An investigative study on the effective utilization of process hazard analysis (PHA) and safety instrumentation system (SIS) in chemical process industries

Abstract

Abstract This research paper focuses on effectiveness of process hazard analysis (PHA) and safety instrumented systems (SIS) interventions during process design and implementation which prevents accident and loss in chemical process industries. An initial preview was conducted to analyze the accidents and incidents in case of industrial and chemical process industries which enabled to define the research question in a scientific way. The research was conducted using a survey questionnaire developed with the help of focus group and was based on theoretical and conceptual framework developed for the study. The survey received responses from 36 participants who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The validity and reliability were established using confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity, and Cronbach’s Alpha. The data analysis methods were used to answer the research questions to test the hypotheses. From the results it is observed that PHA and SIS were in an agreeable range. However, the performance factors grouped based on barrier controls and organizational behavior were have moderate positive relationship. This showed there exists a gap in the PHA and SIS contributing factors which may directly or indirectly cause industrial accidents in the chemical process industries.

Keywords

• Safety management
• PHA
• SIS
• Process plant
• Chemical industries