Methods for Conducting the PHA
The employer must use one or more of the following methods, as appropriate, to determine and evaluate the hazards of the process being analyzed:
- What-if Study - asking what-if questions during review of an uncomplicated processes;
- Checklist - a what-if study of a more complicated process using a checklist;
- What-if/Checklist - a team of specialists develops specific questions and achieves consensus on recommendations;
- Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP) - a formally structured method to analyze possible deviations in design conditions;
- Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) - a systematic study of component failures. This review starts with a diagram of the operation, and includes all components that could fail and conceivably affect the safety of the operation;
- Fault Tree Analysis - either a qualitative or a quantitative model of all the undesirable outcomes, such as a toxic gas release or explosion, that could result from a specific initiating event; or
- An appropriate equivalent method.
Different methods for various parts of the process may be used. For example, a process involving a series of unit operations of varying sizes, complexities, and ages may use different methods and team members for each operation. Then the conclusions can be integrated into one final study and evaluation.
An expanded discussion of these methods of analysis is contained in OSHA Publication 3133, Process Safety Management Guidelines for Compliance.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
4-4. Which PHA method is a systematic study of component failures using a diagram of an operation?
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