Chapter 16 - Managing a risk and reliability program

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This chapter discusses the development and ongoing management of risk, reliability, and process safety management programs in the process industries. Some thoughts are also provided regarding the qualifications and attributes that should be possessed by a professional working in these areas. The process risk and reliability programs, potential clients and customers include the following: senior management, facility managers, project managers and design engineers, and regulators/auditors. Risk and reliability programs are organized like any other management program using a structure such as the following: determine the objectives of the program, set up an organization, create the metrics and baseline, develop a plan, implement the plan, and audit and improve. Management must define the objectives that are to be met by the risk management program. The development of a risk management program is to set up an organization. In order to measure progress, a system of metrics for each element is needed—there must be some way in which management can assess progress in numerical terms. Having developed an organization and a plan, the first step in implementing a risk management program—at least on a reasonably large facility—is to develop a guide which will provide assistance as to its practical implementation at that site. The order in which the elements will be implemented depends on the circumstances at each facility