System Safety Application to Chemical Accidents at Work - Case Study Example

System Safety System safety mostly involves management of a group of highly hazardous chemicals which are released potentially. As systems increase they are becoming more complex to handle, they experience system problems and difficulties which need to be addressed to minimize hazardous chemical accidents in the work place. The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) was formed to help in conducting research based on the various chemical attacks and outbreaks that have occurred and try coming up with solutions and recommendations to enhance system safety. There are some benefits and limitations associated with system safety. In this project paper, we look at potential risk to system safety and the techniques we can use to strengthen the system safety. Some of the areas will discuss is a maintenance project design, industrial accidents, the principles and techniques and how we can use them in a real world situation. Introduction System safety is crucial to every organization as it facilitates efficiency and effectiveness. It also ensures that the correct procedure is followed at each stage to avoid any accidents and adhere to the policies and regulations put in place by the state. Process system management ensures that highly hazardous substances are not released to the environment. This is accomplished by use of an outlined process to manage the energy sources and chemicals produced in the industries to reduce the occurrence of accidents. For this process to be effective there are several elements that are integrated, and they include training, prestart up safety review, mechanical integrity, process hazardous analysis, emergency planning mechanism and the most important employee participation among other elements. Process Safety Management The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) established in 1910 is an organization set to help regulate the release of energy sources and hazardous chemicals in industries by use of standard procedure set in place. Standard procedure comprises of the audit program, operational procedures as well as design guidance (Australian Global Maritime Distress and Safety 2004). These methods ensure that the desired outcome to minimize incidents is achieved in industries. The process safety management is broken down into different 14 elements which include: Contractors Audits Process safety information Incident investigation Employee participation Emergency planning and response Hot work Mechanical integrity Prestart up safety review Operating procedures Trade secrets Process hazard analysis Training and management of change The elements listed above are interdependent to mean that one element contributes to the outcome of another. They provide information to others elements and in return receive information from other elements to complete the process. All elements are interlinked and are all related thus the fourteen elements are all essential for the completion of the process safety management in workplaces. Process Safety Information The process safety information is considered the bedrock of the safety process. It informs the employees what is needed for the process including the equipments used. It is a requirement by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to indicate relevant information relating to the incidents resulting from highly hazardous substances produced at work during the process. It is also provides information regarding to the technology used in the process (Bahar 2003). The information required in this process should include physical data, corrosive data, maximum intended inventory, materials of construction, ventilation system design, safety system which includes interlocks, design codes and standards employed, safety upper and lower limits for pressures and temperatures. Root cause analysis This form of analysis identifies the several causes that together might lead to potential accidents. The techniques have been borrowed from other principles and used to meet the needs of the systems safety concept. The analysis can be divided into two broad classifications; tree techniques and checklist method. Some of the analysis techniques include; the Management Oversight and Risk Tree while others are Event and Causal Factor Analysis and Savannah River Plant Root Cause Analysis System. An example of a real world situation occurred in Dalton, Georgia where this technique was investigated by the United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) and root cause found to be allyl alcohol vapour cloud. Safety Engineering It defines some of the measures used in nuclear and other industries. Traditional safety Engineering procedures focus on the consequences of human mistakes rather than on the cause of those human errors. System safety notion can be applied to traditional safety engineering to assist in identifying the set of conditions for safe handling of the operations. Current and more complicated safety systems such as NASA and the military require functional hazards analysis and a set of specifications to be assigned to all levels that safety attributes. This approach is used to minimize, prevent and eliminate risk to ensure safety (Stephans 2004). In the past, simple models were used to deal with hazard, in the present as technology advanced there are models that effectively deal with hazards in the working area, this was made possible through a holistic approach. Safety engineering model ensures that there are manageable risks, structured objectives to create a favourable working environment. Safety engineering systems command and supervise design requirement necessary to create safety. Weapon system safety Weapon system safety is a crucial application which deals with analysis of possible destructive outcome of system breakdown. It analyses the hazards by studying their requirements, functional study, identify the causes of the hazards and means of controlling the hazards at the work place (Bahar 2003). A thorough procedure is conducted to improve the system design and make amendments on the system. This is to prevent errors from weakening the safety system defences and ensure minimal accidents in the workplace. Examples of weapon system safety used are guide missiles, explosives, land vehicles. Others are suited for different environment for example, aircraft sustaining flight. In the military industry, system safety is very crucial. Care is taken in the design of the hardware mostly weapons and architecture software to ensure they meet specific safety requirements. Holistic view approach Holistic view in system safety project design focuses on analyzing customer needs and designing a system. This system designs the product from the beginning to meet the requirements of the customer throughout the development cycle. The information is documented and a design is drafted keeping in mind the challenges expected. The process safety management assesses the information, builds test plan, creates a model and describes effectiveness measures. The main aim of the holistic approach is show relationship between different stages and incorporates feedback. Managing complex system System engineering became famous due to increase in complexity of projects and industrial systems, this complexity and increase in systems lead to friction resulting to unreliable designs. Complex system does not only result from system engineering but also human records. An example of a complex system is the International Space Station. The use of tools and techniques in system engineering is highly encouraged to reduce complexity in managing system. Some of the common tools used include system analysis, simulation, decision making tools, statistical analysis, system modelling, and reliability analysis among other tools. Complex systems can be simplified to ensure the users understand and also by use of subsystems to bridge the gap between informal design and the end users. These simplified systems are effective mostly in the marketing and technical fields. Industrial accidents A common case study was where an employee of a known chemical industry in the United States approached AristaTek and needed assistance in assessing chemical reactions. AristaTek responded by saying that the PEAC tool was aimed at providing information about the accident and clean up but was not designed to identify the cause of the accident. The United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) was created to deal with investigations arising from chemical accidents in industries. However, they do not issue fines but provide recommendations to industries and regulate their handling of hazardous chemicals. This body is not an enforcement body, but it helps to reduce and prevent chemical accidents in many industries. It has identified 167 gruesome chemical accidents between 1980 and 2001 in the United States. Some of these accidents like one that occurred in Dalton, Georgia lead to evacuation of more than 100 families due to lethal allyl alcohol vapour cloud. The rescue forces, included the police and the firemen lacked protective-wear leading to thirteen policemen affected by the vapour (Australian Global Maritime Distress and Safety 2004). Maintenance program operation Maintenance program operation has a sustainable design that enables the management to minimize and prevent operating costs. The design should be simple to facilitate new information to the system. The design does not replace the manufacture’s documents but instead help in guiding in their meaning and use. For example, system troubleshooting will analyze motor or pump then locate the exact company requirements to fix the component. System safety and reliability engineering This is a discipline of system safety which analyses the constant changes that take place in the working environment and technology while trying to meet customer demands. A real world example in this principle includes the power systems. Issues concerning safety have been detected one at a time; there is no possible way of detecting safety by one person over several decades in electric engineering. Even with a number of electrical engineers the safety issues are observed one at a time in a decade (Stephans 2004). This principle is composed of practice and theory records which are relevant to the field. Licensed electrical engineers are preferred in most countries like the United States as they are perceived to be competent in this filed. However, most engineers’ feel that they need not have a state licences to be competent. Limitations faced in system safety The system safety is limited to two sources, the information and design model. The quality of the system and how competent it works is limited to the design and the safety data available. We analyse system safety from the virtual point which is different from the real life situations. It is left upon the engineers to implement the virtual situation to the real world situation. As seen above, it takes one even a decade for a group of engineers to come up with system safety issues meaning that it does not meet immediate concerns. Another challenge faced by system production is that there is no correct format or tool to ascertain the effectiveness of the process; this is evident in the AristaTek where they had no tools for detecting the root problem. The tools used cannot be completely approved as correct; therefore there is a need for trust whereby consistency is achieved over time when a technique is used repeatedly (Bahar 2003). Overreliance on tools is another challenge in system safety where the organization does not put in place other mechanism instead relies entirely on tools. This can be dangerous and lead to massive failure when the tools experience problems. It could also lead to lethal chemical accidents in case the systems fail. It is thus important to consider a variety of options. Another challenge is inappropriate use of system elements or ignorance to follow procedure leads to chemical accidents at the work place. Observing of procedures and following instruction manuals can help reduce and prevent accidents at work and improve system safety. Safety measures Safety measures are steps taken to minimize risk in the workplace and improve safety conditions. The most known safety measures are: Geological surveys which are used to evaluate land stability, and identify any polluted sources in an area. Government regulation enables manufactures known the standards put in place by the state and conform to them in their products. Internet safety is the protection of the organizations users from any possible online threats or the computer crime. Periodic evaluation of the organization workers, working environment and the various departments to ensure they always run smoothly and deal with issues as they occur. Use of standard protocols to follow laid out procedures. X-ray analyses to enable one to see through a sealed substance for example, through a cement wall. Drug testing the workers Industry regulation Instruction manuals with laid out procedures for various processes Training of workers and end users Conclusion System safety maintenance is very vital to every organization especially the manufacturing industries. The systems need to be checked periodically to identify any problems that need to be solved immediately to avoid lethal chemical accidents. Process safety management is important as it outlines procedures and manuals to be used and how to go about it; this helps to reduce the complexity of the systems by dividing it into subsystems and a simple outline of how the system works, thus reducing accidents at the work place. Use of a holistic approach in system engineering helps reduce the consequences of human accidents and provides procedures to help reduce accidents (Stephans 2004). This approach minimizes the risks and enables meet set objectives. It is important to follow the safety procedures which comprise of geological surveys, industry and government regulations among other to avoid, prevent and minimize chemical accidents at the work place. References: Australian Global Maritime Distress and Safety (GMDSS) handbook: the Australian GMDSS training and operations manual ( 6th ed). (2004). Canberra Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Bahar, G. B. (2003). Integrated safety management process. Washington, D.C: Transportation Research Board. Stephans, R.A. (2004). System safety for the 21st century. Hoboken, Nj: Wiley & Sons. Read More