PROCESS SAFETY

...PROCESS SAFETY is the shortened name for safety at Highly Hazardous Chemicals (HHC) processes. Process Safety generally refers to the prevention of unintentional releases of chemicals, energy, or other potentially dangerous materials (including steam) during the course of refinery processes that can have a serious effect. ..

SCOUPE, FOCUS AND DEFINITION
Process Safety is A discipline that focuses on the prevention of catastrophic accidents, fires, explosions, toxic releases and accidental chemical associated with the use of chemicals and petroleum products.

PROCESS SAFETY is the shortened name for safety at Highly Hazardous Chemicals (HHC) processes. Process Safety generally refers to the prevention of unintentional releases of chemicals, energy, or other potentially dangerous materials (including steam) during the course of refinery processes that can have a serious effect. Process safety involves, for example, the prevention of leaks, spills, equipment malfunction, over-pressures, over-temperatures, corrosion, metal fatigue and other similar conditions.
Chemical Process Safety = Process Safety. It is just another name. While Chemical Safety focus specifically to protection against the toxic effects of chemicals that arise in normal usage.

THE BACKGROUND
Process Safety was born on the banks of the Brandywine River in the early days of the 19th century at the E. I. du Pont black powder works. Recognizing that even a small incident could precipitate considerable damage and loss of life, du Pont directed the works to be built and operated under very specific safety conditions. Process Safety evolved as industry progressed through the 19th and 20th centuries, but really emerged as a industry-wide discipline following a major industrial accident in Bhopal, India, in which a catastrophic release of methyl isocyanate killed more than 3,000 people

In the twenty years since Bhopal, process safety has gained corporate importance, process safety expertise has extended into the general skill set of chemical and petroleum engineers and operators, and many industry-wide guidelines for process safety have been developed, largely through the efforts of CCPS.
It is important to keep in mind that process safety incidents are “high consequence, low frequency events.” Therefore, it is possible for a plant, and even the entire industry to have declining numbers of incidents for many years, and then have a very serious incident with little or no change in operation. Therefore, any progress in process safety must be viewed over a horizon of many years.
Most companies measure their progress in process safety by defining some kind of threshold for personal injury and property loss, and record process safety incidents exceeding that threshold for internal improvement purposes. While a group of companies belonging to the American Chemistry Council uses a consistent threshold definition, this practice is not uniform through the industry.

The Basics Need to Know about Emergency Preparedness:

First – Read and understand the MSDS of any chemicals, gases, and other energy you are handle about. And find what must be done in the case of emergency regarding to first aids treatments.

Second – know the sound of the emergency alarm, the all-clear signal, and other means of emergency communication from the plant

Three – in case of an off-plant release, you will usually respond by “sheltering-in-place.” To shelter-in-place, close all windows and doors, shut off all heating and air conditioning, and seal other openings to the outside, such as room air conditioner inlets and cracks under external doors.

Four - know how to evacuate if you are told to do so. There may be several alternate routes depending on the direction of the wind. Keep an evacuation kit handy so you don’t have to delay your escape while looking for critical items you have to take with you.

References :
www. Wikipedia.com
www.aiche.org

picture taken from www.thefreijecompany.