Process Safety Fundamentals
The IOGP Process Safety Fundamentals (PSFs) have been developed to support companies as they seek to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, fatal and high severity process safety events.
Designed to support those working in front-line operations, maintenance, and on wells teams, the PSF are informed by data and designed to draw attention to situations that are most likely to lead to process safety event fatalities.
“NOPSEMA expects the oil and gas industry to take all practicable steps to eliminate fatalities and Major Accident Events across all their activities. We believe that adoption of the IOGP Process Safety Fundamentals will contribute to further reductions in Process Safety incidents and the achievement of that goal.”
Derrick O’Keeffe, Head of Division, Safety and Integrity, NOPSEMA
FAQs - Frequently asked questions about process safety fundamentals
What are the Process Safety Fundamentals?
The Process Safety Fundamentals (PSFs) are a set of basic principles for front-line workers, supervisors, and managers that emphasise existing good practices to prevent fatalities from Process Safety Events. Preventing Process Safety Events is important because they can escalate into catastrophic events.
Why use the Process Safety Fundamentals?
The Process Safety Fundamentals are different than and complementary to programs such as IOGP’s Life-Saving Rules, which focus on personal safety. The Process Safety Fundamentals program aims to enable front-line workers to raise concerns openly and transparently. It is expected that it may not always be possible to follow a particular Process Safety Fundamental, but with the Process Safety Fundamentals the front-line is empowered to raise issues and dilemmas, helping to ensure effective Process Safety Management, including potential engineering modifications to address the issues raised.
Is implementation of the Process Safety Fundamentals mandatory for IOGP Members?
No, implementation of the Process Safety Fundamentals is not mandatory for IOGP Members.
Annual data reported by IOGP Members shows an average of 5 fatal Process Safety Events per year. IOGP developed a set of Process Safety Fundamentals tailored to eliminate such events and help the industry to achieve zero fatalities. IOGP encourages Members and the wider industry to implement the Process Safety Fundamentals.
Implementatation resources
Download these resources to assist your implementation efforts
Supporting your front line
It is important that front-line workers are given the flexibility to use the PSFs as a supportive tool to help improve process safety performance.
There will be situations when trying to align with a PSF may prove difficult – this is expected.
The PSF should be launched in a way that enables and empowers the frontline workers to openly voice and report these dilemmas without fear of criticism or reprisal. Only by bringing these issues into the open can the implementing company learn of them and determine how to address them. PSFs are not intended to be seen as ‘another set of rules’, and it is strongly advised that they are not associated with disciplinary measures for non-conformance.
Video Showcase
Videos produced by IOGP Members as they implement PSF in their organization
These materials are freely shared by our IOGP-Members and Non-Members, if these have benefited your organization and you also have materials that you would like to share for the wider benefit of others, please contact Dr. Ismaeel Husain, IOGP Senior Health and Safety Manager at iah@iogp.org
Other videos and resources
The following resources have been published by other organisations and do not directly relate to the IOGP PSF, but they are excellent at explaining concepts, processes or lessons learned from events that are integral to the IOGP PSF.
- Always Safe
- Energy Institute Reflective learning (videos)
- Kaltura
- Step Change in Safety:
- CCPS Beacon
- US Chemical Safety Board videos
- Preliminary Animation of Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refinery Fire and Explosions
- Winterization Safety Message
- Fire in Baton Rouge
- Explosion and Fire at Refinery in Wisconsin
- Blowout in Oklahoma
- Anatomy of a disaster
- Fire from ice
- CSB Safety Bulletin Says “Managing Change” Is Essential to Safe Chemical Process Operations”.
- Safer Together videos and other tools in particular We all have a part to play
- UK Health and Safety Executive The safe isolation of plant and equipment
Where did the Process Safety Fundamentals come from?
The following represents an update of the data analysis that was done for the original Process Safety Fundamentals (PSFs), Report 638.
Data reported by IOGP Members over the 17-year period, 2007-2023, showed that 162 people lost their lives in 81 Process Safety Events (PSEs) (158 workforce, 4 third party).
Figure 1 shows the proportion of fatal PSEs that can be linked to at least one of the 10 IOGP PSFs. Of the 68 incidents where the IOGP Member Companies had provided sufficient details to allow an assessment to be completed, 64 incidents could be linked to at least one of the 10 IOGP PSFs.
Figure 1
Figure 2 shows how the 64 fatal PSEs were linked to each of the PSFs. In the initial analysis it was identified that some incidents could be linked to more than one of the PSFs. For the purposes of clarity, the chart shows the PSF that was considered the primary PSF involved in the incident.
Two of the ten PSFs, “We respect hazards” and “We report weak signals”, were not included in the original data analysis, but were added later in the selection process as it became clear that they were considered an underlying cause of many of the incidents.
Figure 2
A total of 158 workforce fatalities were associated with the 81 incidents included in the analysis. The number of workforce fatalities (105) that could be linked to one of the 10 PSFs is shown in Figure 3. Three of the 3 third party fatalities were assigned to the ‘We stay within operating limits’ PSF, and one was assigned to ‘We respect hazards’.
Figure 3
Figures 2 and 3 show that the PSFs linked to both the largest number of fatal incidents and the largest number of fatalities are:
- We maintain safe isolation
- We recognise change
- We apply procedures
- We control ignition sources
For more on the data analysis – see Process Safety Fundamentals.
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