Matrix of Permitted Operations (MOPO) is used to maintain an acceptable level of risk for

the operations. MOPO is a guide to define the limit of safe operations or activities that
are permitted if control and/or mitigation measures are reduced and/or removed e.g.
SCEs in terms of threat controls, recovery preparedness and escalation factors are
partially present or not present.

MOPO is required to be developed for the operations phase of the project as part of
the COMAH process. The MOPO is a matrix, or set of matrices, that maps operational
activities against foreseeable situations that, if or when they arise, could compromise
safe operating limits. These situations are commonly identified from:

 The Threats and Escalation Factors identified as part of the Bow Tie
assessments for Major Accident Hazards; and
 An assessment of other operations and activities that could contribute to the
escalation of an incident (e.g. continuing with hot work when fire pumps are
unavailable).
Threats and Escalation Factors along with other situations that could compromise
safe operating limits are normally grouped under the following headings:

 Concurrent Operations, also referred to as SIMOPS (e.g. maintenance on

critical elements and/or production and/or construction and/or drilling and/or
diving);
 External influences (e.g. extreme weather, sea states, visibility); and
 Inactive safeguards (e.g. Emergency Shut Down (ESD), fire-fighting systems)
not available or impaired.
The objective of a MOPO is to maintain an acceptable level of risk for the operations.
The matrices shall identify and differentiate between ‘stop’ conditions (i.e. operation
not permitted) and what are ‘proceed with caution’ conditions, (i.e. continue but
recognize that there is an increased risk and/or provide additional controls). Traffic
lighting (i.e. red for “stop” and amber for “proceed with caution”) is a useful tool to
highlight the different conditions and should be adopted.

The MOPO shall be for permitted operations and not for prohibited operations, since
the latter may lead to the possible interpretation that anything not specifically
prohibited is allowed.

MOPO shall be developed in a workshop for the projects. For modification projects
where no changes are seen in operating philosophy, MOPO can be retained from the
existing facilities COMAH report. Where such information is not available, MOPO
shall be developed.
A manual of permitted operations (MOPO), also referred to as a matrix of
permitted operations, is a visually coded manual used to define whether a
work activity can be conducted safely within a given condition (e.g. within
darkness). A particularly common area of concern that is addressed by
MOPOs is whether two activities can be conducted safely at the same
(referred to as simultaneous operations, or SIMOPs).

MOPOs are used primarily within the context of the oil and gas industry,
but they may also be employed within the broader process industries.
They are generally presented as a matrix or group of matrices and utilize
a traffic-light system (red—stop; yellow—caution; green—go) to identify
whether an activity or set of activities is safe to proceed with under a
given set of conditions.

A fully developed MOPO can also provide contingency guidance in the case
that an element of a normal operational procedure fails. That is, if an
operational element of the workplace fails—such as a PA or other
communication system—a MOPO may be consulted to review what, if any,
work operations may still be performed safely