HAZ OP; an approach to
combining HAZOP and RCM
A smgte merged activity provides resource savings
L, ?©st„ P.
E., Rohm and Kaas Co., Bristol,
Pennsylvania
HAZOP, a technique for combined
and
in
Operability
the process
analysis,
industries.
is
It
commonly
is
considered
resource-intensive, but has proven highly successful
at reducing risk in our manufacturing facilities over
the past two decades. Reliability-centered
maintenance (RCM), based on concepts
developed in the aviation industry, is rapidly showing
its value as a technique for determining cost-effective
maintenance activities for process facilities.
Both techniques are based on a similar analyti-
cal process; failure modes and effects analysis
(FMEA). HAZffOP is a discipline developed at Rohm
and Haas Company that generates maintenance and
reliability information as well as hazards and oper-
ability evaluations from a single merged activity,
with synergetic results and resource savings.
A brief Use of process hazards analysis
(PHA) techniques for certain categories of process
facilities was mandated by OSHA 1910.119—process safety
management (PSM) which became effective in 1992. OSHA
1910.119 also recognized the
interrelationship between process hazards and at
least the containment, or “mechanical integrity,”
aspect of reliability. This has lead to increased use of
techniques like RCM and risk-based maintenance
(RBM) to satisfy the legal demands of OSHA?
Business managers have recognized over the past
several year's that if improved reliability can permit
greater utilization of manufacturing assets, enterprise
profitability can be enhanced. This is an example of
“doing more- with less” manufacturing resources. A
similar pressure has pushed into development, design
and execution management of processing facility cap-
ital projects. Project teams are constantly being asked
to do more with less in terms of how much engineering
and design resources are applied to capital projects.
Several approaches have been proposed combining
PHA and reliability analyses as a way to both
improve profitability through increased asset uti-
lization and do it with less resources. At Rohm and
Haas, the approach we have chosen is an integra-
tion of RCM and HAZOP that we call KAZ/t'OP.
ttasacsfe assd A
resent paper2 discussed the relationship between process
hazards and reliability. As shown in Fig. 1, plants going
Copyright ©2001 All Rights Reserved
R
eli
ab
through startup are far more at risk of experi- encing a safety ili
or environmental incident than when they are running
normally. This applies to both ty
HAZards planned and unplanned shutdowns. Improved relia-
used
bility means few shutdowns owing to equipment fail-
ure; a more sophisticated maintenance strategy may
/S
also mean fewer shutdowns for turnaround activities.
Actually, the data presented only look at total time
that a plant is in a startup or shutdown condition. In
first reality, this may understate the effect in some cases.
The risk is generally elevated simply because you
are going through a startup or shutdown instead of
operating in a stable condition. If some of the shut-
downs are brief because the cause is immediately
identified and rectified, and the plant startup is
rapid, downtime may be minimal. All of the risk of
shutting down and starting up is experienced, even
though little production time is lost.
So characterizing the risk as a function of time
may be an oversimplification. Since there is not much
downtime in these cases, there is often not as much
business drive to regain the lost plant availability.
But if the total increase in risk were considered,
there might be more pressure to resolve these relia-
bility problems. In concept, the relationship is clear.
The empirical and analytical data support it: Pro-
cess hazards and reliability results are clearly
related. This further supports the concept of merging
reliabi ity and process hazards analyses.
KAZOR, HAZOP is a technique to
“identify hazards and operability problems in a pro-
cess plant which, though not hazardous, could com-
promise the plant’s ability to achieve design produc-
tivity. Generally, the intent is to enhance the plant’s
ability to perform safely through improvements to
process, equipment design and operating procedures.
The basic technique was developed in the 1960s, and
it was first used within Rohm and Haas in 1977.
HAZOP became the PHA technique of choice at Rohm
and Haas largely because of the operability benefits
realized. Generally 50-60% of the recommendations
from a HAZOP were intended to address product
quality or plant operability issues rather than safety
or environmental concerns.4
Genieral descriptions of HAZOP. The HAZOP
approach uses a multidisciplinary team that works
together (brainstorms) to identify hazards and oper-
ability problems by searching for deviations from
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING / MAY 2001 S9