Corporate Guidance on Risk Management Case Study

The Challenge

The chemical company of a large integrated energy company was developing a corporate standard for LOPA, which incorporated a risk ranking matrix. The company was interested in obtaining an independent review of the design of the risk matrix, and in benchmarking the underlying risk tolerability criteria with generally accepted industry norms.

Our Approach

LOPA is used in compliance with IEC 61511/ISA 84 standards. IEC 61511/ISA84 requires the allocation of safety functions to layers of protection and to determine the Safety Integrity Level (SIL).

Our senior risk management specialists met with their LOPA procedure development team and provided guidance on how to define practical frequency and consequence severity categories associated with the risk matrix. In addition, we provided plots of release quantity versus down-wind distance for flammable and toxic chemicals to assist practitioners in identifying events with catastrophic consequences. Finally, we were able to provide similar company (anonymous) tolerability benchmarks for comparison with the client’s internal tolerability criteria.

The Benefits

Utilizing the benchmarking information, the client was able to satisfy upper management with a corporate risk management standard that was consistent with those of other companies in their peer group and not overly conservative. Our recommendations regarding the risk matrix improved its ease of use by plant personnel who were not experts in risk assessment and allowed it to be used for conducting Process Hazard Analyses (PHA) in addition to LOPA.

Learn More

Our mission is to help you protect your people, your plant, your stakeholder value and our planet. To learn more about how we can help you manage risk, call us at 1.844.ioMosaic.