Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP)

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.

Hazard and Operability studies (HAZOP) is often carried out later in the design phase, which often causes project delays or costly design changes. Therefore, many clients require a HAZID study during early design so that hazards can be avoided or reduced.

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

What is HAZOP?

Hazard and HAZOP studies are a well-proven structured team-based method for hazard identification at process design completion or for planned modifications. The technique is a 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.

In addition to the experienced facilitator, 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 environmental staff for some parts of the work.

Comprehensive hazard identification is the cornerstone of effective risk management since, if a hazard has not been identified, measures cannot be put in place to mitigate the risk.

Bureau Veritas can work with you to ensure an effective HAZOP takes place that provides the most penetrating design review, covering safety, environment, operations and maintenance.

HAZOP study - The benefits

• Potential deviations from intended design function are identified and corrected
• Health, safety and environmental process and equipment hazards are revealed
• Actions for necessary process or instrumentation improvements can be planned
• Action responses are auditable by management and legislative inspectorates

Our approach for HAZOP

Bureau Veritas believes that hazard study is an integral part of the design of oil & gas facilities. Bureau Veritas offers hazard study leadership services across all phases of plant design, from feasibility and FEED, to detailed design, and to construction and commissioning. Bureau Veritas often takes full responsibility for HAZOP study recording and reporting, so that administrative burdens on designer and client personnel are minimised.

Bureau Veritas also offers attendance at designer/ client project meetings, so that an overview of all HSE issues is available at the meetings, and so that timely advice can be sourced when specialist hazard information may be needed.

An example of the parameter guideword combinations used for identification of possible process problems.

Experts in Hazard and operability studies (HAZOP) & HAZOP risk assessment

Bureau Veritas has planned, managed, delivered, and reported hundreds of HAZOP studies throughout the world. In many cases these have then been followed by response tracking and response validation, to help ensure that the project is sufficiently acceptable for design completion, procurement, and construction.

Our clients continue to use our engineers due to their pragmatic approach to workshop facilitation, which ensures group participation and a comprehensive asset lifecycle. We provide transparent, clear and auditable reports to demonstrate compliance to Health & Safety Regulations that site risk is being managed to levels as low as reasonably practicable. This means supporting our clients in the management of hazards and implementation of any necessary safeguards identified during the workshop.