Prism Consultants :World Class Consultancy on implementation of management systems for Process Safety, Occupational Health & Safety and Environment.

 

Prism Consultants is a Professional Consultancy firm, based in India and providing World Class Consultancy on implementation of management systems for Process Safety, Occupational Health & Safety and Environment. It is headed by a Chemical Engineer and Management Professional, who has over 33 years experience in implementing and integrating management systems for Process Safety, Occupational Health & Safety and Environment, in India and overseas.

The industries covered by Prism consultants include oil and gas, petroleum refining, petrochemicals, fertilizers, pesticides, organic, inorganic and specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals, etc.
Back Ground of Founder Mr B Karthikeyan

Mr Karthikeyan is a chemical engineer from Madras University, India and certified in risk analysis and risk management. He has over 33 years of experience in the chemical industry in the fields of operations, process safety and risk management.

Prior to becoming a PSM and EHS consultant, he worked in the chemical industry in India and Saudi Arabia. He is an expert in process hazard analysis techniques, human factors, process incident investigation and emergency planning and response.  

PROCESS SAFETY AUDIT In the Chemical Industry, the term “Safety, Health and Environment”(SHE) also includes Process Safety. Process Safety Management is a discipline that proactively identifies and manages the risks the chemical industry faces while storing, handling and manufacturing hazardous and reactive chemicals, with the intent of preventing process related injuries and accidents. In today’s global business environment, the chemical process industry should continually improve their process safety performance. With greater public awareness and media coverage about leaks and incidents in chemical process industry, the chemical industry must ensure proactive process safety management and audit their process safety management systems periodically. Based on the implementation and auditing Process Safety Management Systems in various chemical process industries in India and overseas, Prism Consultants have developed a 3 P approach for auditing process safety. The three P’s are People, Processes and Performance. People support processes, which in turn, deliver performance.

 PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT SERVICES

1. Gap assessment of existing process safety management systems to requirements of US OSHA 1910.119 PSM Rule


2. Implementation of Process Safety Management (PSM) System as per US OSHA 1910.119 PSM Rule


3.  Integration of PSM system with existing OHSAS 18001/  ISO 14001 systems


4. Asset Integrity and Quality Assurance program development 


5. Emergency and Crisis Management System audit


6. Setting up foolproof system for Management of Change


7. Security Vulnerability Assessment


8. Setting up of a comprehensive Incident Investigation system based on Root Cause analysis.


9. Setting up Work Permit Systems including the following:

• Confined space entry
• Hot work
• Working at heights
• Electrical energy lock out and tag out
  
• Feeder lock out and tag out
• Mechanical energy lock out and tag out
  
• Cold work 
• Pipeline breaking / equipment opening
• Fire water system lock out 
• Emergency fire system closure
• Excavation
• Working on fragile roof

About the PSM system:

The Process Safety Management System as per US OSHA CFR 1910.119 PSM rule is a comprehensive management system that proactively avoids incidents in oil refineries, fertilizer, pesticides, pharmaceutical, explosives and chemical plants that handle, store or process toxic or flammable chemicals.

These chemicals, if released, could have a major impact on workers, surrounding communities, or facilities. The consequences of these incidents have significant life-safety, environmental, legal, regulatory and financial consequences.

Process Safety Management System integrates all aspects of risks in a facility and puts them under the control of a management system. By establishing a heightened awareness of the safety impacts of technology, personnel and the management, the system provides a dynamic environment for continual improvement.

This system is mandatory in the USA for chemicals handling, storing or processing hazardous chemicals, above a threshold quantity.

In India, a growing number of factories covered under the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical rules, 1989 are voluntarily adopting this system.

Signatories to the Indian Chemical Council’s (ICC) Responsible Care® movement can demonstrate their public commitment, by voluntarily adopting the Process Safety Management System as per the Process Safety Code of the Responsible care program.

Use Prism Consultants unique expertise:

PRISM consultants have hands on experience in implementing the Process Safety Management System (PSM) in Fertilizer, Refineries, Pesticides and petrochemical plants in India and abroad. 

The Process Safety Management System consists of 14 elements:

1. Employee participation
2. Process Safety Information
3. Operating Procedures
4. Process Hazard Analysis
5. Contractor control
6. Safe work practices
7. Training
8. Pre-Start up Safety Review
9. Mechanical integrity
10. Management of Change
11. Incident Investigation
12. Emergency response planning
13. Compliance audits
14. Trade secrets

Benefits of the Process Safety Management System:

• Proactive management system, focuses on avoiding incidents.
  
• Safer workplace for employees.
• Reduced risk of adverse environmental impact.
  
• Compliance with industry codes, standards and practices.
  
• Reduces downtime and losses.
• Reduces risk to nearby communities.
• Integrates with existing quality, environmental and safety management systems.
• Is viewed favorably by external interested parties like Factory Inspectorate and Pollution Control Boards.
  
• Implementation based on Deming’s cycle of Plan, Do, Check, Act.
• Continual improvement possible by utilizing performance metrics for measuring the performance of the system.
• Total employee involvement in implementation of system makes the system sustainable.
• Very powerful risk management tool.
• Implementation based on World Class OSHA's (Occupational Safety and Health Administration, USA) standards CFR 1910.119, which is mandatory in the USA.
• All the elements of the PSM system are part of the requirements of the International Safety Rating System (ISRS). Companies which implement PSM system could expect to achieve a high score on the ISRS.
• Integrates effectively with Environmental Management System ISO 14001 and OHSAS  18001as part of "other requirements" in clause 4.3.2 - Legal and other requirements.
  
• In organizations that have implemented OHSAS 18001 (Occupational safety and health standard) and handle hazardous or toxic chemicals, implementation of the Process Safety Management System brings the process associated risks under control.

Prism Consultants conducts the following training modules on Process Safety. These courses can be conducted at customer’s premises also.

• 1 day training on “Developing Process Safety Culture – Lessons for Management”
  
• 2 Day training on “Elements of Process Safety Management”
  
• 1 Day training on “Process Safety for Plant Operators”
  
  
• 2 Day training on “Management of change”
  
  
• 2 Day training on “Process incident investigation – root cause analysis”
  
• 1 Day training on “Process Safety in API manufacturing and R & D”
  
  
• 2 Day training on “Introduction to Process Hazard Analysis and Hazard and Operability Study”
  
• 2 day training on “Hazards of non routine operations (including work permit systems)”
  
• 1 Day training on “Learning from incidents”
  
  
• 2 Day training on “Developing a Mechanical Integrity program”
  
• 1 Day training on “Writing Effective Operating procedures”
  
  
• 2 day Internal Auditor training for developing auditing skills for auditing Process Safety Management System.
  
• 2 day training on " Engineering Design for Safety"
  

In addition to the above, training on specific process safety related topics as per customer requirements are also conducted 
 HAZID / HAZOP STUDY

HAZID

The Hazard Identification (HAZID) is a high level review of potential hazards, based on checklists. Prism Consultants “HAZCHEK” proprietary checklists have been developed after years of experience and cover facility siting, human factors and best engineering practices. HAZID is the first step in primary risk assessment for a new facility.

HAZOP

Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) study for continuous or batch processes, or procedural operations is an excellent tool to identify potential hazards and operability issues and recommending preventive actions.
Prism Consultants expertise facilitates HAZOP studies in the role of HAZOP Team leader and ensures that the HAZOP study identifies the following:

1. The hazards of the process
2. The identification of any previous incident which had a likely potential for catastrophic consequences in the workplace
3. Engineering and administrative controls
4. Consequences of failure of engineering and administrative controls
5. Facility siting
6. Human factors and
7. A qualitative evaluation of a range of the possible safety and health effects of failure of controls on employees in the workplace.

A good HAZOP study is also used as an input for proceeding with Layers of Protection Analysis. It must be remembered that a good HAZOP study is only as good as the skills of the facilitator and team members. Prism Consultants technical expertise and human factor approach to HAZOP studies helps to maximize the output of the HAZOP team.

Prism Consultants have conducted numerous HAZID’s/HAZOP studies for their multinational clients. Their practical approach helps clients to correctly identify the hazards and implement cost effective solutions. The focus on the Human Factor approach to HAZOP studies assist the client to identify potential hazards that may not be spotted in a regular HAZOP study.

LAYERS OF PROTECTION ANALYSIS ( LOPA ) Layer of protection analysis (LOPA) is a semi quantitative tool for analyzing and assessing risk. LOPA can be used in all phases of the process life cycle. LOPA helps to make consistent decisions on the adequacy of the existing or proposed layers of protection to prevent incidents. LOPA looks at the safeguards on a process plant to evaluate the adequacy of existing or proposed layers of protection against known hazards. It typically builds on the information developed during a qualitative hazard evaluation, such as a process hazard analysis, and can be used to meet the risk assessment requirements of IEC 61508 and IEC 61511. The designer normally follows the sequence given below to eliminate hazards or to reduce the frequency of undesired consequences: Inherently safer concepts Basic process control system Safety instrumented systems Passive devices (such as dikes and blast walls) Active devices (such as relief valves)  PROCESS INCIDENT INVESTIGATION  Prism Consultants independently carry out third party investigation of process incidents like fires, explosions, runaway reactions, tank collapses, abnormal situations etc that have a direct bearing on process safety. The aim of these investigations is to enable management to pinpoint the root causes of the incident including human factors that led to the incident and to avoid recurrence of the incident. The investigation also helps to identify management issues that may be having an effect on process safety. These issues could include communication, culture and competency issues. Prism Consultants fully understands the confidentiality of company specific information and will hold all information, findings, observations, reports, etc in strictest confidence. Prism Consultants have conducted process incident investigation for flare explosions, storage tank failures, catalyst poisoning incident, runaway reactions, fired heater coil rupture, centrifuge fires, batch process feeding fire incident etc. Prism Consultants use widely accepted and proven techniques (causal factor charting, fault tree analysis and change analysis, barrier analysis, MTO analysis etc) to gather and analyze information to identify the root and contributing causes of the incident. The steps followed for investigation of incidents are: Gathering the relevant data Analyzing the data to determine causal factors Identifying root and contributing causes of the incident Developing recommendations to address the root causes Documentation of the incident investigation report RESPONSIBLE CARE® GAP ASSESSMENT AND RCMS® (RESPONSIBLE CARE® MANAGEMENT SYSTEM) IMPLEMENTATION Background of Responsible Care®: Responsible Care® was first launched in Canada and has since spread across 46 countries. A social responsibility initiative of the global chemical industry, Responsible Care® is built around a set of guiding principles, and six codes of management practice that help in achieving them. The six codes as conceived by the ICC (Indian Chemical Council) are: Process safety code Employee health and safety code Pollution prevention code Emergency response code Distribution code Product stewardship code The aim is to ensure that chemical companies act responsibly towards the environment and the public, so that society can enjoy the benefits of chemicals without risk. Companies that are signatories to the initiative have to show continuous improvement in all areas that relate to the safety and health of their employees and the general public. Prism Consultants provide a comprehensive Safety, Health and Environment Due Diligence assessment for potential acquisitions of Chemical units in India. Prism Consultants provide services to assess an organization’s existing management systems against the requirements of the codes of Responsible Care® as well as Responsible Care® Management System. Based on the gap assessment, Prism Consultants also provides assistance to plug these gaps. SAFETY, HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT DUE DILIGENCE AUDIT FOR ACQUISITIONS: A fundamental principle in jurisprudence is that "ignorance of law is not excusable." After the Bhopal gas disaster in December 1984 and other incidents, amendments were made to Indian Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) regulations. In the factories act, the responsibility of “Occupier” was changed to one of the board of directors (in a public limited company). The “Occupier” is responsible for the safety of workers and surrounding public. For lapses in safety, health and environment provisions, the “occupier” can be criminally prosecuted both under the Penal code 1860 and as “absolute offences”, where breach of provision in the law (by neglect or by commission) becomes punishable, even when no intention to commit an offence need to be proved before punishment is given. Breaches of provision in the Factories act 1948 and amendments fall within the laws understanding of “absolute offences”. Today, organization are growing through the acquisition of assets. The Safety, Health and Environment liability of the newly acquired assets should be carefully scrutinized prior to acquiring the assets to avoid potential issues later.