This edition first published 2018
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Center for Chemical Process Safety, author.
Title: Essential practices for creating, strengthening, and sustaining process safety culture / Center for Chemical Process Safety of the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Description: New York, NY : American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Inc. :
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2018. | Includes bibliographical references. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018023924 (print) | LCCN 2018024176 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119515142 (Adobe PDF)
| ISBN 9781119515173 (ePub) | ISBN 9781119010159 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Chemical engineering--Safety measures.
Classification: LCC TP150.S24 (ebook) | LCC TP150.S24 E87 2018 (print) | DDC
660/.2804--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018023924
Cover images: ©jimmyjamesbond/iStockphoto; ©crisserbug/iStockphoto
Cover design by Wiley
It is sincerely hoped that the information presented in this document will lead to an even more impressive safety record for the entire industry; however, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), its consultants, the AIChE’s Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Technical Steering Committee and the Process Safety Culture Subcommittee members, their employers, their employer’s officers and directors, AcuTech Group, Inc. and its employees, and Scott Berger and Associates LLC and its Principal, do not warrant or represent, expressly or by implication, the correctness or accuracy of the content of the information presented in this book. As between (1) the AIChE, its consultants, the CCPS Technical Steering Committee and Subcommittee members, their employers, their employer’s officers and directors, AcuTech Group, Inc. and its employees, Scott Berger and Associates LLC and its Principal, and (2) the user of this document, the user accepts any legal liability or responsibility whatsoever for the consequence of its use or misuse.
Additional content referenced in this book as well as an electronic form of the culture assessment tool are available at www.aiche.org/ccps/publications/guidelines-culture
CCPS has developed a standard glossary that defines many common terms in process safety. By reference the current CCPS Process Safety Glossary at the time of publication is incorporated into this book and can be found at http://www.aiche.org/ccps/resources/glossary. Additionally, there are some specific terms used in this book that are not currently included in the standard glossary. These terms are defined in the book as necessary when they are introduced.
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) thank the Process Safety Culture Subcommittee members and their CCPS member companies for their generous efforts and technical contri- butions to this book. CCPS also thanks the members of the CCPS Technical Steering Committee for their advice and support.
The Chairs of the Process Safety Culture Subcommittee were Eric Freiburger of Praxair and Shakeel Kadri, then of Air Products and now CCPS Executive Director. The CCPS staff consultant was Bob Rosen. The Subcommittee members were:
| Steve Arendt | ABS Consulting |
| Steve Beckel | Potash Corp. |
| Henry Brinker | Monsanto |
| Cho Nai Cheung | Contra Costa County |
| Gretel D'Amico | Pluspetrol |
| Michael Dossey | Contra Costa County |
| Walt Frank | CCPS Emeritus |
| Lou Higgins | Solvay Specialty Polymers |
| Tom Janicik | Covidien – Retired |
| Dave Jones | Chevron |
| Jack McCavit | CCPS Emeritus |
| Dan Miller | BASF (Retired) |
| Gilsa Pacheco Monteiro | Petrobras |
| Anne O'Neal | Chevron |
| Richard Piette | Suncor |
| Ravi Ramaswamy | Reliance Industries Ltd. (Retired) |
| Randy Sawyer | Contra Costa County |
| Karen Tancredi | Chevron |
CCPS offers special thanks to subcommittee members Anne O'Neal, Karen Tancredi, Steve Arendt, Gretel D'Amico, Gilsa Pacheco Monteiro, and Dan Miller, who provided significant input during the production of this book.
CCPS acknowledge AcuTech Group, Inc. for preparing the original manuscript. The AcuTech Team, under the leadership of Project Manager Michael J. Hazzan, also included David M. Heller, Scott Berger, and Martin R. Rose. Lou Musante of Echo Strategies provided additional content under subcontract.
Scott Berger of Scott Berger and Associates LLC provided a structural edit of the manuscript, provided additional content, and typeset the final book.
Before publication, all CCPS books undergo a thorough peer review. This book was no exception; many people offered thoughtful suggestions and comments.
| Wendy Alexander | Nova Chemicals |
| Steve Barre | Huntsman Chemicals |
| Michael Broadribb | Baker Risk |
| Jonas Duarte | Chemtura |
| Warren Greenfield | Ashland Chemicals (retired) |
| Dennis Hendershot | CCPS Emeritus |
| John Herber | CCPS Emeritus |
| Jim Klein | ABS Consulting |
| Paul Leonard | Arkema |
| Bill McEnroe | Monroe Energy |
| Paul Nielson | Cheniere Energy |
| Lawrence Pearlman | Oliver Wyman |
| Dennis Rehkop | Tesoro |
| Susie Scott | Oliver Wyman |
| Mike Smith | Plains Midstream |
| Mark Trail | ExxonMobil- Retired |
| David Black | Baker Risk |
| Dan Wilczynski | Marathon Petroleum |
| Omer Wolff | Formosa Plastics USA |
I have worked in different sectors of the chemicals and oil refining businesses since the 1960s. I began as a lab technician who worked shifts for a major chemical company in Northern Ireland, where I grew up. It was there that I experienced my first and only chemical process fatality during my working years in the chemical industry. I have very vivid memories of that tragedy to this day.
Later I went to work for a chemical company in the United States and I quickly realized it was vitally important to pay careful attention to preventing accidents as the chemicals we worked with included carbon monoxide, phosgene, chlorine, isocynanates and peroxides. In 1982, I served as the environmental manager in a chemical plant that had a catastrophic explosion. The details of that event and its aftermath are embedded deeply in my memory.
In 2002, I was appointed to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) as a Board Member and later as Chairman. At the CSB we investigated failures in the chemical, oil refining and other industries – failures that resulted in loss of life, property damage and community outrage. Sadly, I saw many examples – fires, dust explosions, loss of containment, mechanical integrity failures.
In my early years in the chemical industry there was a strong focus on safety, but the emphasis was on the slips, trips and falls type of safety – avoiding injury to workers. Metrics were developed for first aid cases, reportable injuries and lost work day injuries. This was and still is a good practice and for the more progressive companies it made for a safer workplace environment. These companies were said to have a strong safety culture. Of course, process safety was still important, but not in an organized way. We knew the hazards of phosgene or dinitrotoluene and we took steps to mitigate those hazards. In the more enlightened companies, greater attention was paid to the chemical process hazards, but the culture in many companies was to equate overall safety with personnel safety, including some measures of process safety.
While the personnel safety record in the chemical and oil industry was better than general industry, unfortunately there continued to be major and well publicized fires and explosions in these industries. Tragedies such as the 1989 Phillips 66 explosion in Pasadena, Texas, the 1974 Nypro cyclohexane explosion in Flixborough, England, and the 1988 Shell refinery explosion in Norco, Louisiana. In response to these and other incidents, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration published its regulations on the process safety management of highly hazardous materials, commonly known as OSHA PSM. The 14 elements of PSM set an obligation for the safe operation of facilities with highly hazardous materials. The process industries have been required to comply with these regulations since 1992.
However, when the fourteen elements of PSM are examined there is an omission. That omission is the development and assessment of the process safety culture. I am very pleased that this absence has now been remedied by the publication of Essential Practices for Creating, Strengthening and Sustaining Process Safety Culture by the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. This excellent book fills a gap in the literature on process safety and guides companies and manufacturing facilities on the road to a strong process safety culture. It is the latest in a series of more than 100 high quality texts on process safety published by CCPS, many of which can be found on shelves in chemical plants and oil refineries around the world. Writing CCPS books requires the volunteer efforts of many experts from the chemical and oil industries. It is a time consuming but very satisfactory labor of love. I know because I have participated in the writing of a CCPS book.
This book offers several definitions of process safety culture. Even though there may be some disagreement about a definition of process safety culture, when you visit a facility you very quickly get a sense how important a positive process safety culture is to the facility. You will know it when you see it. From the first moment when you encounter a security guard or a receptionist to a tour of a control room you can quickly gauge the culture. Are process safety metrics displayed around the plant? Are operators communicating with each other in a professional manner? Is the senior manager well versed in the hazards of the operation?
As you read this book you will learn many aspects of how to develop a sound process safety culture. From my experience, a strong process safety culture must start with leadership. By leadership I mean everyone in a leadership position from the chairman of the board to the supervisor on the shop floor. They must set the example. It starts with leadership being aware of the hazards in their processes and putting in place the organization and expertise to control those hazards. Just as important, the senior leadership must communicate his or her concerns about the need for an effective process safety program. These concerns should be an ongoing part of senior leadership's communications with the organization. This is the way to ensure the establishment of a culture of process safety across the organization.
I commend CCPS on the publication of its latest book and I encourage readers to turn its lessons into actions in their day-to- day work of ensuring safety for employees, contractors and the surrounding community. As well as saving lives and preventing injuries it is vital for the financial success and reputation of the chemical process industries.
John S. Bresland
Shepherdstown, West Virginia
Leading process safety practitioners have long recognized that the way leaders shape attitudes and behaviors can make the difference between success and failure in preventing catastrophic incidents. Investigations of incidents in the chemical, oil and gas sectors, as well as experience in the nuclear, and aerospace sectors have shown cultural failures rival management system failures as leading causes. Similarly, when long-term successes have been achieved, strong cultures of process safety excellence have been an integral factor.
This book provides current guidance on developing and improving process safety culture. It discusses how leaders can develop the commitment and imperative for process safety at the top, and then cascade that commitment throughout the organization. It shows how leaders can take the ultimate responsibility for process safety, and foster the core principles of process safety culture.
Of course, process safety culture does not exist in a vacuum relative to overall company culture. Changes to process safety culture may thus require changes in other aspects of the company culture, including, for example, operational excellence, human resources, and quality. This should not be viewed as a zero-sum game. Process safety may borrow key positive cultural attributes from other parts of the culture. Likewise, strengthening process safety culture may help strengthen other parts of the overall culture.
Leaders at any level of the organization will benefit from the guidance provided in this book. Senior executives will likely be drawn most to the first 3 chapters and the beginning of chapter 5, while the remainder of the book contains more detailed guidance useful at the implementation level. However, all readers will find useful information throughout the book.
After defining process safety culture, this book outlines 10 core principles of process safety culture:
The book then shows how these core principles strengthen process safety management systems (PSMSs), which implemented together can lead to success. The role of process safety culture in metrics, compensation, and other related activities is addressed. Lastly, the book discusses how to make process safety culture sustainable.
Appendices include more detailed descriptions of several concepts presented in the book, such as organizational culture, human behavior, and high reliability organizations, along with case histories useful for prompting culture discussions and a process safety culture assessment checklist.
The concepts discussed in this book began to be developed in the wake of the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Members of CCPS toured the Columbia launchpad the day before launch as part of a learning-sharing session with NASA safety experts. This personal exposure to tragedy motivated Jones and Kadri (www.aiche.org/ccps, “Process Safety Culture Toolkit”) to lead an effort to capture key culture lessons-learned from the Columbia investigation and apply them to the process industries.
Since that time, lessons continue to be learned about what makes process safety culture effective. This book attempts to distill the significant amount of published work, as well as the personal experience of CCPS member companies into actionable guidance.
Like other CCPS books, the guidance provided includes numerous options companies can choose from to suit their needs. While the book has been prepared with the similar care of a voluntary consensus standard, it is not a standard or a code, and has no legal or regulatory standing. And that is entirely appropriate to the mission of process safety culture – to create an imperative for process safety with felt leadership that comes from the heart, not forced by requirement.