Implementing Hazard & Operability (HAZOP) Studies Throughout the Project Life Cycle

Rail Systems provide an efficient, safe, convenient, and environmentally-friendly transportation means to the public. Emphasis on including operability in the design is critical to provide safe, user-friendly and reliable rail systems to both the public and the operators. Hazard & Operability (HAZOP) studies were initially developed to systematically examine the design of chemical processes, but have been extended to other systems which have complex operations. Professionals using HAZOP studies can review individual system and subsystem designs, discover possible causes of deviations from the intended functions, identify potential hazards or operability problems due to these deviations; and thereby recommend mitigation measures as appropriate. Several prerequisites are required for HAZOP Studies to achieve effective and useful outcomes in improving system design and operability of rail systems. This paper will explain the advantages of implementing HAZOP studies throughout the project life cycle and while the system is being operated; provide details of planning and preparing HAZOP studies at different project phases, and managing the results from HAZOP studies until the end of the project life cycle. It will describe how HAZOP studies can be used to provide the best practical assessment on potential operational or design changes