The responsibilities of most technicians focus on

1.2 | Introduction to Process
Safety
Process Safety
Process safety – is described as the application of
engineering, science and human factors to the
design and operation of chemical processes and
systems.
The primary purpose of process safety is to
prevent injuries, fatalities, fires, explosions or
unexpected releases of hazardous materials.
Process safety focuses on the individual chemical
processes and operational procedure associated
with these systems.
A process safety analysis is used to establish safe
operating parameters, instrument interlock,
alarms, process design, and start up, shutdown,
and emergency procedures.
Process safety programs cannot completely
eliminate risk, they can only control and reduce
them.
the design and operation of the equipment and
systems they operate.
Safety
Safety is often described as an attitude that
includes careful planning, following safety rules,
safe work practices, and the use of personal
protective equipment.
Many technicians believe that safety is the single
most important aspect in running a process.
Safety-conscious people are invaluable assets that
cannot be replaced.
Good characteristics associated with the safe
operation of a chemical plant or refinery
include: having a familiarity with system
and being alert, serious, exact, and visualizing
any potential problems or risks.
The foundation of any safety program is the
people who work in the plant.
The Process Technician and the Chemical
Processing Industry

Occupational safety and health

This deals with items like personal protective

equipment, HAZCOM (Hazard Communication
Standard), permit systems, confined safe entry,
hot work, isolation hazardous energy, and so on.

HAZCOM is defined as increased plant worker

awareness of chemical hazards and gave
instruction on appropriate safety measures for
handling, sorting, storing and working with these
chemicals.
Process technicians are required to work with
existing systems and programs. Understanding
the key elements of process safety and
occupational safety allows technicians to
contribute significantly to the reduction of risks
and hazards associated with chemical processing
industry (CPI)
It is easier to describe the role of a doctor and the
medical profession, a lawyer and the criminal
justice system, or a school teacher and the
education community because we have grown up
watching them on television and hearing our
friends and parents describe them.
We know which occupations makes the most
money and the type of educational credentials
required.
Because the role of the process technician or
operator is such a specialized occupation,
geographically and occupationally, it is a little
more difficult to explain what a process technician
is.
Process operators
Process operators are typically found in areas that
are heavily industrialized.
The occupation of a process operator is best
defined by the chemical or process they are
working with.
Process technicians can be found in chemical
plants and refineries, the pulp and paper industry.
Food processing plants, power plants and many
other areas.
Roles and responsibilities
The roles and responsibilities of a process
technician will change depending on which area
they are working in.
Common relationships across the occupation
include:
*equipment and technology-valves, piping,
pumps, compressors, tanks, steam turbines,
motor, heat exchangers, cooling towers, boilers,
furnaces, reactors, distillation columns, wastewater
treatment system, plastic plant system, symbols
and diagrams and so on.
*instrument and electrical – instrumentation,
control loops
*maintenance – use hand tools, perform minor
maintenance, coordinate maintenance equipment
activities, fill oil reservoir and perform
housekeeping
*operation – start and stop process, control
industrial process and computer automation,
catch samples, makes rounds, fill out checklist and
troubleshoot problems.
*math and science – basic math, statistics, energy,
heat, heat transfer, pressure, temperature, fluid
flow, applied chemistry, applied physics, statistical
process control and control charts.
*language – reading, writing a and
communication
*computer technology – word processing, spread
sheets, database and internet
*safety, health and environment - general safety
rules, Process safety management (PSM), Hazard
Communication (HAZCOM), Hazardous Waste
Operations and Emergency Response
(HAZWOPER), respiratory protection, personal
protective equipment (PPE), fire protection,
Department of Transportation, environmental
regulations, permits and so on.
*human relations – interpersonal skills, working in
self directed work teams, attitudes and behaviors,
listening skills, working in self directed work team,
attitude and behaviors, listening skills,
communication, motivation, goal setting, and time
management.
*college skills – well rounded, broad based
education (Future technicians will need to have a
variety of educational experiences in order to
address the rapidly changing workplace).
Attitudes and Behaviors
Most prospective employers have a screening
device in their pre-employment interviews that
checks for specific safety attitudes and behaviors.
Strong candidates for employment who
demonstrate poor attitude toward safety will find
difficult to pass initial interviews.
The prospective employer will typically ask the
candidate,
“If you are given a direct order by your immediate
supervisor to perform a task that you feel is
unsafe, how will you respond?”.
The candidate’s answer to this question will
determine whether he or she will be hired by the
company.
Industrial employers are also concerned about
environmental issues, and a prospective
employee’s attitude toward environment.
The attitudes and behaviors for safe and
environmentally sound work habits include:
-working safely while performing job tasks -
complying with environmental rules and
regulations -responding to environmental spills
and release
-reporting unsafe acts and conditions -
maintaining good housekeeping
-obeying safety rules -studying safety and
environmental standards
-following standard operating procedure
-performing minor maintenance on leaking
equipment
New Technology and Potential for Catastrophic
Events
Over the past 20 years, many advances have
taken place that have revolutionized the chemical
processing industry (CPI). The CPI can now
produce more with fewer people because of new
technology. Several companies that employed
over 12,000 employees during the 1980’s are now
producing two to three times the product with
only 2,000 employees.
General Plant Safety Rules
General safety rules are designed to protect
human life, the environment, and physical
equipment or facilities. Before entering a refinery
or chemical plant, a simple overview of the
general plant safety rules is conducted.
These rules include the following:
-Do not go to a fire, explosion scene, accident or,
or vapor release unless you have specific duties or
responsibilities.
-Obey all traffic rules
-Do not park in designated fire lanes
-Report injuries immediately
-Stay clear of suspended loads
-Smoking and matches are not permitted in most
sections of the plant
-Drink from designated water fountains and
potable water
-Use the right tool for the right job
-Report to the designated equipment owner
before entering an operating area.
-Stay in your assigned area.
-Illegal drugs and alcohol are not allowed in the
plant
-Firearms and cameras are not allowed in the
plant
-Take steps to remove hazardous conditions.
-Review and follow all safety rules and procedures
including personal protective equipment, hazard
communication, respiratory protections, permit
system, and fire prevention
-Know and understand the following alarms and
rules associated with them: vapor release, fire or
explosion, evacuation, and all clear.
1.4 | Safety History
SAFETY HISTORY
First age of safety management — the technology
The first age of safety started with the Industrial
Revolution in 1750-1760 and the invention of the
steam engine.
Most accidents were from the technology failing,
injuring workers and the public. The focus of
safety management was to ensure the technology
was safe to use.
‘if the technology is safe, then we will be safe’.
This view of safety management became part of
what known as the ‘technical age’ or the age of
the technology.
This technical age saw improvements in the ability
to identify the ‘broken part’—the part of the
technology that failed—and avoid single
component failures. Sophisticated techniques
(such as probabilistic risk assessment) for
managing risky technology were developed for
this purpose.
Technological failures, problematic for so long,
could now be ‘engineered out of the system’. This
is what most people thought until the meltdown
of the Three Mile Island reactor (TMI).
The accident came as a surprise to engineers and
managers. Despite all the risk assessments and
technological safety features, the reactor
nevertheless melted down. The President’s
Commission into TMI found the causes to be
“people-related problems and not equipment
problems”.
As hardware and software had become
increasingly more reliable, the human contribution
to accidents had become ever more apparent.
In response, it was necessary for the focus of
safety management to expand so that the human
element (the human factor)—as well as the
technology—was addressed thus creating the
second age of safety management—the human
factors age.
Second age of safety management — the human
This age of safety management expanded to
focus on the human (human performance) as well
as technology.
Systems were designed to be human error
tolerant so neither human action nor single faults
would result in accidents. Much of this work
focused on man-machine interfaces and
workspace layout.
"if the human is safe, then we will be safe"
This view of safety management continued until
accidents such as the Challenger space shuttle
accident and Chernobyl reactor meltdown. Safety
practitioners were again required to rethink their
approach to managing safety. More than simply
technical faults or human error, the Presidential
Commission into Challenger found a “propensity
within management to contain potentially serious
problems”.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (
IAEA) reported similar findings and provided
recommendations that addressed more than
simply the technology or the people operating
the reactor.
“creation and maintenance of a nuclear safety
culture”
These accidents and others (such as the crash of
Air Ontario Flight 1363 and the Exxon Valdez oil
spill) sparked another paradigm shift in safety
management. No longer was it enough to simply
focus on the technology or the human.
Organisational factors (such as management and
safety culture) also needed to be addressed to
maintain safe operations.
This signalled the start of the third age of safety
management—the organisational age.
Third age of safety management — the complex interaction and interdependency also
organisation needs to be described, signalling the birth of the
current age of safety management—the holistic
This age of safety management expanded to
or systems age.
focus on the organisation as well as the human
and technology. Fourth age of safety management — the
systems/holistic age
Safety management in this organisational age saw
human error and technical failures more as a
consequence than a cause. Errors were viewed as
the ‘tip of the iceberg’ for more serious latent
conditions and problems higher up in the
organisation e.g. poor leadership for safety or
safety culture.

Without removing these problems and others

existing higher up in the organisation, failures at
the ‘sharp-end’ would continue e.g. without
removing the ‘parent problems’, ‘progeny’ errors
and technical failures will continue to appear. New
safety management models and assessments
appeared which enabled safety managers to find
This holistic approach aims to understand the
and then remove weaknesses higher up in the in
complexity of day-to-day work by describing the
the organisation (e.g. safety culture or climate
often complex interrelationships and
surveys) that could lead to serious accidents in the
interdependencies between the technology,
future.
human and organisation.
"if the organisation is safe, then we will be safe’
This allows the description of the organisation to
This view continued until accidents such as the more closely reflect the true reality today’s work
2003 Columbia Space Shuttle disaster. More than which can often be complex e.g. people working
simply isolated failures at the organisational level together using complex technology across
or clear human and technological failures, the multiple locations and divisions within the
Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) organisation.
found causes in the complex and interdependent
Without using this Holistic Safety approach, we
interactions of the technology, human and
are effectively only seeing part of the picture, or
organisation present at the time of the accident.
only a few pieces of the ‘puzzle’.
‘systems fail in complex ways’
Adopting the holistic approach means seeing
By trying to accurately describe this complexity, more clearly how each piece of the puzzle fits in,
the CAIB considered that control measures could affects, and is and dependent upon other pieces.
be better designed to prevent such accidents
This not only provides a more complete or ‘real’
happening again.
picture of the context but also means control
This accident and others sparked another measures and steps taken will be both more
paradigm shift in safety management. No longer efficient and effective at avoiding accidents. This is
was it enough to simply focus on technological, different to the other ages of safety where:
human and organisational factors in isolation. The
1. isolated or component failures are
identified e.g. blaming the person last in
line of the accident ‘chain’—people at the
‘sharp-end’

2. identifying upstream, contextual factors as

erroneous (e.g. poor safety culture)
without actually describing why they
appear.
1.5 | Occupational Safety and
Health Standards
Philippines, Occupational Safety and Health
Standards
The Occupational Safety and Health
Standards (OSH Standards), as amended in 1989
serves as the country’s central legislation in
promoting a safe and healthy workplace for all
working people by protecting them against all
hazards in their work environment.
On August 17, 2018 the OSH Law was updated
though Republic Act No. 11058, An Act
Strengthening Compliance with Occupational
Safety and Health Standards and Providing
Penalties for Violations Thereof. Its corresponding
Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) was
published on December 7, 2018 through
Department Order No. 198.
The regulations or areas covered by 1989 OSH
which have not been revised by R.A. No. 11058 still
applies. In order to promote the safety and health
of workers, the policies and programs
implemented aim to be dynamic, inclusive, and
gender-sensitive.
The Act applies to all establishments,
projects, sites, and other places where work is
being undertaken. This includes establishments
located inside special economic zones; utilities
engaged in air, sea, and land transportation; the
mining, fishing, construction, agriculture, and
maritime industries, among others; and
contractors and subcontractors engaged in
projects of the public sector.
However, the OSH standards do not apply to the
public sector as they have their own set of rules
and regulations issued by the Civil Service
Commission and other government agencies.
Institutional Structures and Mechanisms
To effectively implement the OSH
standards, the Secretary of Labor and
Employment has the authority to conduct annual
spot audits to check for compliance. No person or
entity shall obstruct, impede, or delay the orders
of the Secretary of Labor and Employment or
their representatives.
The Secretary may also order the stoppage of
work or suspension of operations of any unit of an
establishment when non-compliance with the law
or IRR poses grave and imminent danger to the
health and safety of workers in the workplace.
Duties and Rights of Employers and Workers
Duties of Employers
1. Provide a place of employment for workers
which is free from hazardous conditions
that are causing or are likely to cause
death, illness, or physical harm to the
workers.
2. Provide complete job safety instruction
and proper orientation to all workers,
including those relating to familiarization
with their work environment.
3. Ensure that chemical, physical, and
biological substances and agents and
ergonomic and psychosocial stressors do
not pose a risk to health.
4. Use only approved specific industry set of
standards of devices and equipment for
the workplace.
5. Comply with OSH standards: training,
medical examination, provisions on
protective and safety devices (e.g. PPE and
machine guards). Training for workers
includes health promotion, hazards
associated with their work, health risks
involved or to which they are exposed to,
preventive measures to eliminate or
minimize risks, steps to be taken in cases
 of emergency, and safety instruction for
the jobs, activities, and tasks to be handled
by workers.
6. Involve workers in the process of
organizing, planning, implementing,
monitoring, and evaluating the OSH
management system.
7. Provide for trainings and drills, evacuation
plans, etc., to deal with emergencies, fires,
and accidents including first-aid
arrangements.
8. Comply with all reportorial requirements of
the OSH standards.
9. Register establishment to DOLE
(Department of Labor and Employment).
10. Install safety signage and devices in
prominent positions and strategic
locations, in a language understandable to
all, and in accordance with OSH standards
on sign colors, to warn workers and the
public of hazards in the workplace
11. Have workers undergo appropriate
training and certification as a requirement
before the use of heavy duty equipment.
12. Is liable for complying with OSH
standards, including the penalties imposed
for violations.
13. In the case of a stoppage of work due to
imminent danger as a result of the
employer’s fault, the affected workers must
still be paid their corresponding wages
during the period of suspension of
operations.
Duties of Workers
Duties of Workers
1. Participate in capacity building activities on
safety and health.
2. Undergo the mandatory workers’ OSH
seminar.
3. Proper use of all safeguards and safety
devices provided for workers’ protection.
4. Comply with instructions to prevent
accidents or imminent danger situations in
the workplace.
5. Observe prescribed steps to be taken in
cases of emergency (i.e. participating
during the conduct of national or local
disaster drills.
6. Report to their immediate supervisor or
any other responsible safety and health
personnel any work hazard that may be
discovered in the workplace.
7. File claims for compensation benefits due
to work-related disability or death
Rights of Workers
1. Right to Know – All workers shall be
appropriately informed by the employer
about all types of hazards in the
workplace, and be provided access to
training, education, and orientation on
safety and risks.
2. Right to Refuse Unsafe Work – The worker
has the right to refuse work without threat
or reprisal from the employer if an
imminent danger situation exists.
3. Right to Report Accidents – Workers and
their representatives shall have the right to
report accidents, dangerous occurrences,
and hazards to the employer, to DOLE,
and other concerned government
agencies. They shall be free from any form
of retaliation for reporting an accident.
4. Right to Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) – Employers shall provide workers
PPE for any part of the body that may be
exposed to hazards; a lifeline, safety belt,
or harness; and respirators, masks, or
shields when necessary. This should be
free of charge.
5.
Workplace Requirements

OSH Program – Workplaces covered by the

OSH Standards must implement a suitable
OSH Program depending on its size and level
of risk. This program should be communicated
and be made readily available to all persons in
the workplace. Likewise, the establishment
should also submit a copy of their OSH
program to the DOLE Regional, Provincial,
Field, or Satellite Office having jurisdiction over
them.