Hydrocarbon Processing - April 2021 - 83

Environment and Safety
an opening or closing time. In
case this time is extended from
a defined value, an alarm will be
triggered indicating a problem
during operation. However,
since the valves complete their
stroke, there is a phenomenon of
normalization of this deviation
since the operator trusts that
the valve will open or close
completely and the alarm will be
recognized without further action
or analysis. This can be risky in
the case of a real occurrence.
In this situation, it is advisable
to check or calibrate the drive
time of the valves and inspect
for any internal damage to the
valve or actuator to eliminate the
recurrence of such alarms.
Another example is when
uncontrolled changes are made
to alarm values by operational
personnel to use alarms as an
alert mechanism when reaching
a desired value, distorting the

functionality of alarms and
adopting them as a means of
control. This constitutes a
deviation from the operational
discipline that must be promptly
attenuated.
3.	 Adequacy to the process. Based
on the information reviewed at
the diagnostics stage, this aspect
requires a detailed analysis of
the process and the changes
that have been made to it.
For example, when plant capacity
expansions are carried out,
it leads to flow increases in
certain process streams, implying
that the configuration of the
instruments must also be
modified (rangeability), along
with the new alarm values
according to the new flows to be
handled. Without these changes,
recurring alarms are often
presented and the phenomenon of
normalization of deviation from
operational personnel occurs.

After completing the analysis
and identifying the causes of
the recurrence of alarms, it is
necessary to review the operating
procedures that allow the proper
management of the alarms,
which establish the necessary
permissions to make changes. In
this regard, training opportunities
for operational staff should be
identified, as well.
4.	 Implementation. Since changes
to the alarm system will be made
in this stage and the proper
management of change (MoC)
must be applied, this stage should
only begin after the organization
has validated and approved the
final reports of the previous stages.
Alarm management
implementation should be
aligned with the safety policies
of the organization, especially
with the elements of PSM, so
that its implementation will be
integral and effective to establish

TABLE 2. Relationship of alarm management and PSM
PSM elements

Diagnostic

Analysis

Implementation

Operation

Leadership

X

X

X

X

Compliance with standards

X

X

X

X

Process safety competency

X

X

X

X

Workforce involvement

X

X

X

X

Stakeholder outreach

X

X

X

X

Understand
hazards and risks

Process knowledge management

X

X

X

X

Hazard and risks analysis

X

X

X

X

Manage risks

Operating procedures

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Contractor management

X

X

Training and performance assurance

X

X

X

X

X

X

Commit to
process safety

Safe work practices
Asset integrity and reliability

MoC

X

X

X

X

Operational readiness

Learn from
experience

Conduct of operations

X

X

X

X

Emergency management

X

X

X

X

Incident investigation

X

X

X

X

X

X

Measurement and metrics
Auditing

X

Continuous improvement

X
Hydrocarbon Processing | APRIL 2021 83
Hydrocarbon Processing - April 2021

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