Improving process safety culture through developing and maintaining the sense of vulnerability at all levels in the organization

Abstract

AbstractIn Chola MS Risk Services, we differentiate between safety culture and process safety culture to improve the sense of vulnerability toward anticipating incidents with high severity, called process incidents. Culture is termed how employees are following safety even when no one is watching. In building a risk‐conscious organization, the attribute of maintaining a sense of vulnerability plays a major role. This article will share the experience of the Chola MS Risk Services gained through the implementation of process safety management (PSM) in various sectors across the country to the level of sense of vulnerability that exists in the organization with field‐related examples and challenges faced by the Indian industries in improving the same. This article will also highlight that the sense of vulnerability also brings in the sense of vigilance over various parameters even in apparently steady‐state, smooth operations. Even slight changes in critical parameters will “ring a cautionary bell” where there is a sense of vulnerability.