Hydrocarbon Processing - March 2021 - 85

Environment
and Safety
J. A. KLEIN, ABSG Consulting Inc.,
Knoxville, Tennessee

Implement effective operational discipline programs
to improve process safety performance-Part 2
Operational discipline (OD) describes human behavior in complying
with required systems, every time, to consistently achieve organizational goals and
overall operational excellence.1,2 While
a focus on OD is not a panacea, OD is a
fundamental part of effective programs
for achieving excellent performance in
process safety; environmental, health
and safety programs; quality; reliability;
and productivity.2,3,4
Well-designed management systems
are only the first step; the disciplined efforts of involved personnel in effectively
implementing and following system requirements continuously are also needed.
Failing to follow a system requirement-
even just once-due to a human performance issue, inattention, complacency
or other reason, can result in significant
consequences, such as personal injury,
environmental harm and business loss.
Part 2 here, which follows Part 1 in
the February issue,5 will discuss raising
OD awareness and engagement; evaluating OD performance; identifying, prioritizing and pursuing improvement opportunities; and sustaining and renewing
OD programs.
Raising OD awareness and engagement. When developing an OD improve-

ment vision and specific improvement
goals, it is important to share these with
affected employees to raise their awareness and engagement of what OD is and
why it is important, as well as to solicit
broad employee input and participation
on possible causes of performance issues
and improvement opportunities. This
can be done through (1) the introduction
and discussion of OD program character-

istics and goals at safety and other meetings, (2) daily face-to-face interactions
and (3) other communication pathways.
OD improvement workshops (discussed in a following section) can provide focused attention to OD issues and
improvement plans, helping to engage
employees through their active involvement in identifying problem areas and
determining priorities for future improvement activities. An important factor
to emphasize, based on experience, is that
OD programs promote positive discipline-such as training for an important
goal or maintaining an important practice-rather than disciplinary actions,
such as those related to human resource
activities. With a good safety program in
place and a primary goal to execute and
sustain system requirements, a good message to communicate can be, " Operational discipline (OD) equals safety. "
It should be understood that even
well-trained employees make mistakes.
Assuming a person makes safety-critical
decisions every day, and assuming an error rate of 1 mistake in 100 opportunities
(0.99 daily success rate), the chances of
an employee completing all work tasks
without error every day for a year (based
on 250 workdays) would be about 8%
[(0.99)250 = 0.08]. Human error must
therefore be anticipated and appropriate safeguards provided to help prevent
serious injuries and other significant
consequences. A focus on OD is an essential-but not the only-component
of effective safety programs.
Opportunities to increase the probability of success in reducing human error
through improved OD and other actions,
particularly for higher risk activities, are

critical for improving performance in
many areas. The refinery incident discussed in Part 1 (the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion and fire) provides a good
example of the value of good OD; however, incidents related to the company,
specific site and related facilities should
be used to help personalize and engage
workers, emphasizing how their work
environment and safety can be affected.
The recognition that good OD lowers the
overall risk of safety, quality and other operational problems is basic to the understanding of the value of OD (FIG. 5).
This can be illustrated for employees
in two ways to help build awareness and
engagement. First, the safety triangle,
shown in FIG. 6, illustrates qualitatively
how significant consequences, such as
serious injuries or catastrophic incidents,
are often predicted by a larger number of
smaller, undesirable, unsafe acts or behavIncreased
OD

Reduced
risk

FIG. 5. Increased OD lowers the risk of
undesirable events.6,7

Catastrophic incidents/injuries
Serious incidents/injuries
Minor incidents/injuries
Near misses
Unsafe acts

Focus
of OD

Undesirable acts
FIG. 6. The safety triangle illustrates the value
of OD improvement programs.6,7
Hydrocarbon Processing |MARCH 2021

Hydrocarbon Processing - March 2021

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