A holistic approach for process design, control and safety analysis through a model-based improved HAZOP that utilizes dynamic simulations, is presented and illustrated for the formic acid (FA) process. First, this study develops a plantwide control (PWC) system for the FA process having a reactive dividing-wall column (R-DWC) and multiple material recycles besides the snowball effect, presence of which poses difficulty in PWC. A systematic and hierarchical integrated framework of simulation and heuristics is used for PWC design. Performance of the developed control structure is assessed using several criteria having PWC perspectives. Results indicate that the developed PWC system rejects typical disturbances while maintaining FA purity. Finally, process safety is studied using a new model-based improved HAZOP, where quantitative as well as qualitative analysis can be performed unlike only qualitative analysis in conventional HAZOP. Novelty of this work is the study of PWC and safety of an intensified FA process.