Evolution of Process Safety Management

A process is any activity or combination of activities including any use, storage, manufacturing, handling or on-site movement of hazardous chemicals. Hazards include toxic, reactive, flammable or explosive properties of chemicals which are absolutely inherent. It has been observed that the majority of process safety incidents could have been avoided by practising strong and proper management controls such as: imparting adequate training and job knowledge to new staff under the supervision of experienced staff; adequate understanding of safety information, up-to-date operating conditions, emergency response and control plans; adequate inspection and maintenance programmes; and well supervised and adequately designed modification(s) of equipment(s). Process safety, however, needs strong integration with general safety principles which include influencing behaviour. By describing the evolution of process safety management (PSM) in industry over a period of time, this paper provides an insight into its implementation at one of the sites of Reliance Industries Limited. While describing how a comprehensive strategy was adopted to address all aspects of PSM, with a top-down approach of coaching all leaders and building strong systems of governance along with the bottom-up approach of involving all employees, the paper offers an understanding of how PSM can be implemented in an organization smoothly and successfully.