Let’s Start a Conversation. Why do Process Safety Incidents Keep Happening?

PSM Consulting at Montrose

At Montrose, we’re committed to ensuring that every worker goes home safely at the end of the day. We’re proud to provide Process Safety Management (PSM) services, a critical addition to our suite of environmental and safety solutions. Led by our seasoned PSM experts, this service is designed to help organizations like yours prevent the kind of incidents that can disrupt operations and, more importantly, endanger lives.

In this article, our PSM expert Dan Wilczynski, shares a reflection on a question that resonates deeply within our industry, “Why do process safety incidents keep happening?” Despite the extensive efforts by industry bodies and companies to enhance safety protocols, incidents still occur. Mr. Wilczynski explores this persistent issue, offering insights drawn from years of experience in the field and posing vital questions that every organization should consider.

Reflections from an Industry Veteran

If you are like me, you know that each of us wants to work in a safe environment, and no one wants to get hurt on the job. Many of us are involved with toxic and hazardous chemicals as part of our daily work, and I know that the majority of us are diligently working to ensure that those hazardous and toxic chemicals are contained under the recommended parameters for the equipment with which they are used. Still, process safety events continue to occur, and sometimes people are harmed by those events. Over the years, several organizations, such as American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), American Petroleum Institute (API), and American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), as well as many companies have put forth great effort to strengthen process safety systems, programs, and activities. While this has helped, the incidents continue to occur. I believe that we can and must get to a point where no one is impacted by process safety events.

How do we get there? That is the question I pose for a conversation, which I will start with some thoughts based on my experience.

Understanding Safety Risks

Lowering process safety incidents starts with a thorough understanding and acknowledgement that there is an inherent danger in the things we do with toxic and hazardous chemicals. As with anything in life, if we don’t have respect for things that can harm us, we won’t pay them the attention they deserve. Training and education are essential to this issue, which many companies do well. However, continued review of those training programs is also important since people change and, with that, attitudes change.

Systematic Process Safety Management Program

A solid PSM program comes next in my mind. The Occupational Hazard and Safety Administration (OSHA) PSM standard is a solid and well written rule that was developed through the collaboration of industry and fair-minded regulators. I think we all believe that if we have a thorough, robust, and ever-improving process safety program, we can avoid incidents. The challenge with these programs is there is a long list of things to do and keep doing; diligence in implementation is critical.

Learning

Sometimes, mistakes will be made, but learning from each mistake is a good way to continuously improve. Additionally, learning from the mistakes made at other companies is an even better way to continuously improve. Is your organization doing this? Is it really doing this? Learning from the mistakes that others have made is easy when you have the right focus and culture. The PSM experts at Montrose know about the potential pitfalls, challenges, and mistakes that can occur in a workplace safety program and can help your organization to avoid them by ensuring we learn from each and every one.

Responsibility

I am a big believer in individual responsibility.  I have never served in the U.S. Navy, nor in its nuclear power fleet, but I was given the opportunity to work with, and learn from, those that have. One of the key things I took away from this opportunity is the importance of responsibility. There is a statement from Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, the father of the U.S. Navy Nuclear Power Program. It goes like this, “Responsibility is a unique concept, it can only reside in a single individual. You may share it with others, but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it, but it is still with you. If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else. Unless you can point your finger at that man who is responsible when something goes wrong, then you have never had anyone really responsible.”  Do we each know what we are responsible for? Are we sure that our responsibilities are being carried out each and every minute? A robust PSM program can help to ensure that everyone understands what is expected to maintain a safe working environment.

Enhance Your Process Safety Management Program Today

We all want to avoid process safety incidents. At Montrose, we bring decades of experience working with clients on their PSM programs. Whether through program development, auditing, or process hazard analysis (PHA) and layers of protection analysis (LOPA), our consultants have helped clients reduce process safety incidents and achieve operational excellence. Our experts can help your team understand the risks, create systematic PSM programs, share lessons learned, and ensure responsibilities are thoroughly understood. Please join us in this conversation.

Keep safety a top priority and contact us today for your PSM program needs. Let’s keep this conversation going.