JPMC is experienced in HAZOP facilitation and available to chair your HAZOP.  Their independent facilitation skills will ensure that the HAZOP is conducted efficiently and delivers a balanced output, highlighting potential issues identified with the design or system under analysis.

A HAZOP is a structured team-based method for the systematic review of the design of a process plant.  It is an extremely flexible approach and can be applied to both proposed and existing systems.

A HAZOP is carried out by a multi-disciplinary team, led by an experienced facilitator.  The benefits of a HAZOP include:

  • Identification of process and equipment hazards and operability issues
  • Identification and correction of potential deviations from the design intent of the system
  • Capture of information required for the documentation of safety systems.

A HAZOP would normally be carried out during the design of the facility or modification.  This enables the learnings derived during the HAZOP to be put into practice before the design has been finalized.

The basic concept of a HAZOP study is to review a full description of the system and to question every part of it.  The aim of this is to discover what deviations from the original design intent may occur and what the possible causes and potential consequences of these deviations may be.  This is done in a systematic manner by applying suitable guide words and deviations.  Important information to capture during the study includes:

  • Design intent
  • Deviations from the design intent
  • Causes of deviations
  • Consequences of deviations (in terms of hazards and operability issues)
  • Safeguards (controls).

Where the consequences of deviations may generate a hazard or operability issue, the study team would make recommendations to address the issue.The HAZOP guideword approach may be used to analyze a wide range of systems.  These include:

  • Managed Pressure Drilling
  • Underbalance Drilling
  • Pressurized Mud Cap Drilling
  • New process plants
  • Existing process plant
  • Process plant modifications
  • Batch operations
  • Materials handling operations