Facilitating and quantifying industry improvements

This commitment has been shaped by evolving industry needs, reflecting a deep commitment to safety. In response to this commitment, API introduced the non-profit and voluntary Process Safety Site Assessment Program (PSSAP®) for the hydrocarbon and chemicals processing sector in 2012, which has been helping processing plants worldwide improve their process safety management programmes. Appropriate for any site that processes hydrocarbons or chemicals, PSSAP’s industry-created good practice protocols help sites guide their continuous improvement efforts, whilst also providing necessary benchmarking that allows them to compare the maturity of their programmes with those of their peers.

Programmatic benchmarking efforts

PSSAP is applicable to any site that processes hydrocarbons, chemicals, or is otherwise regulated by OSHA’s Process Safety Management (PSM) regulations. While API does not conduct regulatory audits, PSSAP addresses many of the same areas covered by OSHA’s PSM. However, PSSAP diverges in its approach by drawing on industry expertise to inform what good practice looks like globally, aiming to help sites mature their process safety management programmes far beyond what is required by OSHA’s PSM.

In addition to bringing expertise to these sites to help them understand industry good practices, API benchmarks these site-specific programmes. This quantification of site-specific maturity gives sites the ability to compare their performance, in a blinded and anonymous way, with the maturity of other sites. After their assessment, sites are given a readout of their performance and benchmarking information that provides them with a statistical-based analysis of their performance across the industry. Additionally, they can discuss with the assessors how to better mature programmes relative to the 600+ requirements contained in the PSSAP protocols, which can help sites populate continuous improvement plans.

Since 2012, API has conducted over 180 PSSAP assessments at sites around the world. These comprise refineries, petrochemical plants, LNG processing, tank farm operations (both adjacent to refineries and standalone), and chemical plants of varying sizes and throughput volumes. PSSAP is successful at assessing sites of all sizes, from small plants with relatively small throughput, all the way up to the largest refineries in the world with the highest throughput. As a result of the programme’s success at assessing such a large number of sites, API has confidence that the benchmarking is representative of the industry and can therefore be used to understand larger industry trends. API and the Advancing Process Safety Initiative (APS), a joint initiative to improve process safety with the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), analyse the benchmarking data for both trends in industry-wide improvements and in areas that require further attention from industry to help improve performance.

When PSSAP first analysed the benchmarking data, it was discovered that some specific topics within the mechanical integrity umbrella could use more specific emphasis and industry tools. As a result, APS began programmatic efforts to address walk-the-line topics, creating and distributing tools widely across the industry. Because of these efforts, PSSAP was able to quantify how well these programmes were improving across the industry in subsequent years. These walk-the-line efforts by APS were followed by an increase in the industry benchmarking average for the topic by approximately 40%.

This article was originally published in the March 2024 issue of Hydrocarbon Engineering magazine. To read the full article, sign in or register for a free subscription.

Written by Colin Frazier, American Petroleum Institute (API)

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/special-reports/06032024/facilitating-and-quantifying-industry-improvements/