Assessment of Hazard Analysis and Implementation of STPA in Process Industry

Abstract

High-performance computing has changed the world on its head with capabilities of image processing and artificial intelligence. The world of Energy and chemical has also changed with the adoption of these highly complex computing power and software capabilities of the modern processors by adoption of smart measurement technology (in sensors and final elements) and development of complex software algorithms. The modern technology has helped to put the plants to optimum level of operation and close to design margins to maximize profitability, which resulted in adding to the complexity of process control strategies. With the advent of complex software capabilities the understanding the flaws in the specification and hazard identification process is not well understood. Process Industry uses many available tools / techniques for HAZARD identification but many of these techniques predate to the advent of these advancement being made in the computer technology. Industry uses international performance based standards viz. IEC 61508/61511 which do provide guidelines to eliminate the “systematic errors” that may propagate through the design of the safety systems life cycle and render the safety system useless in certain modes of operation. Still there have been many incidents /near misses that have the potential to cause hazard to the People, Asset and environment which highlights that there is a plank missing which can help and reduce the number of incidents by designing more robust safety systems. STAMP model address these concerns which indicate that “the safety related incidents can be related to flaws in requirement specification” (Prof. Nancy Leveson)