Hazard Operability

(HazOp)

 HAZOP is a highly structured hazards

identification system.
It is extremely basic in its approach
HAZOP can practically be adopted at any
stage.
HAZOP methodology is widely used in many
occupational areas.
With new designs, HAZOP can be carried
out as late as possible in order to be as
complete as possible.
It can also be used for analyzing operating
instructions, procedures and in batch
operations.
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HAZOP Methodology

1. Collect applicable documents and drawings.

2. Break facility into manageable sections (Nodes).
3. Prepare list of Parameters and Operations to be
examined.
4. For each Node create Deviations.
5. List and record causes for each Deviation.
6. List and record Consequences for each Cause.
7. List and record Safeguards or Controls that may
prevent either the Cause or the Consequence.
8. List any future Actions or recommendations you
think should be implemented.
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Hazard and Operability (HazOp) Studies

A HazOp study identifies hazards and
operability problems.
The concept involves investigating how the
plant might deviate from the design.
If in the process of identifying problems
during a HazOp study, a solution becomes
apparent, it is recorded as part of the
HazOp result.
HazOp is based on the principle that several
experts with different backgrounds can
interact and identify more problems when
working together.
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Concept
The HazOp concept is to review the occupational place in
a series of meetings.
The multidisciplinary team methodically"brainstorms"
the plant design, following the structure provided by the
guidewords and the team leader's experience.
The primary advantage of this brainstorming is that it
stimulates creativity and generates ideas.
This creativity results from the interaction of the team
and their diverse backgrounds.
Consequently the process requires that all team
members participate and team members must refrain
from criticizing each other to the point that members
hesitate to suggest ideas.

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 The team focuses on specific points of the

design (called "study nodes"), one at a time.
At each of these study nodes, deviations in
the process parameters are examined using
the guidewords.
The guidewords are used to ensure that the
design is explored in every conceivable way.
Thus the team must identify a fairly large
number of deviations, each of which must
then be considered so that their potential
causes and consequences can be identified.
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The success/failure of the HazOp

depends on several factors:
The completeness and accuracy of drawings
and other data used as a basis for the study
The technical skills and insights of the team
The ability of the team to use the approach as
an aid to their imagination in visualizing
deviations, causes, and consequences
The ability of the team to concentrate on the
more serious hazards, which are identified.
The process is systematic and it is helpful to
define the terms that are used

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STUDY NODES
The locations at which the process
parameters are investigated for deviations.
INTENTION
The intention defines how the plant is
expected to operate in the absence of
deviations at the study nodes.
This can take a number of forms and can
either be descriptive or diagrammatic; e.g.,
flow sheets, line diagrams.
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DEVIATIONS
These are departures from the intention which are
discovered by systematically applying the guide
words (e.g., "more weight").
CAUSES
These are the reasons why deviations might occur.
Once a deviation has been shown to have a credible
cause, it can be treated as a meaningful deviation.
These causes can be hardware failures, human
errors, an unanticipated process state (e.g., change
of composition), external disruptions (e.g., loss of
power), etc.
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CONSEQUENCES
These are the results of the deviations should
they occur (e.g., release of toxic materials).
GUIDE WORDS
These are simple words which are used to
qualify or quantify the intention in order to
guide and stimulate the brainstorming
process and so discover deviations.
The guide words are the ones most often
used in a HazOp; some organizations have
made this list specific to their operations, to
guide the team more quickly to the areas
where they have previously found problems.
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 Each guide word is applied to the process

variables at the point in the plant (study
node) which is being examined.
There are other useful modifications to guide
words such as:
SOONER or LATER for when considering time
WHERE ELSE for OTHER THAN when
considering position, sources, or destination
HIGHER and LOWER for MORE and LESS
when considering elevations, temperatures,
or pressures.
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Using Procedure
1.Guidelines
Define thefor
purpose,
objectives, and
scope of the study
2. Select the team
3. Prepare for the study
4. Carry out the team review
5. Record the results.

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1. Define the Purpose, Objectives,

and Scope of the Study.
The purpose, objectives, and scope of the
study should be made as explicit as possible.
These objectives are normally set by the
person responsible for the plant or project,
assisted by the HazOp study leader.
It is important that this interaction take place
to provide the proper authority to the study
and to ensure that the study is focused.
Also, even though the general objective is to
identify hazards and operability problems, the
team should focus on the underlying purpose
or reason for the study.
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Examples of reasons for a study

might be to:
Check the safety of a design
Decide when and where to build
Develop a list of questions
Check operating/safety procedures
Improve the safety of an existing
facility
Verify that safety instrumentation is
reacting to best parameters.
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It is also important to define what specific

consequences are to be considered:

Employee safety (in plant or

neighboring places)
Loss of plant or equipment
Loss of production (loose competitive
edge in market)
Liability
Insurability
Public safety
Environmental impacts.
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2. Select the Team.

Ideally, the team consists of five to seven
members, although a smaller team could be
sufficient for a smaller plant.
If the team is too large, the group approach
fails.
On the other hand, if the group is too small, it
may lack the breadth of knowledge needed to
assure completeness.
The team leader should have experience in
leading a HazOp.

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The rest of the team should be experts

in areas relevant to the plant
operation.

For example, a team might include:

Safety engineer
Design engineer
Process engineer
Operations supervisor
Instrument design engineer
Chemist
Maintenance supervisor
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 The team leaders most importantjob is to

keep the team focused on the key task: to
identify problems and to solve them.
There is a strong tendency for engineers to
launch a design or problem-solving mode as
soon as a new problem comes to light.
Unless obvious solutions are apparent, this
mode should be avoided or it will detract
from the primary purpose of HazOp, which
is hazard identification.

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1.
2.
3.
4.

In addition, the team leader must

keep several factors in mind to
assure successful meetings:
Do not compete with the members;
Take care to listen to all of the
members
During meetings, do not permit
anyone to be put on the defensive;
To keep the energy level high, take
breaks as needed.
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3. Prepare for the

Study

a)
b)
c)

The amount of preparation depends upon the

size and complexity of the plant.
The preparative work consists of three stages:
obtaining the necessary data;
converting the data to a suitable form and
planning the study sequence; and arranging
the meetings.

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a. Obtain the necessary

Typically, the data consist of various drawings
data.

in the form of line diagrams, flow sheets, plant

layouts, and fabrication drawings.
Additionally, there can be operating
instructions, instrument sequence control
charts, logic diagrams, and computer
programs.
Occasionally, there are plant manuals and
equipment manufacturers manuals.
The data must be inspected to make sure they
pertain to the defined area of study and
contain no discrepancies or ambiguities.
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b. Convert the data into a suitable form

and plan the study sequence.

The amount of work required in this

stage depends on the type of plant.
With continuous plants, the
preparative work is minimal.
The existing, up-to-date flow sheets or
pipe and instrument drawings usually
contain enough information for the
study, and the only preparation
necessary is to make sure that enough
copies of each drawing are available.
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c. Arrange the necessary meetings.

Once the data have been assembled and the
equipment representations made (if necessary),
the team leader is in a position to plan
meetings.
The first requirement is to estimate the teamhours needed for the study.
As a general rule, each individual part to be
studied, e.g., each main pipeline into a vessel,
will take an average of fifteen minutes of team
time.

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4. Carry Out the Team Review.

The HazOp study requires that the plant
schematic be divided into study nodes and
that the process at these points be
addressed with the guide words.
If there are obvious remedies, these too are
recorded.
As hazards are detected, the team leader
should make sure that everyone
understands them.
The degree of problem-solving during the
examination sessions can vary.
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the Results.
5.
TheRecord
recording process
Is an important part of the
HazOp.
It is impossible to record manually all that is said,
yet it is very important that all ideas are kept.
It is very useful to have the team members review
the final report and then come together for a report
review meeting.
The process of reviewing key findings will often
fine-tune these findings and uncover others.
The success of this process demands a good
recording scheme.
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 First, a HazOp form should be filled out

during the meeting.
This form is best filled out by an engineer
who can be less senior than the team
members.
This recorder is not necessarily part of the
team but, as an engineer, can understand
the discussions and record the findings
accurately.
Other means of recording can be developed
as best suits the organization.
It has also been found useful to tape-record
the sessions and have them transcribed.
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Assignment
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What are the Industrial Accidents? Also state &

explain causes of industrial accidents.
Explain industrial hazards, give types of industrial
hazards toxicity. Also enlist most toxic industrial
hazards & explain any five of them in detail.
What are the common types of fires? Suggest
important fire prevention methods which you
think are effective.
Describe leading causes of industrial fires and
state the consequences of industrial fires in detail.
What is safety auditing? Explain main elements
undertaken in safety audits.

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