MOC 101—Fundamentals for effective change management

Abstract

AbstractManagement of change (MOC) is the cornerstone of a successful risk‐based process safety (RBPS) management program. Safe operation and maintenance of facilities that manufacture or store hazardous chemicals require robust process safety management (PSM) systems. The MOC element of a PSM program establishes a formal, documented, and authorization process for any proposed changes to manage changes that may introduce unexpected new hazards or increase the risk of existing hazards. Furthermore, the MOC process ensures that changes are communicated to potentially affected personnel, as well as ensures that all affected documentation is updated. A poor MOC program has been a root cause of several process safety incidents, including the Flixborough disaster. The temporary modifications did not go through a proper review process; an effective MOC program could have discovered the design flaws before the change was implemented and prevented the explosion. In addition to case studies such as this, this paper will provide an overview of best management practices and essential features for the MOC element, which can be used as a basis to develop or evaluate existing MOC management systems, and as a result, play a role in identifying hazards, managing risk, and sustaining safe operations.