Safety in your company is a top priority, have you completed a process hazard analysis recently? When you complete a thorough PHA it improves safety, benefits your employees, streamlines the process and boosts your bottom line. In this slideshow, you can learn more about what a Process Hazard Analysis is, how it is completed properly and what to do with that information.

1. Process Hazard Analysis

2. CONTENTS
• What is a Process Hazard Analysis (PHA)?
• What does a PHA analyze?
• What will a PHA determine?
• Who is on a PHA team?
• The Facilitator
• Common PHA methods
• Choosing hazard identification techniques
• What will a PHA address?
• Corrective actions and follow-throughs
CONTENTS
• What is a Process Hazard Analysis (PHA)?
• What does a PHA analyze?
• What will a PHA determine?
• Who is on a PHA team?
• The Facilitator
• Common PHA methods
• Choosing hazard identification techniques
• What will a PHA address?
• Corrective actions and follow-throughs

3. WHAT IS A PROCESS HAZARD ANALYSIS?
Process Hazard Analysis:
a systematic effort designed to identify and analyze
hazards associated with processing or handling of highly
hazardous material: and a method to provide
information which will help workers and employers in
making decisions that will improve safety.

4. WHAT IS PROCESS
HAZARD ANALYSIS?
When you perform a process hazard analysis you are
seeking to identify all of the possible hazards that exist in
any given industrial process and creating contingency
plans to reduce risks associated with that particular
hazard. A PHA provides managers and workers with the
information they need to make decisions that will
improve safety and reduce risks in their facility.

5. WHAT DOES A
PHA ANALYZE?
These consequences include:
• Fire
• Explosion
• Release of toxic chemicals
These aspects include:
• Equipment
• Instrumentation
• Human actions
• Other factors
A Process Hazard Analysis is analyzing all of the protentional causes
of consequences that exist throughout a process.
During a Process Hazard Analysis, we are also looking at aspects of
the process that could affect the outcome.

6. WHAT WILL A PHA DETERMINE?
When you complete a Process Hazard Analysis in your
facility, you are determining:
• Failure points
• Methods of operation
• Any factors that could lead to accidents
When you can foresee all of the possible risks in your
process you can prevent accidents and improve safety.

7. WHO IS ON A PHA TEAM?
For your PHA to be effective you must have the right team in place. Include contributors and other workers who
have knowledge of the standards, codes, specifications and regulations which apply to the process being studied.
Include the following team members in your PHA:
• A facilitator
• A scribe
• Engineers
• Operators
• Supervisors
• Other workers
*This can be broken down finer into “What do each of these team members look like.”

8. THE FACILITATOR
In most cases, a facilitator is a third-party brought in to help with a PHA. A
facilitator will help provide direction for the analysis, organize and execute
the analysis activities. Any team meeting that will be held as part of the
study will be led by the facilitator.
What are some characteristics of an effective facilitator?
• Strong interpersonal skills
• In-depth understanding of the scope and objective of the analysis
• Independence and separation from the design team (often a third party)

9. COMMON
PHA
METHODS
Checklist
What if
Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP)
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)
Fault-Tree Analysis
When performing a Process Hazard Analysis there are several
methods you can use depending on the process being evaluated,
and the resources in place to perform the PHA.

10. CHECKLIST
The checklist method of performing a
PHA uses established codes, standards
and well-understood hazardous
operations as a checklist again which to
compare a process. A good checklist is
dependent on the experience level and
knowledge of those who develop it.

11. WHAT IF
The what if approach to PHA uses a multi-
skilled team to create and answer a series
of “what-if” type questions. This method
has a relatively loose structure and is only
as effective as the quality of the questions
asked and the answers given. This takes
buy in from employees in order to find
the most thorough answers to create in-
depth contingency plans.

12. HAZARD AND
OPERABILITY STUDY
(HAZOP)
The HAZOP approach to PHA is a
structured systematic review that
identifies equipment that is being used in
a way that it is not designed to be, and
which might create hazards or operational
problems. HAZOP’s are usually conducted
by a multi-skilled team that studies piping
and instrument diagrams. Each pipeline
and vessel are evaluated for certain
limitations and deviations in flow,
temperature, pressure, etc.

13. FAILURE MODE AND
EFFECTIVE ANALYSIS
(FMEA)
A FMEA PHA is a systematic study of the
consequences of failure (breakdown) of
certain operational hardware such as
transmitters, controllers, valves, pumps,
etc.

14. FAULT-TREE ANALYSIS
A Fault-Tree Analysis PHA draws a picture
(model) that shows what undesirable
outcomes might result from a specific
initiating event (for example, a pipe
rupture in a pipe rack). It uses graphics
and symbols to show the possible order
of events which might result in an
accident. This method is sometimes used
in accident investigations to determine
probable causes.

15. CHOOSING A
HAZARD
IDENTIFICATION
TECHNIQUE
The method of process hazard analysis
used in a specific application is
determined through the following
factors:
• Motivation for the hazard evaluation
• Types of results needed
• Type of information available to
perform the study
• Characteristics of the analysis problem
• Perceived risk of the subject process or
activity
• Resource availability and preference

16. WHAT WILL A PHA ADDRESS?
When performing a PHA, be sure it addresses all of the following issues:
• The hazards of the process
• Previous incidents which could have been catastrophic
• Engineering and administrative controls
• The consequences of failure of engineering and administrative controls
• Facility siting
• Human factors; and
• The range of possible safety and health effects caused by the failure of controls.

17. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS AND FOLLOW-THROUGHS
It isn’t enough to conduct a Process Hazard Analysis. The employer should establish a set
of procedures that will promptly deal with the findings of the PHA.
Follow-up is a critical part of any PHA, yet this is usually the weakest link in the process.
Sometimes recommendations are “resolved” by a manager just saying “no.”
Diligent companies prepare quarterly status reports on PHA recommendations and include
this in their audit program. Worker safety representatives should be involved in each step
of the follow up.
An effective process safety program includes workers on the front end and on the follow
up.

18. CONCLUSION
When performing a Process Hazard Analysis at your
company, there is a lot to consider. You want to choose
the right company to work with, assemble the right team,
determine which method will work best for your process,
and follow-through. Doing a PHA internally can be
stressful and put more work on everyone’s plate. If you
have questions about performing a PHA or you would like
to partner with a company to facilitate your PHA – contact
NGE today.
www.NGEConsulting.com