Fire Suppression: You Can’t Take Credit? Really?

“The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong.”  — Carl Jung I’ve been taught, and have taught others, that you can’t take credit for a fire suppression system in a Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA). Why not? Because a fire suppression system doesn’t kick in until a fire [...]

By |2025-10-10T13:32:13-05:00October 10th, 2025|PHA, Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Fire Suppression: You Can’t Take Credit? Really?

Tank Truck Relief Valves: Accept Them As Layers of Protection?

“The ancient Greeks and Romans also held the view that acceptance is the beginning of wisdom.”  — Simon Van Booy PHA teams often face the question of whether to address tank truck loading and unloading. On the one hand, trucks in transit are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), not the [...]

By |2025-07-03T14:57:02-05:00June 20th, 2025|PHA, Process Safety, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Tank Truck Relief Valves: Accept Them As Layers of Protection?

Unavailability During Proof Tests: What Do You Do?

“…there’s a cat in a box somewhere who’s alive and dead at the same time (although if they don’t ever open the box to feed it, it’ll eventually just be two different kinds of dead)…”  — Neil Gaiman, in American Gods Erwin Schrödinger never intended his thought experiment about a cat in box to launch [...]

By |2025-01-16T14:14:00-06:00June 30th, 2022|Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Unavailability During Proof Tests: What Do You Do?

Human Response: What’s It Worth?

“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.”  Napolean Bonaparte Can operator responses to unsafe conditions be considered part of safety instrumented functions?  The question frequently arises during a Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) as operators consider their existing safeguards and Independent Layers of Protection (IPLs).  [...]

By |2025-01-17T13:01:02-06:00January 4th, 2017|Risk Assessment|Comments Off on Human Response: What’s It Worth?
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