Layers of Protection Analysis (LOPA) 

is a semi-qualitative tool used to analyze and assess risk,

identify safeguards available, determines if there are enough safeguards to prevent a given risk.
LOPA is conducted to ensure that process risks are successfully mitigated to an acceptable level.

Risk is a function likelihood of an event and its severity (or consequences).

LOPA vs HAZOP: HAZOP is done first, and is then followed by a LOPA study, HAZOP
identifies potential hazards, while LOPA quantifies the probability of the hazard, analyzes the
system at risk, and identifies the mitigation measures against the hazard.

Initiating event (IE): is a failure that starts the sequence of event.

Independent Protection Layers (IPLs): are control measures that can prevent the initiating event
from increasing to a hazardous outcome without being adversely affected by either the initiating
event or by the action (or inaction) of any other IPLs

LOPA Process steps: identify a potential process safety hazard consequence, scenario and cause,
frequency, and probability of the hazard, analyze the system at risk, and identify mitigation
measures against the hazard. 

Protection levels layers are barriers between the dangerous event and everything that needs to be
protected.
- Prevention layers: process plants, process control systems and safety systems
- Mitigation layers: physical containment measures, plant evacuation procedures
and emergency response, and community emergency response.

Limitation of LOPA
- LOPA is limited to evaluating a single cause– consequence pair as a scenario.
- LOPA and IPLs are broken down into orders of magnitude change.
Benefits of LOPA
- Improve the efficiency of hazard
- Facilitates determination of more precise cause-consequences pairs
- Provides a means of comparing risk from unit to unit
- Provides more defensive comparative risk judgements