HAZARD & OPERABILITY STUDY (HAZOP)
A powerful tool for identifying the causes of undesirable plant conditions

Most industrial licensing authorities and insurance companies require operating companies to carry out hazard studies and risk assessments during a facility design, as well as prior to construction and during operation.

The authorities require that the hazard studies be recorded and acted-upon, and that they be subject to management audit and approval.

What is HAZOP?
HAZOP study is well-proven structured team-based method for hazard identification at process design completion or for planned modifications. The technique makes detailed examination of the process and engineering intention of new or existing facilities to assess the hazard potential of operation outside the design intention, or malfunction of individual items of equipment and their consequential effects on the facility as a whole.

HAZOP is led by an experienced facilitator. For an oil & gas project, a core team would typically include personnel from Process, Instruments, Machines, Project Engineering, and Operations, and it might require the involvement of process technologists, environmental specialists and corporate Health & Safety and Environment (HSE) staff for some parts of the work.

What are the benefits?
Comprehensive hazard identification is the cornerstone of effective risk management since if a hazard has not been identified then measures can not be put in place to mitigate the risk. A hazard that has been overlooked can have a significant impact on the overall success of the venture. An effective HAZOP provides the most penetrating design review, covering safety, environment, operations, and maintenance.

HAZOP ensures that:
- Potential deviations from intended design function are identified and corrected
- HSE process and equipment hazards are revealed
- Actions for necessary process or instrumentation improvements can planned
- Action responses are auditable by Managements and Legislative Inspectorates