistency in operations is achieved and repeatable results can be obtained. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 33: 162–165, 2014