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Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
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Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations The ABB Group
ABB is a global leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact.
Either way, the user gains many of the same integration benefits, including common operator interface and engineering tools, plant-wide sequence-of-events (SOE) lists for consolidated root cause analysis, as well as centralized historian and data archiving.
Plant Network, ERP, CMMS... System Servers Batch and IM Workplace(s) Asset Optimization Workplace(s) Engineering Workplace(s)
System Network (optionally redundant)
Operator Workplace(s)
Combined BPCS (Basic Process Control System) and Safety High Integrity Controller(s) S800 I/O w. High Integrity Module(s)
Safety High Integrity Controller(s) Safeguard 400 Series S800 I/O w. High Integrity Module(s)
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Solenoid valve
Solenoid valve
Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
One illustration of governments awareness of S84 appeared in the $361,500 fine levied by the U.S. Labor Departments Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) against Formosa Plastics of Illiopolis, IL. Among the 45 serious violations alleged by OSHA, several referenced Formosas failure to comply with recognized good engineering practices such as ANSI/ISA S84. (See this article online for a link to the OSHA citations document regarding Formosa Plastics.)
Where To Focus
The probability a device will fail on demand (PFD) increases over time. However, following verification by another full-proof test that the device
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is working correctly, it returns to its original reliability level. Increasing the frequency of full-proof tests lowers PFDAVG and provides two options: 1) use the same device to meet a higher safety level (SIL); 2) use a less-expensive device to achieve the same SIL. When engineers and technicians begin learning about SISs, they often jump to the conclusion that triple or quadruple redundant logic solvers are required. while maintaining the required PFDAVG. Failure rates and failure modes of components; Installed instrumentation; Redundancy; Voting; Diagnostic coverage; and Testing frequency. performance doesnt degrade over time. Emerson Process Managements Asset Management Solution (AMS) software to improve SIS device diagnostic coverage. Exida reported that the tested design can be effective in extending device diagnostic coverage andmeet many IEC 61511 requirements as long as: AMS software is set up with appropriate security for passwords and privileges; Procedures are established and documented to ensure proper usage of the HART handheld communicator; and Multiplexer failure rates are accounted for in the SIS design. The third option for reducing PFD is to increase testing frequency for devices.
Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
Reducing PFD
There are essentially three ways to reduce the probability an SIS will fail on demand: Install double, triple, and quadruple devices; Increase device diagnostic coverage; and Increase the frequency at which devices are tested.
Today, extending diagnostic coverage is easier and more costeffective with the abundance of devices that offer embedded diagnostics combined with asset management. However, when introducing such solutions as part of an SIS solution, special precautions are required. However, when data such as OREDA (Offshore REliability DAta) are examined, they learn that final control elements malfunction 50% of the time, sensors malfunction 42% of the time, and logic solvers malfunction only 8% of the time. These facts dont relieve anyone of the responsibility of selecting and installing the appropriate logic solver, but they do help emphasize the importance of considering all factors influencing SIS performance. These factors include: Regular use of manual or automatwed partial-stroke valve testing can extend the time between full-proof tests The only way to ensure such factors are adequately addressed while avoiding over-engineering the solution is to establish good design criteria. That begins by conducting a risk analysis and determining the required safety integrity level (SIL) as defined within the IEC standard. (See Demand mode of operation table.) Once the required SIL is determined, the standard provides the target risk reduction factor (RRF) and the target average PFD, thus quantifying the SISs design criteria. Of course, simply designing and installing an SIS to meet defined integrity numbers isnt enough, the SIS must be maintained so that its For example, safety system experts at Exida.com examined use of multiplexers with HART communication protocol, such as those available from Pepperl+ Fuchs, in conjunction with
The graphic, Testing frequency influences PFD AVG illustrates how more frequent full-proof testing lowers PFD AVG . Readers should take note, however, that full-proof testing generally
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requires the process be shutdown or bypass lines installed. With more process facilities running longer between planned shutdowns, opportunities to conduct full-proof tests often arent available. An alternative to full-proof testing is to partially stroke safety valves not enough to cause process disruptions, but enough to verify the valve moves on demand. The graphic Benefit of partialstroke valve testing illustrates how partial stroke valve testing can extend the time between full-proof test while maintaining the required PFD AVG . solenoid valve to return to its safe position, to avoid spurious process shutdowns. Position control is most effective when using control valves and microprocessor-based smart positioners (controllers) as part of the SIS solution. Besides being able to move the valve to predetermined settings, smart positioners provide rich diagnostic coverage, such as valve travel and actuator breakaway force. Because safety valves havent typically been installed with positioners, critics of this method cite the need for additional hardware and related installation costs as major drawbacks. However, refining giant BP reports that after installing Metso Automations Neles VG800 valve controllers and ValvGuard testing and monitoring software, plant safety significantly increased and operational costs were reduced. BP also reported a very short payback period. Saudi Aramco reported similar successes on its safety valves following installation of Emersons FieldVue digital valve controllers. One of the lesser-publicized benefits of increasing diagnostic coverage and/or the testing frequency of safety valves is possible elimination of some safety valves. In some high-risk applications, its been a long-time practice to install two safety valves in series. The reason is that both valves are unlikely to fail to close on demand. However, with prudent use of redundant devices, the addition of diagnostic coverage, and increased testing frequency, some companies have eliminated one of the two safety valves, reportedly without sacrificing safety coverage. Demand mode of operation Safety integrity levels Target risk reduction factor failure on demand Target average probability of & safety availability NOTE: SIL 4 rated applications are not typically used in the process industries and the standard cautions that a single programmable safety system shouldnt be used to meet SIL 4 requirements. Source: Control Engineering with data from IEC 61511-1 Table 3 1 (9099%) 10 to 100 0.1 to 0.01 2 (9999.9%) 100 to 1,000 0.01 to 0.001 3 (99.999.99%) 1,000 to 10,000 0.001 to 0.0001 4 (>99.99%) >10,000 &0.0001
Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
Mechanical limiting is an inexpensive solution that involves installation of a mechanical device, such as a collar, valve jack, or jammer, to limit the amount of valve travel. When these devices are being used, the safety valve is unavailable. Ensuring the valve has been returned to normal service is procedure driven. The method of pulsing the electric signal to the safety valves solenoid valve is simple to implement and is very effective for on/off safety block valves. It requires limit switches (or position transmitters); adjustable, timed, pulsed outputs provided by the logic solver; and logic that forces the
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Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
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Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
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Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
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Integrated operations
An effective control system should provide customers with the means to consolidate and rationalize data from various sources seamlessly.
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Design for high performance Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
Many standards organizations and research institutes have made and continue to make valuable contributions to HMI philosophies. This knowledge has flowed into guidelines for interface design, ergonomics, situation awareness, and alarm management. Drawing on this as well as its own extensive expertise, ABB, along with other system designers, supports the establishment of good standards through its active participation in various technical committees, working groups, and scientific committees of standards-development organizations. One key area affecting HMI development is the handling of abnormal situations. Abnormal situations are disturbances or incidents with which the control system is not able to cope of its own accord, and thus requires operator intervention. When implementing a control system project, it is critical to customize the workplace layout based on the end users operational philosophy, and provide support for the implementation of high-performance alarm management strategies with features such as alarm shelving (operator-driven alarm suppression) and alarm hiding (condition-based alarm suppression). These features reduce the number of nuisance and noncritical alarms and so help end users meet or exceed current guidelines and standards such as EEMUA 191 and ISA SP18.2. Ian Nimmo, abnormal situation management expert and author of High Performance HMI Handbook, believes that a driving factor of highperformance design for HMIs is situation awareness. He says, Having good situation awareness means the operator has an accurate perception of the current condition of process and equipment, and an accurate understanding of the meaning of various trends in the unit. Some of the key concepts that situation awareness reflects are color definitions and use to maximize visibility of abnormal situations. The situation awareness concept is not new. It is, however, still a matter of debate between multiple organizations. One aspect being debated is the use of grayscale or cool process graphic schemes. In addition, navigation methodology, graphic-level definition for fast response under abnormal conditions, and presentation of information are used to seek to predict and avert abnormal situations completely. One good example of situation awareness as described in the High Performance HMI Handbook mentioned above concerns two graphics that both embed the same information but have totally different effects on situation awareness. A graphic with a black background and an abundance of colors leads to poor situation awareness even in normal situations, whereas the graphic with gray scales and the sharp color for alarm depiction represents good situation awareness. Situation awareness can make a huge impact by: Increasing the success rate in handling abnormal situations and returning to a normal mode of operation Reducing the time it takes plant operators to complete required tasks during an abnormal situation, and Raising the incidence rate of control room operators detecting an abnormal situation prior to alarms occurring.
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operations, there is an explicit need to address operator effectiveness directly throughout the whole lifecycle of a process-control system. To leverage the four pillars of operator effectiveness, a number of fundamental activities are continuously going on: user-centered design and an eye to the future. studies. The methods for user study include interviews, field studies, and observations. Interview questions are sent to the operators before a planned interview to ensure that the users have the right profile and knowledge, and that they are well-prepared. The interview questions may be structured or unstructured, both in the form they are asked and in the way they can be responded to. Field studies and observations represent a way to identify and prioritize operators goals and needs. By visiting users in their own working environment and observing how they perform operational tasks, firsthand information is acquired with respect to the operators challenges and needs. This method is ideal for discovering incorrect or inefficient practices that the operators are
Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
User-centered design
Designing an effective HMI requires focusing on the control room operators workflow and tasks. In order to achieve a good understanding of the workflow process and to obtain knowledge on how well the operator manages the significant number of operational tasks, the designer should perform operator task analyses together with operators through user
Control room procedures are important to ensure consistency of operation. They can also support an operator in his or her activities that may be performed infrequently. An example of useful supporting mechanisms is the use of checklists to guide operators throughout the required procedures under specific circumstances. Clear definition of job roles and responsibilities is another vital element that characterizes successful operations. This means that all the tasks an operator needs to perform should be recognized and documented, including the tasks that go beyond operating in the normal mode. In an effort to define a new standard for control rooms, or intelligent control centers, ABB and System 800xA have teamed with control-room furnisher CGM to create a demonstration project to emphasize an optimal control room layout with focus on human factors and ergonomics. The Future Operations Center in Bors, Sweden, is the place
to visit to get the latest information about how to build the optimal control room. It covers, among others, such topics as sound, noise absorption, floor material, light control, and the color status of the process.
Operator competence
When operators interact with processes, their actions often have huge business consequences, especially when the process is in an exceptional situation and operators need to understand and manage complex operations to support recovery. New technologies using simulators for advanced training can recreate the exact operator environment, including graphics and control logic. The simulator provides a safe and realistic environment in which process operators and instrument technicians can learn how to master the process and increase their confidence. In view of rapid technological evolution, generational shifts in workforces, and increasing complexity of
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not aware of. Operators opinions should also be sought and direct feedback collected both for good practices and in areas with potential for improvement. The collected data can then be analyzed and synthesized. The data synthesis process includes identification of the main concepts, indications from each user study, and analysis of how they relate to the improvement of operator effectiveness. Another effective way to increase user focus is the establishment of a customer reference group (CRG) comprising customers from various domains. The purpose of the reference group is three-fold: Provide customers with firsthand information about ongoing and planned development projects Permit customers to actively influence the suppliers development of the systems operator interface, and Establish a forum for exchanging and testing ideas in user needs, trends, and future ventures in order to increase productivity and profits for customers. applications in industry domains. Examples include interaction, visualization, and design techniques. Innovative ideas come from the viewpoint of centering operators work process and tasks to develop an effective HMI. It is common knowledge that process operation is teamwork. Different shifts need to communicate and cooperate with each other. Accordingly, to assist operators in undertaking these activities, one innovative idea is a collaboration board, permitting operators to leave messages on real-time process displays, or using a drop-down whiteboard for sketching discussions. Such a collaboration function can serve various roles, including plant management, system management, managers, and maintenance and operation staff. Operator effectiveness is a timeless characteristic and will always be important. Accordingly, in addition to improving operator effectiveness for the present generation of operators, it is critical to take future generations into account. Some customers are telling ABB that as the current workforce matures, operator expectations are evolving. Many operators being hired today grew up with computers and are digital natives. For these new generations, visual learning is an ideal method to teach how the plant behaves. Studies of how such people operate the process show that they have more screens open than older crew members. They also ask for more customization of their screens. Newer operators tend to visualize the plants behavior graphically, whereas older operators seek to understand the plant in a sequential manner. System designers should be actively monitoring and applying future technologies and design concepts to address younger generations whose operating skills are different from those of today.
Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
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3. Integrating human factors and best practices to provide the best in operator effectiveness. 4. Providing not only operator training but an environment that uses the most valuable assets and existing intellectual property to build operators confidence and competence. A process manufacturer intent on developing effective operators should create an environment that provides operator effectiveness, conduct continuous activities in user-centered
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design, and look into future technologies and their applications in the area of operator effectiveness. This can reduce the scope for errors through more efficient use of the operators technological experience, quick access to relevant data in every operational situation, and assistance to operators in decision-making processes. All of these imply sustained economic value. ABB has achieved considerable success in boosting operational excellence by focusing on operators and by providing process control interfaces that facilitate operators ability to make the right decisions during all modes of operation. It is committed to remaining at the forefront of these developments through continued research and development, helping customers achieve operational excellence. Hongyu Pei Breivold, Martin Olausson, Susanne Timsj, and Magnus Larsson work for ABB Corporate Research, Vsters, Sweden. Roy Tanner is with ABB Inc., Wickliffe, Ohio.
Additional Reading:
Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
Atkinson, T., Hollender, M., 2010, Operator Effectiveness, Collaborative Process Automation Systems, ISBN 978-1-936007-10-3. Hollifield, B., Oliver, D., Nimmo, I., Habibi, E., 2008, The High Performance HMI Handbook, ISBN-10: 0977896919, ISBN-13: 9780977896912, Plant Automation Services.
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Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
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defining them and putting in the programming code. Many companies overlook this step when implementing a new automation system. Theres fatigue involved, Huffman says. The company gets tired of spending money, and the people get tired of the constant change; they want to get back to a steady state too. The good news, he says, is that it means you still have opportunity to make big improvements long after youve grown comfortable with an automation system. Quantifiable benefits include reduced staffing, less wasted product, increased quality and faster adjustment of controls at a level of higher precision and repeatability. With respect to safety, it removes distractions from operators, making routine events out of occurrences that would previously have set off an alarm flood. Often discussed in the industry as state-based environments, the discipline of improving automation across a wider array of recurring events is the subject of a new ISA committee. While ISA-106, focused on sequential process control, is a few years away from releasing its first set of standards, Huffman says the goal is to educate companies that processes run in states and, in order to keep them safe and profitable, its OK to take things out of operators hands and let the automation system do a lot more work. There are big companies that are embracing this because they are convinced its not only safer, but you can make money with it, Huffman says. its job well: Count the total number of alarms that the system activates during the course of a month and divide it by the number of operator hours worked during the same month. If the total comes in at much more than 6 alarms per operator hour, then your system is running at an unnecessarily high level of risk and inefficiency. That rule of thumb (6 alarms per operator hour) is just a guideline, warns Ken Praprost, alarm management optimization engineer at ABB. Its far simplified from ISA-18.2, a new standard released in 2009 that addresses alarm management in process industries. During an alarm flood period, you may get alarms at five or ten times that rate, Praprost says. But six per hour per operator is one metric let you know if theres a reason to go back to work on the alarm management system. In Praprosts experience, most companies deliver too many alarms, falling into three categories: Nuisance alarms: Those that go on and off so routinely that they eventually get ignored, like an alarm that sounds whenever process temperature rises above a threshold, even if the process generally takes care of itself before operators intervene. Praprost has frequently seen operations where there are so many standing alarms that they can only be viewed on multiple screens. And many of these may be for equipment thats not even in use. The flow is zero, which sets off an alarm that the operators simply have to look at.
Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
example, Huffman describes a distillation process that requires the product to move through one of three drying beds. The beds are rotated through primary, secondary and regeneration modes. So youre running full and at about the time you have to switch one bed offline, you find out theres something wrong with another bed and you cant put it back into service on time. The usual response is slowing down the distillation process while getting the troubled bed fixed. Its a busy time for operators. When you start scaling down a distillation tower, it loses efficiency, you lose product quality, and control loops dont perform well at the reduced-rate condition. The operator is cutting flow rates, changing tower pressure, dealing with overhead systems, boiler systems etc. The more complex the tower is, the worse it gets. And the whole time, alarms are going off continuously. But, Huffman continues, If you know this happens from time to time, you can record what the operator has to do and write a procedure around it for the automation to move the distillation process into a safer mode. There is an advantage in speed, which reduces product waste. And automating the routine around best practices means achieving the same results, even if the event occurs when your best operators are off-shift. Most companies have dozens of examples like this, Huffman says events that happen often enough to automate, but not often enough to have confidence that every operator is always going to be adequately trained and tested. Admittedly, improving automation at this level isnt easy or free. You have to go through the pain and expense of understanding your routine states,
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2. Rationalizing alarms
Heres a simple way to know if your alarm management system is doing
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Standing alarms: Those that remain in an active alarm state for a significant period of time. Non-alarms: Many alarms are really just events or data that someone in the organization had wanted recorded. In all three instances, operators struggle to identify important alarms, especially when alarms are not prioritized a common condition everywhere. Fixing it can improve safety and potentially improve plant performance, Praprost says. If we can get the alarm system so its not providing useless information that operators dont need to know, the operators can do a better job running the plant. They can avoid lost-production events simply because they didnt pick out the right alarm from a long list of alarms that all look the same. The main steps to improving an alarm management system are: Evaluate documentation and interview operators, engineers and supervisors: Investigate whether the systems operate as required and if personnel know why each alarm is triggered, precisely how to respond to it, and how easy is it to interact with the system interface. Performance assessment: A review of alarm data over an appropriate period of time (usually a few weeks to a month) to determine the rates, frequency of individual alarms, and response times to alarms. Benchmarking: Comparison of results with industry guidelines. Recommendations for improvement. Plan and implement an improvement program. Establish an appropriate monitoring and review process. information. When something goes wrong, the system is not well-enough designed to allow time for reaction. It doesnt direct people where to look for the information they need, says Chris Greaves, business manager at ABB Consulting. While that is obviously relevant to alarm management, it also applies to the other human factor areas. As an example, Greaves says its common practice for work permits in a facility to be managed in the control room. The argument is that if people want to get work done, they need to check in with the process superintendent. The commotion related to issuing work permits can be a safety distraction to operators, Greaves argues, but he has seen instances where lighting was used to minimize the disruption, by darkening that part of the room where permits are issued when lighting is not required. Other human-factor techniques can include providing different audible tones for different types of alarms, or automated redirection of lighting to focus on the correct displays during alarm bursts. Ventilation maintaining a temperature that keeps people comfortable but alert is a common challenge in many control rooms, Greaves says. As with anything, you can quickly get into a project that suddenly would have people writing large checks for fancy displays and ergonomic chairs, he notes. There are certainly times when that is justified and prudent, but if youre talking about ways to improve operations and reduce safety risk, you simply cannot overlook these human factors. The control room is your last line of defense, and for many companies, it would be very easy and affordable to find multiple opportunities to change the environment in a way that helps the people who work there to do a better job.
Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
One thing weve learned is that people like to put an alarm on anything. If we investigate further, we can reclassify many of the alarms as events so they dont occupy space on the list. Then we reprioritize to identify the true high-priority items, Praprost says. There are also strategies for dealing with nuisance alarms, vastly reducing how often they trip while assuring that they do appear when intervention is required. Evaluating such issues is a process independent of the type of system being used. While it requires some cost, it can be conducted with minimal interruption and meaningful improvements in the way processes are managed. It not ony brings significant improvements in plant safety; alarm rationalization can make a significant impact to the bottom line by reducing unnecessary plant trips.
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theyre going to have a safety system, it has to have full logic solver redundancy, often to 3x or 4x levels, in order to be safe. That means they have to invest in a second set of equipment that is going to require regular testing and maintenance, and if all goes well theyre never going to use it. Its not a true statement Huffman says. You can have single-element safety systems that can be certified up to SIL 3 levels. When a singleprocessor system detects a process problem that justifies tripping the plant, then its designed to lead the plant through a safe shutdown. In the case of an internal fault, it will also shut down the process safely, per SIL 3 safety requirements. In that case, Huffman says, Ive lost the process, not because of a process problem, but because of a fault in the system. If you want to keep the process running, then redundancy is a matter of maintaining uptime, but not process safety. Sometimes, keeping the process running is important for personnel safety, Huffman says, because certain startups and shutdowns can put people at risk. But thats a different decision than the process safety itself. Huffmans point is that companies pay for logic solver redundancy in cases where the investment might have more impact elsewhere, whether in other areas of safety or in operating efficiency. His recommendation is that companies pay to put at least one person, who is respected at the executive level, through some level of basic safety education, such as the ISAs EC50 course on Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS). Then use that education as part of the decision-making process around investments in safety and process automation. Having this knowledge can help with making system selections based on key performance requirements rather than the redundancy architecture of the logic solvers. says. Facets in mapping competence include documenting the type of education each worker has received, and what kind of experience, detailed to specific tasks and technologies. Requirements and certifications in specific work environments are considered as well. More difficult but equally important, he notes, is to map an individuals attitude to reducing risk and conducting high-risk work. People around him will know whether hes someone who tends to make a situation more or less safe. Whether you can get that information or not goes to the culture of the company: Do they dare to tell you, he says, or do they dare not to tell you? When you take seriously this process of understanding the competence of each worker, as an individual, that says a lot about the importance of safety in an organization, Stromme says. Youll get the level of information that you have earned, based on past experiences that your people have. If you demonstrate an open mind and attitude that people wont be punished, and that information will be used to help everyone become better and safer at their job you are already doing a very good job of reducing risk in your operation. Increasing utilization of automation Decreasing utilization of alarms Considering human factors Understanding the role of redundancy Mapping the competence of people
Sponsor Profile Process Safety What Are The Odds? Analysis: Engineering Values From The Top Down Integrating Emergency Shutdown Valves With A Process Control System Developing People: Making Operators More Effective 5 ways to improve safety and profitability, without disrupting operations
most process companies can unlock hidden safety improvements, and in many cases increasing operating effectiveness, without disrupting ongoing operations or making large investments. For more information please contact: North America Customer Service Center 29801 Euclid Avenue Wickliffe OH 44092 1832, USA Tel: 1 800 HELP 365 (1 800 435 7365) Option 4 Outside USA/Canada: +1 440 585 7804 Fax: +1 440 585 5087 E-mail: NAService_info@us.abb.com www.abb.com Visit ABBs Process Automation Insights blog to join the conversation.
Summary
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There is no avoiding the need to make ongoing investments in all aspects of safety: equipment, processes, systems and people. But not all investments are the same. While some require long-term planning and capital budgets, others are small and fast. And still others have already been made, and are waiting to be utilized and optimized. By focusing on these five areas: