Revised Industry Guidance on Managing Safety Critical Elements

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Abstract Many organisations operating in the high hazards industrial sectors have process safety management (PSM) systems in place; but what does PSM mean in practice when there are many safety risk reduction measures to manage, and are some more important than others? The objective was to improve capability of managing safety critical elements (SCEs) by revising the established 2nd edition industry’ technical publication ‘Guidelines for Management of Safety Critical Elements’ (Energy Institute 2007). Through a cross-company collaborative Energy Institute working group, industry was engaged in a technical development project to capture experience in SCE management since publication of the 2nd edition (Energy Institute 2007). Whilst The term SCE originates in the UK E&P sector legislation, experience is that SCE management concepts in the E&P sector have since been applied internationally across Europe through to Australasia, driven by a European Directive and national requirements, respectively. In addition, industry engagement showed that SCE management concepts also have been applied beyond the E&P sector to petroleum refining and bulk storage, and conventional (thermal) power generation. The 3rd edition (Energy Institute 2019) has updated the 2nd edition (Energy Institute 2007) so as to: capture industry experience in SCE management; make it applicable to a wider range of facilities, and recognise the range of maturity of international legislation and competent authority requirements for SCE management, which include some that mandate verification through to those with little specific requirement for MAH management. In doing so, the 3rd edition provides: new guidance on SCE development and management in project phases, from initial SCE suitability through to ongoing SCE suitability; new guidance on the role of human and organisational factors in SCE management; new guidance on management of change (MoC), which is a challenge to SCE management; additional guidance on developing performance standards (PSs); additional guidance on assurance aspects of SCE management, to address an imbalance with the amount of guidance on verification; new guidance on implementation of SCE integrity assurance, such as its interface with maintenance management; new guidance on SCE management at system, equipment and component levels; new guidance on determining SCE criticality; new guidance on SCE performance, review and continual improvement, and new guidance on SCE ageing, obsolescence and life extension. In addition, the 3rd edition provides practical examples to support the guidance. The 3rd edition (Energy Institute 2019) provides a robust and updated ‘industry’ benchmark of good practice in managing SCEs for organisations operating in the high hazards industrial sectors. Adopting its guidance should enable them to ensure initial and ongoing suitability of SCEs, and so contribute to improving their PSM capability.