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SystemHSE, Process Safety & OT Security

Process Safety Information Management

Process safety information management that reads each unit's documents and shows, book by book, what its next hazard study would find missing.

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Follow unit 41's read, from new boxes to a dated study ↓
The problem

Process safety information on file somewhere, and nobody knows what is missing

The coordinator can tell an auditor the file exists. Saying it is the right file is harder. The information sits in the document system, on shared drives and in old construction boxes, and it falls behind the plant one change at a time. The holes show up in the hazard study room, or in an audit.

Relief valves are the sharpest case. They pass their bench tests each turnaround, and a test proves the setting, not the reason for the size. The only basis on file may be a vendor fax for the fire case, while a change raised the flow, answered the relief question no and closed without anyone revisiting the valve.

Built forProcess safety managersPSI coordinatorsRelief systems engineersDocument control leadsInternal audit teams

The Problem Today

A hazard study needs each unit's safety information, and nobody sees what is missing until the study starts.

5 years
at most between hazard studies, and each one needs these books published
2,080
hours for 62,400 documents at 2 minutes apiece our estimate

Chased by hand before a study

  • P&IDs
  • Relief
  • Materials
  • Chemicals
  • The valve with no reasonTest cards prove a setting, not why it was chosen
  • Books left behind by changesA change closes, and the drawing stays as it was

The Solution

  1. Read each sourceSix sources read page by page, old faxes and scanned boxes included
  2. Test each bookTen books tested for each unit: complete, current and consistent
  3. Find the reasonEach relief valve traced to its cases; gaps are shown, never sized
  4. An owner and a dateThe relief engineer takes each study with a date

Built-in controls

  • Agents never size a valve or judge one
  • Two people clear each finding
  • Open gaps block the issue to a hazard study

What You Get

Hazard studies start from books people have checked, and each study taken has a name and a date.

  • Each unit in one lookOwed books on one shelf, gaps and stale ones visible
  • Changes tied to booksEach closed change traced to the book it should have touched
  • Evidence on requestRulings and signatures in one export
Unit 41, one morning

Fifteen minutes on the amine unit: new boxes, a limit and a relief study

The amine treating unit's construction boxes have just been scanned. Here is the read and what followed, at the times the audit trail recorded.

demoSample data throughout: the refinery, the people acting and the figures.

  1. 01Before the read

    97 of 133 owed books stand, and unit 41's ten are greyed out

    Process safety information coordinator

    Fourteen units, ten books each: chemical hazards, process technology and the eight kinds of equipment information. Dark books stand, tilted ones lean, striped ones are gaps, and older units carry a stub where balances are not owed. Unit 41's boxes are newly scanned, so its books read not checked and count for nothing.

  2. 0208:15

    9,318 scanned sheets join the read, beside five other sources

    Process safety information coordinator

    The coordinator starts the read. Six bars fill, from the scanned construction boxes to the hazard study tool, 14,012 documents in all. The plan ticks down the side: gather read only, read each page, test ten books against the rule. A page read below 85% sure goes back to the coordinator to check against the image.

  3. 0308:18

    Unit 41's process safety information, tested: two gaps and two leaning books

    Process safety information coordinator

    Three minutes later the books have moved. Process technology and relief design basis are gaps; drawings and balances lean. A line under the shelf says why the unit cannot be issued: it runs outside a documented limit, 20 files could not be opened, and each open book is listed with its findings and proposed owners.

  4. 0408:21

    Lean amine runs at 420 gpm against a 380 gpm limit, so it is due today

    Process safety information coordinator

    Lean amine is capped at 380 gpm in the operating limits table, and the unit has run at 420 gpm every day for ten years, since a change raised circulation. This is filed as running outside a documented limit. The process safety manager and the operations lead are paged, it is due today, and the unit's issue waits until they settle it.

  5. 0508:24

    Relief valve design basis on PSV-41-1012: fire found, three cases not found

    Process safety information coordinator

    A relief engineer would expect four cases for a flash drum like this. The record holds one: external fire, from a vendor fax that leaves the others to the owner's engineer. Blocked outlet, the inlet control valve failing open and gas blow-by from the absorber are in no source the agents read. The coordinator raises the gap.

  6. 06Waiting for countersign

    Two sources marked not opened, and the countersign waits on both

    Process safety manager

    The coordinator's note is on the item: only the fire case is on file, and two later changes answered no. The manager sees the sizing fax and the change record listed as not opened, 0 of 2. A source counts once its cited passage has been on the manager's own screen, and whoever raised a finding cannot countersign it.

  7. 07Before signing

    A one-page vendor fax, external fire only, other cases left to the owner

    Process safety manager

    This page is the whole design basis on file: a vendor's sizing fax. Set pressure 100 psig, wetted area 350 sq ft, relief rate 2,950 lb/hr of water vapor, a G orifice of 0.503 sq in. Marked are the case, the cited figures and the note at the foot. No line covers what a higher flow could bring.

  8. 0808:27

    The change that raised the flow left the limits and flow diagram blank

    Process safety manager

    The change raised lean amine circulation from 340 to 420 gpm, running the pump at its rated point with new trim on the level valve into this drum. Its review questions answer relief systems affected with no, and leave operating limits and the flow diagram blank. With both passages opened, the manager countersigns.

  9. 0908:30

    The relief engineer takes the study a week before the scope cut-off

    Relief systems engineer

    Only a relief engineer can own this study; the screen will not hand it to a desk. The dialog states the turnaround's scope cut-off and asks for a study date before it, so a fix can still make the turnaround. The engineer sets the study a week ahead of the cut-off, plus a nearer first look at what the gap means today.

  10. 10The same morning

    211 relief studies on one desk, 77 ranked high and listed first

    Relief systems engineer

    The engineer's view covers the whole site. Each study here was ruled by the coordinator and countersigned by the manager first. High rank goes to a valve with no basis, a higher-pressure source upstream or a later change. A table by unit gives counts, high ones, those with no basis and the next due date.

Four cases a relief engineer expects on the flash drum, and one on file

The agents list the cases a relief engineer would look for on this kind of equipment, then mark each found or not found in what the site holds.

Case or changeWhat the agents foundWhy it is on the list
External fireFound: 2,950 lb/h water vapor at 21% overpressureThe vendor sizing fax, the only basis on file
Blocked outletNot foundRich amine keeps arriving if the drum outlet closes
Inlet control valve fails openNot foundThe absorber level valve feeds this drum
Gas blow-by from upstreamNot foundAbsorber gas can pass the level valve if level is lost
Circulation raised from 340 to 420 gpmRelief question answered noA closed change, ten years back
Off-gas from another unit tied into the absorberRelief question answered noA later closed change
Lean solvent strength from 45 to 50 weight percentStill openA change in progress

demoSample data, from the working solution. The agents show the fax's sums as written. Sizing the valve is the relief engineer's study.

What the unit 41 read turned up beyond the flash drum valve

A limit the unit has outrun

The limits table caps lean amine at 380 gpm while the unit runs at 420 gpm. Due the same day.

A flow diagram at the old rate

The process flow diagram still shows 340 gpm, sent to the process engineering desk.

A relief inlet valve drawn as a plain gate

At the absorber, the valve under the relief device is drawn as an ordinary gate. Flagged for a walkdown.

An off-gas tie-in nobody drew

Another unit's off-gas line into the absorber never reached the drawing.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Around the site

Gaps, changes, walkdowns and the hazard study calendar for all fourteen units

Seven more screens from the same refinery after unit 41's read.

The shelf after the read103 of 133 owed books stand, 12 lean and 18 are gaps, with unit 41's limit finding at the top.
Open items, ranked331 open items: 233 keep a book a gap, 98 keep one leaning, 81 rank high and 20 are late, each with an owner.
Changes that left a book behindClosed changes with the items each left open. The amine circulation change alone holds 7.
Drawings flagged for a walkdownWhere a drawing disagrees with another record, the agent says what to look at. A person in the field says what is built.
The hazard study calendarEach unit's five-year limit, the day its books freeze and what blocks it. One unit is ready, 18 days from its freeze.
What was read, and when62,400 documents across 14 units, about 2,080 hours by hand by our estimate, and unit 41's 20 held files.
The audit trailThe read, the page to the manager, the raise, the countersign and the take, in order, with an evidence export.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Who rules a finding, who countersigns it and who owns the relief study

One person rules, a second opens the sources and countersigns, and an owner takes the work with a date.

Process safety information coordinator
Sees
The shelf, each finding beside its sources, and the 20 held files
Signs
Raises a gap or rules it not a gap with a named document, and proposes a unit's issue
Process safety manager
Sees
Each cited passage, opened on screen before countersigning
Signs
Countersigns findings, and signs a unit's issue to its hazard study after opening a sample
Relief systems engineer
Sees
Each valve's cases found and not found, and the later changes
Signs
Takes each relief study with a date and records it; nobody else files one
Document control lead
Sees
Drawings flagged against redlines and tag lists
Signs
Issues the new revision after a walkdown, and proposes setting changes
Internal auditor
Sees
The screens and the export, without changing anything
Signs
Nothing; checks who agreed

demoSample data, from the working solution.

The agents

Seven agents read the books, and the relief basis reader never sizes a valve

Each passes its work on, ending with a named person.

Source finder

Gathers a unit's documents from the six sources.

  • Never moves, changes or deletes a file
Page reader

Reads each page and ties each value to its place.

  • Never guesses a value
  • Below its confidence line a person reads the page
Book checker

Tests ten books per unit for complete, current and consistent.

  • Never calls a book complete on its own
  • Never calls a unit ready
Change tracer

Finds the books a closed change left behind.

  • Never reopens or edits a change
Relief basis reader

Finds which cases are on file for each relief device and ranks what is missing.

  • Never sizes a valve or states a required rate
  • Never judges whether a valve is adequate
Drawing comparer

Compares drawings with redlines and tag lists, and flags walkdowns.

  • Never marks a drawing as built
Gap router

Proposes an owner and a clock, and pages the manager and operations the same day when a unit runs outside a limit.

  • Never closes an item or changes a clock
  • Routes a relief study only to a relief engineer

Where unit 41's process safety information was sitting

Each connection is read only, and the document stays where it lives.

Scanned construction boxesSheet by sheet, faxes and hand notes included
Document management systemIssued drawings, data sheets and studies
Engineering shared driveSpreadsheets and older drawing files
Maintenance systemRelief test cards and equipment records
Change systemClosed and open changes with their review questions
Hazard study toolPast studies and their dates

demoSample data, from the working solution.

What process safety managers ask before trusting a shelf of PSI books

What is process safety information management?

Process safety information (PSI) is the written record a hazard study depends on: chemical hazards, process technology and equipment information. This solution reads each source for a unit, tests ten books for complete, current and consistent, and shows them on one shelf. Missing books are gaps, stale ones lean, and a person rules each finding.

Is this a process safety information checklist with a new face?

The books follow the rule's list line by line, so it starts where a checklist does. Each line then opens the document behind it, a book stands only once a person has ruled on what the agents found, and unread files behind a book keep it from counting. P&ID accuracy is checked too, with walkdowns flagged for the field.

Will it size a relief valve or tell us a valve is adequate?

No. The agents do not compute a relief rate, size an orifice or judge adequacy. They show the sums already written on a page, such as a vendor's sizing fax. A question about what a valve should be goes to the relief engineer, and the answer is that engineer's study.

How does it catch information a management of change left behind?

The change tracer reads closed changes against the books they should have touched. A change that raised a flow and left the limits or flow diagram blank shows up as a leaning book tied to that change. If the plant now runs outside a documented limit, the manager and the operations lead are paged the same day, and the unit's issue to its PHA revalidation waits.

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Bring one unit's books
and its relief files.

Send one unit's documents, and we will show you which books stand, which lean and which relief valves have lost their reason.

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