exceptional conditions.

If it is wished to study such interactions in new designs, the combined

skill of a group of experts is required. Their total knowledge and informed imagination can be
used to anticipate whether the plant will operate as intended under all possible
circumstances.
Essentially the examination procedure takes a full description of the process, systematically
questions every part of it to discover how deviations from the intention of the design can
occur and decides whether these deviations can give rise to hazards.
exceptional conditions. If it is wished to study such interactions in new designs, the combined
skill of a group of experts is required. Their total knowledge and informed imagination can be
used to anticipate whether the plant will operate as intended under all possible
circumstances.
Essentially the examination procedure takes a full description of the process, systematically
questions every part of it to discover how deviations from the intention of the design can
occur and decides whether these deviations can give rise to hazards.

The questioning is focused in turn on every part of the design. Each part is subjected to a
number of questions formulated around a number of guide words which are derived from
method study techniques. In effect, the guide words are used to ensure that the questions,
which are posed to test the integrity of each part of the design, will explore every conceivable
way in which that design could deviate from the design intention. This usually produces a
number of theoretical deviations and each deviation is then considered to decide how it could
be caused and what would be the consequences.

1. Basic Concept:
Primarily safety in the design of chemical plants relies on the application of various codes of
practice or design codes which are based on the wide experience and knowledge of
professional experts and specialists in the industry. Such application is backed up by the
experience of local plant managers and engineers who have been involved in similar plants
and who have had direct experience in their operation.
The need to check designs for errors and omissions has been recognized for a long time, but
this has traditionally been done on an individual basis. Experts have usually applied their
special skills or experience to check particular aspects of design. For example the instrument
engineer would check the control systems and having satisfied him that the systems were
satisfactory would put his mark of approval on the design and pass it to the next expert. This
kind of individual checking, provided it is carried out meticulously will obviously improve
the design but clearly it has little chance of detecting hazards concerned with the interaction
of a number of functions or specializations. The hazards are likely to result from the
unexpected interaction of seemingly safe components or methods of operation under
exceptional conditions. If it is wished to study such interactions in new designs, the combined
skill of a group of experts is required. Their total knowledge and informed imagination can be
used to anticipate whether the plant will operate as intended under all possible
circumstances.
Essentially the examination procedure takes a full description of the process, systematically
questions every part of it to discover how deviations from the intention of the design can
occur and decides whether these deviations can give rise to hazards.