Preventing and Curing Hazardous Scenarios on your Asset

Environment ::: Safety ::: Protection

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Safety Lifecycle Management

HAZOP
Standards
IL Analysis
Verification
FSA
Training

Hazop Facilitation

A hazard and operability study (HAZOP) is a structured and systematic process review of new, modified or an existing process The HAZOP is conducted by a suitably experienced multi-disciplinary team who together identify and evaluate consequence scenarios that may represent risks to personnel, the environment on their asset.

From experience, ESP understands the importance of the synergy between process hazard analysis (PHA or HAZOP) and instrumented risk reduction analysis (RGA or LOPA) which is the next progressive phase in the safety lifecycle. Using team guidance and the asset developed risk matrix, we record at the HAZOP phase not just safeguards and actions but the magnitude of consequences per process deviation to ensure a seamless transfer to the risk analysis phase.

Functional Safety Standards

It is important that the Safety Instrumented Systems on your asset are designed and managed from cradle to grave to include initial concept, design, implementation, modification, operation and maintenance right through to decommissioning. This is achieved through compliance with the following industry standards;

IEC 61508 – Functional Safety of Electrical//Electronic/ Programmable Electronic Safety-related Systems.

IEC 61511 – Functional Safety – Safety Instrumented Systems for the Process Industry Sector.

ANSI/ISAS84.00.001 Part 1, Section 5.

ESP’s commitment to operating within the guidelines of these standards ensures the continued ‘Management of Functional Safety’ throughout the Lifecycle of your asset.

Risk Assessment LOPA & RG Facilitation

The risk analysis phase of the safety lifecycle determines the level of residual risk remaining when all other non-SIF safeguards have been accounted for. This risk reduction requirement equates to an Integrity Level ‘IL’ target required of your Safety Instrumented Function necessary to reduce risk below a tolerable level.

ESP has experienced and Certified Functional Safety Engineers (CFSE) competent in the facilitation of the following IL determination methods;

Risk Graph Analysis (RGA) / (Qualitative).

Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) / (Semi-Quantitative).

ESP utilises the tried and trusted ABB commercial software package TRAC (Trip Requirement & Availability Calculator) for recording both RGA and LOPA reviews. When calibrated with your asset’s process risk analysis figures for safety, environmental and commercial impacts, TRAC provides a user friendly and structured interface for the review team and generates comprehensive reports to support your design.

SIF Verification

The verification scope is required early in the ‘Realisation Phase’ of the SIS Safety Lifecycle Plan. This key phase in the lifecycle helps determine the ‘Safety Requirement Specification’ of the Safety Instrumented System. The output of this phase is confirmation through calculation that each of your asset’s SIFs achieve their IL target against both reliability or average ‘Probability of Failure on Demand’ PFDavg and ‘Hardware Fault Tolerance’ HFT.

To verify achievement of the IL target, ESP utilises TRAC which;

Calculates PFD from simplified equations advised in ISA-TR84.00.02-2002 Part 2.

Configures the SIF architecture and voting requirements.

Provides required initiator and final element proof test interval requirements for Maintenance purposes.

If TRAC is not an option for your asset, ESP shall verify your SIF’s using simplified equations externally without use of software based calculation.

Functional Safety Assessments FSA

It is recommended that a formalised Functional Safety Assessment (FSA) be carried out at various stages of the functional safety lifecycle;

Stage 1 – on completion of the SRS; completion of process safety design configurations and related SIF modelling analysis.

Stage 2 – on completion of design and engineering of the SIS.

Stage 3 - on completion of the installation and commissioning of the SIS and prior

Stage 4 – After gaining operating and maintenance experience, typically 2 to 3 years.

Stage 5 - After modification and prior to decommissioning of the SIS.

The Stage 3 FSA is mandatory under IEC-61511 and needs to be conducted to ensure the hazards arising from the process are properly controlled.

ESP has experience and competence in this area. Note. FSAs should be chaired by an appropriately competent and independent person e.g. TUV Functional Safety Expert not otherwise involved in the project.

Functional Safety Training

The IEC 61511 standard requires that all persons, departments and organisations involved with the SIS lifecycle are competent and are informed of the responsibilities assigned to them. That competency can come from a mixture of knowledge, training and experience and will be specific to each person’s role.

ESP provide comprehensive onshore and offshore SIS awareness training for the following personnel;

SIS Engineer on the Asset / Project

SIS Engineer in an asset Operations support role.

SIS Technician in a Maintenance Role.

Safeguarding Design

Alarms
ESD  Design
Philosophy
SRS

Alarm Rationalisation & Review

Process alarms could provide a critical layer of risk reduction for your asset and when prioritised and responded to correctly, could prevent a demand on a Safety Instrumented Function and subsequent executive action leading to plant downtime.

Alarm rationalisation provides a mechanism for consistently and quantitatively determining whether a parameter should be alarmed and if so, at what relative importance (priority). The rationalisation method considers the maximum response time in conjunction with the consequence severity to define the proposed alarm priority.

Alarm reviews are similar to process hazard analysis in that they rely on the experience of asset operations, process and control engineers and their ability to evaluate causes, consequences, and corrective actions associated with each process alarm. The outcome shall determine the optimum ‘Alarm Management Philosophy’ for your asset ensuring alarm criticality is quickly identified and the required alarm response and timescale adhered to.

ESP is competent in the facilitation of the alarm rationalisation process taking guidance from the leading industry standard EEMUA 191.

ESD System Logic Design

Upon completion of the ‘Analysis’ phase of the Safety Lifecycle and into the ‘Realisation’ phase the creation of the following key design deliverables are essential to the design of the SIS logic design;

ESD Shutdown Level Hierarchy (Diagrammatic representation of high level shutdown actions from ‘Abandonment’ level to ‘Process’ levels).

Cause and Effects (Input and Output representation chart describing your major asset shutdown level logic and process systems logic).

Safety Narratives (Comprehensive description of logic, which is too detailed or complex to be described on the Cause and Effects charts).

With years of experience in designing Safeguarding systems, ESP are happy to provide consultancy to assist with or deliver to completion the above suite of documents whilst engaging your ESD system vendor for implementation of the agreed design.

ESD Philosophy

The ESD philosophy is a key deliverable for your design and contains but is not limited to the following items and specifications;

Functional Overview.

Reset Facilities.

System Overrides.

ESD System Interfaces

ESD Interlocks

ESD Response Times

SIF Details & Configuration

Proof Test Fequencies

Description of ESD Hierarchy Shutdown Levels

ESP has extensive experience and knowledge in collating Project ESD Philosophies and conducting gap analysis between your ESD Philosophy and Asset documentation.

Development of the Safety Requirement Specification

The principal aims and objectives of the ESD system are;

1:   The protection of personnel.

2:   The prevention and minimisation of pollution of the environment.

3:   The protection of plant and equipment.

4:   Provision of continuity of production by minimising spurious shutdowns.

It is paramount that an asset specific ‘Safety Requirements Specification’ is created to assist with the system design and, in conjunction with all lifecycle documentation, ensure that your performance standards and the above ESD objectives are achieved for your asset or new project. The SRS follows Clause 10 of BS IEC 61511-1 and it defines the user’s requirements of how the SIFs are designed and implemented into the Safety Instrumented System.

ESP has experience in delivering comprehensive SRS documentation, which can be ultimately the basis of validation for your Safety Instrumented System.

Accreditation & Certification

All ESP Chartered Consultants held accountable for functional safety engineering activities are Certified Functional Safety Engineers (CFSE) through attendance at an independently assessed TÜV approved training course and are graded as follows;

HAZOP Facilitators - (Process Hazard & Risk Analysis / PH&RA) registered Functional Safety Expert by TÜV Rheinland.

RGA or LOPA Facilitators – (Safety Instrumented Systems / SIS) registered Functional Safety Expert by TÜV Rheinland.

Practitioners of Training – (PH&RA and SIS) registered Functional Safety Expert by TÜV Rheinland.

Contact Functional Safety

Contact Functional Safety Specialist

ESP Global Ltd

Telephone :
07495897289

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Join Us

Registering For Functional Safety

ESP Global is a developing business always looking to expand through the continued recruitment of experienced and certified PH & RA qualified HAZOP personnel and CFSE's. If you fall into this category then we would like you to register with us and be part of a growing list of top quality professional practitioners. Together we can provide a remote service with one common goal which is the Management of risk. We are currently interested in candidates with three to five years prior and relevant functional safety experience in the Oil and Gas and Energy sectors. Interested candidates should send their current CV

     info@espconsultants.co.uk

Please note it is our policy not to pay fees to recruitment consultants. Candidates should approach us directly.

Fire & Gas Design

Tech Safety
3D Mapping
Gap Analysis
FRA / FHA
Area Class

Technical Safety Fire and Gas & Risk Assessment

From our extensive project design and project management experience within the oil and gas sector, ESP are experts in providing Fire and Gas safety system solutions.

Fire and gas detection systems are an essential safety system within oil and gas processing facilities; they protect people, the environment and the asset. They also provide early warning of hazardous situations. Detecting such events is important to alert personnel and prevent escalation.

These systems are often designed with a poor understanding of the quantifiable risks involved. While detector reliability might be very high, the safety performance of a F&G system strongly depends on layout and coverage. Current industry standards for on-shore and offshore applications do not define the performance target’s which can lead to difficulty in defining the standard expected of a Fire and Gas detection system.

ESP consultants have over 50 years combined experience in the design and development of Fire and Gas control and safety systems.

These services include project management, Fire and Gas studies, system functional design specification and system solution design.

3D Fire and Gas Mapping

The software Insight Numerics Detect3D is unique among F&G software products in that it works directly with project CAD files, and accounts for the effect of all geometric challenges on the detectors, such as obstructing a flame detector’s field-of-view.

Direct3D Thumbnail

Benefits include:

Fit-for-purpose detection at minimum cost.

Significant savings on capital expenditure and operating costs.

Reduced design times.

Improved reliability.

A clean compliance audit trail

Fire and Gas Gap Analysis

ESP can carry out F&G Gap Analysis on your existing system to verify if it complies with the latest international industry standard guidelines and system performance standards and to ensure that system meets its design requirements.

Operators have found these studies to be invaluable in ensuring their systems and procedures are up to date and fully compliant with industry standards.

Fire Hazard Assessments

A fire hazard assessment looks at removing and reducing the risk of fire. The FHA is a process involving the systematic evaluation of the factors that determine the hazard from fire, the likelihood that there will be a fire and the consequences if one were to occur. There are both qualitative and quantitative methods of fire hazard assessment that can be used.

The review can be conducted on existing systems or at FEED stage of a project.

ESP can provide both Fire Risk Assessment FRA or FHA services with our aim to recommend areas for improvement if required and as a member of the Fire Protection Association, ESP have access to the most up to date tools essential for carrying out these types of studies.

Hazard Area Classification

Hazardous Area Classification for Flammable Gases and Vapours;

ESP Area classification is carried out by direct analogy with typical installations described in established codes, or by more quantitative methods that require a more detailed review of the specific plant. Our starting point is to identify sources of release of flammable gas or vapour. These may arise from constant activities; from time to time in normal operation; or as the result of some unplanned event.

Hazardous areas are defined in DSEAR as "any place in which an explosive atmosphere may occur in quantities such as to require special precautions to protect the safety of workers". In this context, 'special precautions' is best taken as relating to the construction, installation and use of apparatus, as given in BS EN 60079.

Area classification is a method of analysing and classifying the environment where explosive gas atmospheres may occur. The main purpose is to facilitate the proper selection and installation of apparatus to be used safely in that environment, taking into account the properties of the flammable materials that will be present.

Fire & Gas Assurance

Fire and Gas Technology Training

The ESP fire and gas detection design course offers delegates an understanding of fire and gas detection design using international and industry best standards and reviews detection technologies including their strengths and weaknesses.


Course Aims;

To provide candidates with a solid grounding in Offshore and Onshore Fire and Gas Systems

To give candidates an understanding of design techniques and advice on international and industry good practice guidelines.

Introduction to software techniques and how they are employed for the development of a complete performance-based design.

Review technologies used in modern day devices with their strengths and weakness

Contact Fire & Gas

ESP Global Ltd

Telephone:
07495897289

Contact Fire & Gas Specialist

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form

Join Us

Registering For Fire & Gas

ESP Global is a developing business always looking to expand through the continued recruitment of experienced Fire and Gas engineers or degree qualified Fire engineers. If you fall into this category then we would like you to register with us and be part of a growing list of top quality professional practitioners. Together we can provide a remote service with one common goal which is to promote Fire and Gas detection design and good industry practices. We are currently interested in candidates with three to five years prior and relevant experience in the Oil and Gas and Energy sectors. Interested candidates should send their current CV to: 

     info@espconsultants.co.uk

Please note it is our policy not to pay fees to recruitment consultants. Candidates should approach us directly.

About Us

ESP Global prides itself in providing a valued and professional service to our clients through decades of experience in Functional Safety and Fire and Gas design. Our strength as a company is down to the versatility and experience of our consultants and support staff but equally, we at ESP understand where our specialist competencies lie and it is this mind-set that is key to us delivering, time and time again, a quality product that exceeds our client’s expectations.