TABLE OF CONTENTS The objective of Hazard and Operability Studies (Hazop) is to facilitate smooth, safe, and prompt commissioning of new plant, without extensive last-minute modifications, followed by trouble-free continuing operation.
The track record of Hazop studies is impressive. Wherever the technique has been applied in accordance with the principles set out below, the results have been:
smooth, trouble free commissioning and startup;
greatly reduced (expensive) last-minute modifications;
well-briefed staff; and
smooth subsequent operation, (except where Hazop recognized possible problems that were not subsequently resolved).
Hazop studies can take a variety of different forms, which can lead the casual observer to wonder what it is that makes a Hazop study different from some other form of meeting or review.
The essential features of a Hazop study are as follows:
It is a systematic, detailed study following a preset agenda.
It must be conducted by a team comprising members with a variety of backgrounds and responsibilities, representing all the groups with a responsibility for the operation (e.g., a Hazop of a new project in design would have representatives from design, construction, and ultimate operation).
It concentrates on exploring the possibility and consequences of deviations from normal or acceptable conditions.
It is an audit of a "completed" design, that is, the design would be sent for construction in that form if it were not for the Hazop study. (However, it is expected that the Hazop study will result in the design being changed; hence the use...
