Walk the Line

Abstract

Analysis of incident and event sharing data from sources such as the American Fuels and Petrochemical Manufacturers process safety portal indicate that a large number of process safety incidents have control of energy causes. The most fundamental responsibility of the process plant operator is to control the energy between any two points in the process. Failure to control this energy due to improper line‐up can lead to inadvertent mixing, challenges to safe operating limits, and loss of primary containment (LOPC). This article discusses a variety of practical conduct of operations topics that help the process operator bring consistency to operation in order to minimize line‐up errors and the process safety incidents that result from them. The concepts are: setting and reinforcing the expectation for energy control and establishing operational discipline (OD) and operational readiness. The OD topics discussed are: improved communication through shift notes, shift instructions, and operator evaluation, returning equipment to operation from maintenance, line labeling, and commissioning and process safety start‐up review activities. A brief case study is presented that discusses results from these activities—collectively called Walk the Line. Walk the line represents a culture change for operations where understanding of energy control each time a change is made in the process eliminates LOPC incidents. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 34: 126–129, 2015