Safety recommendations for small businesses and/or plants

Safety Recommendations forSmall Businesses and/or PlantsTrevor Kletz

Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/prs.10018

Small companies and small plants do not have theresources of larger ones but this does not mean thatthey have to have lower standards of safety, althoughthe staff may have to be a bit more self-reliant than theircolleagues in larger companies. There are many excel-lent books and magazines they can read and a lot canbe found on the Internet. But reading will only take usso far. For the messages to really sink in, we needsomething more active. Here are two suggestions.

Select some incidents from one of the books ofaccident case histories or from publications such asProcess Safety Progress or the Loss Prevention Bulletin(published by the UK Institution of Chemical Engi-neers). Give one case history to each member of yourteam and ask him or her if it could happen in his or her

plant and if so what should be done to prevent it. Givethem a week to find the answer and then let thempresent it in a meeting where others can discuss it.

Alternatively, get someone to describe an incidentbriefly in a meeting—perhaps an accident that hashappened in his or her plant—and then let the othersquestion him or her to find out all the facts and then letthem say what THEY THINK should be done to preventit from happening again. More will be rememberedthan if the discussion leader merely lectured. In thediscussion case the audience will be more committedto the actions because they are theirs, not instructionsimposed from above.

© 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers

A. BrownRisiko Safety Analysis Ltd., Brazil


Safety starts at the initial phase of project engineer-ing in small companies and production plants. Impor-tant prevention and protection ideas are developedhere. At this phase, risk analysis is an important tool forhelping personnel to identify potential hazards and thepotential effects of these hazards. When the detailedproject engineering phase is about 80% complete, asafety conformity test should be performed to verify theimplementation of the safety recommendations madeat the previous initial project engineering phase.

Especially in small plants, after performing risk anal-ysis a team (engineers, safety personnel, and manag-ers) must prepare a plan to promote the continuous useof safe technology and practices. This team must alsoprepare emergency plans to respond appropriately toplant incidents such as fires, explosions, and/or toxicemissions. The emergency plan should include respon-

sibilities, a sequence of actions, and the required infra-structure (telephones, hospitals, police, fire depart-ment, governmental agencies, etc.).

The engineering safety and risk analysis should cov-er: (a) reaction kinetics, (b) safety equipment, devices,and procedures, (c) fire protection equipment, (d) re-lief devices, and (e) controls including redundanciesand safety interlocks.

Finally, it is strongly recommended that the ownersof small companies and plants insist that their manag-ers: (a) truly manage the implementation of the aboverecommendations, (b) give safety an equal importanceto production, and (c) never include safety in cost-cutting initiatives.


Process Safety Progress (Vol.23, No.2) June 2004 83

Lisa Long,U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, Washington, DC


Chemical incidents happen at large and small com-panies. Recently, CSB investigated several incidents atsmall companies and noticed some common problems.Small companies tend to have fewer resources andsupport systems than larger companies, and they maynot always have personnel with expertise in more spe-cialized areas.

Even where processes are not covered by OSHA’sPSM, it is important that companies use appropriatemanagement systems to help them identify and man-age hazards. Good management systems, such as thosedetailed by CCPS, help to ensure that hazards do not gounnoticed. For small companies, the management sys-

tems can be simplified but must be formal and docu-mented.

Small companies should make an effort to stay cur-rent on the latest safety news and information. Oneway to do this is to stay connected through industryassociations. Many companies rely on insurance com-panies to point out hazards. While this is helpful, it isnot appropriate as the only means of hazard identifi-cation. Companies should consider using outside ex-perts when they do not have the expertise in house.

© 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers *This is a U.S.Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in theUnited States of America.

S. UrbanikDuPont


From a process safety perspective, successfully op-erating a chemical company (large or small) requiresknowledge of the chemicals being handled and thechemistry involved in the particular manufacturing pro-cess.

It is tempting to relate current process safety per-formance to the compliance with modern day guid-ance—be it legislative or industry standard. To acertain extent, these guidelines have helped. Butmany chemical companies have been in business

much longer than the current guidelines. Why dothese companies continue to successfully operatehigh-risk chemical processes? My belief is that theystrive to know and understand all the details aboutthe chemicals they handle and to look for processsafety improvements wherever they can. It not onlypays in safety performance, but also makes goodbusiness sense.


K. HerrmannBASF, Germany


In Europe, there is no real difference in processsafety between small and large companies; that is, thenumber of severe accidents is not significantly differ-ent. Most companies recognize that “safe plants are themost profitable, on a long term basis.” Therefore, allcompanies should have the same interest: no accidents!

When accidents happen, they happen not only to aspecific company, but also to “The Chemical Industry.”Consequently, larger companies openly share processsafety information and experience with everyone, largeand small. Larger companies have their own expertiseand special teams dedicated to process safety. Theyroutinely conduct hazards analyses and make the nec-essary experiments and measurements in their own

laboratories. Smaller companies must acquire compa-rable information from larger companies, consultants,or the open literature. The sharing of information ismost effectively accomplished in Europe using work-ing groups, such as VCI and CEFIC. Most other coun-tries have comparable groups; for example, the Centerfor Chemical Process Safety in the United States.

Therefore, I recommend that smaller companiesshould use the larger companies, special process safetylabs, industrial working groups that are focused onprocess safety, and the available literature, standards,and codes that are developed by process specialists.


84 June 2004 Process Safety Process (Vol.23, No.2)

Zhao-qian Zhang and Chong-guang WuCollege of Information Science and Technology, Beijing; and University of Chemical Technology, People’s Republic of China


In small plants, good process hazards analyses(PHA) are especially important. There are many differ-ent PHA methods found in the literature. Each plantmust adopt a specific method that fits the plant and theplant’s expertise. Adjustments to the currently pub-lished methods can be made easily and effectively.Combining PHA technologies and software productscan improve the effectiveness of a PHA for a specificplant and help meet the generally accepted benefits ofa PHA.

In small plants, good safety technology is alsoimportant. The management of small plants must beaware of the generally accepted practices of thelarger plants and the international standards that areusually developed by large plants. Small plants must

use similar technology and procedures. For example,the personnel of small plants should carefully studythe relatively new international safety standard—IEC61508. This is an international standard for the con-trol systems for safety-related applications. In thisstandard, two new and important concepts are pre-sented: (a) the separation of the safety-related func-tions from the non-safety-related functions and (b)the concept of safety integrity levels (SIL). SILsshould be addressed during the design of safetycontrol systems. These safety standards also empha-size that safety tasks should be used in the entire lifecycle of plants, even in small plants.


Process Safety Progress (Vol.23, No.2) June 2004 85

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Safety recommendations for small businesses and/or plants