Roles of contractors in process safety

- The critical roles of engineering contractors in managing risk throughout a plant life cycle have been discussed.
- Plant design process is analyzed to identify different process safety functional elements for specific design tasks.
- Responsibilities of the owners and the contractors to ensure process safety practices and standards have been outlined.
- A new initiative have been introduced to achieve the goal of global competency in process safety.

Process safety starts at the conceptual phase and continues throughout the entire life cycle of an asset. From process selection to de-commissioning, various process safety elements govern the safety and reliability of the total system. Contractors play a crucial role in project execution including detailed design, technology selection, plant layout, commissioning, start-up, and further expansion, modification and maintenance activities. The interface/interaction of the contractor with the operator/owner often defines the importance of process safety throughout this life cycle. Undoubtedly, these are the most critical phases of a plant life cycle which could trigger an unexpected or uncontrolled situation leading to a catastrophic incident. This paper discusses the impact of the contractors' role during major process safety events including the Phillips explosion in Pasadena (1989), Sonat vessel failure (1998), Texas City Refinery explosion (2005), T2 Laboratories explosion (2007) and a few others. Lessons from past incidents are highlighted and an in-depth analysis is conducted to identify essential process safety components for different groups of contractors and for the different phases of projects. Different aspects of process safety functional elements are presented and discussed for both greenfield and brownfield projects. A Comprehensive understanding of process safety and risk management is required by all levels of contractors to ensure risk-based decision making and hazard mitigation. Besides the process safety expertise needed by the contractors, the necessity of having a consistent and harmonized interaction between the operators/owners and the contractors is also emphasized.