What’s Wrong with HAZOPs?
You’ve been invited to a HAZOP. It will last 2 weeks.
Are you:
a) Super excited! Can’t wait for it!
b) Considering a full lobotomy
Think about this… You gather in a room with several subject matter experts to critique someone else’s design. This should be one of the most enjoyable and invigorating things we do as engineers.
Regarding HAZOP recommendations for your project, do you expect:
a) 8 good ideas to improve the design
b) 8 good ideas and 160 other ideas
This is caused by ineffective, non-repeatable risk assessment (risk ranking). It can be avoided with an effective risk ranking method.
You’ve been asked to review a HAZOP report for accuracy, what will you do first:
a) Print the P&IDs
b) Update your Resume
The HAZOP discussion and the resulting report are disorganized because of guideword redundancy.
The Stream-Based HAZOP: Better, Faster & More Fun For Engineers!
Combines HAZOP, LOPA & STPA Processes
Hi! I’m Howard Duhon and I’m on a mission to improve the way our industry does Process Hazard Analysis starting with improving the Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP) process. I attended my first HAZOP over 30 years ago - a HAZOP of one of my designs. I was intrigued. I was humbled. I’ve been a fan ever since.
But, it didn’t take long for intrigue to turn to frustration.
The HAZOP is a flawed process. I’ve worked hard over the many years to improve it and I believe that I have fixed the most significant flaws. I call my process the Stream-Based HAZOP.
It is faster, often less than half the time of a more traditional HAZOP.
It is more effective - more likely to find significant hazards and less likely to ‘find’ meaningless ones.
Not everyone finds the Stream-based HAZOPs fun, but some people do and everyone agrees that they are less tedious. This is largely because of better organization of the discussion yields much less repetition.
The Stream-Based HAZOP Process
We set out to develop a better approach, one that is more productive and fun and ultimately provides a safer facility with a clear, easy to understand analysis report with actionable risk reduction.
The main difference between the Stream-Based HAZOP and a typical HAZOP is that we break the HAZOP into 3 phases:
Phase 1: Flow Discussion Based on Stream-based Nodes
Phase 2: Pressure, Temperature and Level Discussion Based on Typical Equipment-based Nodes
Phase 3: STPA Application as Needed for Significant Risk Scenarios
A Less Ambiguous More Repeatable Risk Assessment
Another problem with typical HAZOPs is the use of the Color-Coded Risk Matrix. The Color-Coded Risk Matrix is often a set of yellow, red and green boxes. The HAZOP Team is left to decide the severity of the consequence and the frequency of the event - leaving the results often dependent on the group that attended the HAZOP and rarely repeatable.
Including LOPA Methodology
By using LOPA methodology to define the likelihood of certain events and applying a required Risk Reduction Matrix, we can create:
A less ambiguous, repeatable risk ranking
An actionable level of reduction to a safer facility
Learn More About Stream-Based HAZOPs
We highly recommend our free Stream-based HAZOP online course that will walk you through the entire process. We also created a whole book on the process and technical articles available below and linked our past Society of Petroleum Engineering (SPE) articles.
Featured
Online Course: The Stream-Based HAZOP Method
Introduces the typical HAZOP method vs. stream-based HAZOP method, steps for performing the stream-based HAZOP, how to define stream-based nodes, revised risk assessment process, pitfalls of the typical process and how the stream-based HAZOP solves them.
If you Do Try this Method, share your experience
Our goal is to change the industry into a safer (and more exciting) place to work. HAZOPs have their place - but they no longer need to be boring!
Testimonials from those outside of our team are a great way to increase the ideology and reliance of Stream-based HAZOPs.
If you are convinced that this is a better HAZOP method, share these ideas with your colleagues. You don’t have to send out a mass email, just send this URL link to a few of your colleagues.