HAZOP – Hazards and Operability Study
HAZOP (Hazards and Operability Study) is a well-established method as a means of identifying potential plant design hazards and operability problems to help improve plant safety. The HAZOP technique is highly disciplined and systematic. It attempts to identify how a process (e.g. petrochemical, pharmaceutical or oil & Gas etc. process) may deviate from the design intent. The emphasis in the HAZOP study is on identifying potential problems, not necessarily solving them.
In a HAZOP study, a team of individuals systematically “brainstorms” the process under review in a series of meetings using a set of guide words to structure the review. The team consists of individuals representing a variety of Engineering disciplines / specialties. This multi-disciplinary team concept allows the various viewpoints of the team members to stimulate the thinking of the other team members and results in creative thinking. Consequently, a more thorough review is achieved than would occur if members of the team reviewed the same process individually.
A typical HAZOP study team, in addition to HAZOP leader and Scribe, may consist of the representatives from the following disciplines:
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Inspection
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Instrumentation/Control systems
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EHSS
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Maintenance
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Operations
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Process Engineering (Preferably one design process engineer and one independent process engineer)
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Other Specialists as required
It is highly recommended to engage an independent HAZOP leader i.e. S(he) should neither belong to the owner not to the contractor side. This is a fundamental step towards having independent and un-biased study.