Process hazard and risk assessment

Owners of major accident hazard sites (duty holders), need to identify hazards and make
some grading of different risks posed by their process to workers, visitors, the surrounding
public and the environment. For process hazards, this usually involves looking for events that
result in the “loss of containment” (LOC) of hazardous materials.
There are many different ways of approaching process hazard analysis (PHA), often using a
combination of study methods like “What-If” or HAZOP - Hazard and Operability studies.
Whichever methods are adopted, the key is to use a systematic procedure that covers all
process areas using a multi-discipline team approach.
PHA / HAZOP must use multi-discipline teams to be effective.
If approached methodically, a PHA/HAZOP should provide solid information on possible
causes of hazards, estimated consequences of hazardous events, and lists of safeguards that
can prevent or mitigate escalation.
Tolerable Risk Criteria
After hazards and safeguards have been identified, there often needs to be some further
analysis to determine how effective the safeguards are at risk reduction. There are no
mandatory techniques for this step in IEC 61511-1, so the duty holder needs to decide their
own approach.
Tolerable risk is usually summarized in the form of a risk matrix, which should be calibrated
with a set of numerical targets and specified frequencies for different consequences.
Risk Graph
Risk graphs come in many different forms. There is no such thing as a "standard" risk graph,
because they need calibrating. The best guidance on calibration is provided in IEC 61511 part
3.
When they are calibrated and agreed by the duty holder, risk graph's get used by teams to
produce estimations fairly quickly. This is often useful alongside a PHA/HAZOP to provide a
"first pass" risk/SIL assessment that filters lower risks from those that are potentially high-
risk.