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Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) - Consulting Services

ABS Consulting is a recognized leader in conducting efficient and value-added process hazard analyses (PHAs) for a wide variety of industries. Having served hundreds of major corporations and having performed thousands of PHAs, revalidations, and related studies, our engineers are respected experts in their field. We can team with your staff to provide a full range of PHA services, using a variety of techniques (hazard and operability [HAZOP] analysis, what-if, checklists, failure modes and effects analysis [FMEA], etc.) and more detailed analysis (safety integrity level [SIL] reviews, layer of protection analysis [LOPA]) if desired. The following are just a few of the many ways we can assist you in developing and managing a successful PHA for your facility and company.

Rational Solutions for PHAs, Revalidations and LOPA Studies

  • Leading and Documenting PHA Studies
    Whether it is your first PHA or time for revalidation, our experienced PHA leaders and scribes can lead and document your PHA team meeting to make sure your PHA is a success. The high-quality documentation we provide in our PHA reports helps describe how the PHA team explicitly addressed each regulatory issue required of a PHA (human factors, facility siting, previous incidents, etc.). In addition, the detailed PHA tables in our reports can be used for related process safety management (PSM) programs such as management of change, incident investigations, training, and future PHA revalidations.

  • Leading PHA Studies While the Client Scribes
    We can provide an experienced PHA leader to lead and facilitate your PHA while your newly trained personnel serve as the PHA scribe and record the PHA tables (e.g., HAZOP, what-if, checklist) during the meetings. This approach makes sure that the PHA team (1) includes a person "knowledgeable in the specific PHA methodology being used," (2) appropriately addresses other PHA regulatory requirements, and at the same time, (3) allows your personnel to work with an expert leader who can provide hands-on training in conducting PHAs.

  • Coaching During PHA Studies
     For newly trained leaders and scribes, our engineers can serve as PHA coaches during the first few meetings of a study. This coaching is an excellent way of making sure that the first "leading experience" will be a successful one, and the leader and scribe document the required material to cover any regulatory requirements. Coaching is especially useful if the PHA leader's first study is on a complex process.

  • Updating and Revalidating PHAs
    OSHA and EPA regulations require PHAs to be revalidated at least once every five years. To help in this task, our expert engineers can (1) review your previous PHA and management of change documentation, (2) work with your personnel to identify any deficiencies in the previous study, and (3) help you select the best approach to update and revalidate the PHA to efficiently upgrade any deficiencies and address process changes, incidents, and unresolved recommendations from the previous PHA.

  • PHA Auditing
     We can periodically evaluate the effectiveness of your PHA program through review of PHA documentation and onsite visits. Thorough reviews of management responses to PHA studies can be performed to help prepare your company for an OSHA PSM, OSHA VPPP, or EPA risk management program (RMP) inspection.

  • Providing SIL Evaluations or LOPA Studies
    We can provide experienced engineers to help you evaluate the SIL of safety instrumented systems in your process to comply with IEC and ISA standards. In addition, we can assist your personnel in practical application of LOPA to help evaluate and manage your company's risk to "as low as reasonably practical" (ALARP). We can also assist in developing risk acceptance criteria, failure rate data, and other related information for these analyses.

 

Related Training

If you want to conduct PHAs, revalidations or LOPA studies on your own, our training affiliate, the Process Safety Institute, provides the best training services available on these topics. In addition, we offer training on our state-of-the-art, professionally developed software for documenting all types of PHAs, revalidations, and LOPA studies. The courses, which include "hands-on" practice sessions, give your personnel the resources and training necessary to conduct efficient and effective PHAs and related studies without outside assistance.

 

Featured Courses

 

For more information, contact:

David Whittle
Director of Process Safety
T: 1-865-671-5819 | F: 1-865-966-5287
dwhittle@absconsulting.com