In 2001, Alcoa, an aluminum production company, was on the brink of shutting down entirely. The company had failed to properly manage its operational activities, such as worker safety resulting in faltered product lines and a rapidly declining revenue. Things turned around when CEO O’Neill initiated a change that revolutionized the company. He prioritized workers’ safety over efficiency, implementing a series of on-the-job operation guidelines, project management, worker safety checklists, and safety leaderboards.
This shift helped Alcoa reduce lost workdays to injury from 1.86 to 0.2 per 100 workers. The company is now one of the leading aluminum producers in the world. This groundbreaking strategy is now a mandatory part of the OSHA framework. However, its implementation is not as easy as it seems. It took Alcoa a fairly determined CEO and 2 years to execute it. Fortunately, process safety management software is available today to make this labor safety framework more adaptable, accessible, and faster.
This article will explain process safety management software and how you can employ it to make the brisk task of process safety management easier for you. Read on!
What Is The Process Safety Management Software?
The Process Safety Management (PSM) is an OSHA standard framework designed to ensure the safety of workers working with or around dangerous, toxic, or highly flammable chemicals.
PSM software is a smart solution to modernize this technical process and help organizations comply with the OSHA framework of worker safety easily. With PSM software, you can easily identify, evaluate, and control hazardous procedures and setups in the workplace.
Why Do You Need Process Safety Management Software?
PSM software is based on a worker safety framework and enables organizations to adapt their processes more efficiently, access information more quickly, and make changes faster. Enlisted below are the 3 primary reasons for using PSM software:
Mitigate Risks And Maintain Compliance
No one prefers putting their life in danger. Suppose your electrical engineer sees a big chunk of metal loosely swinging over the electrical board. Considering this to be life-threatening, the engineer will be hesitant to get near that electrical board. His productivity will decrease due to that potential danger.
However, if you have PSM software, it will ensure a systematic way to analyze and mitigate all the risks to prevent any disaster. Thanks to timely inspection alerts and safety checklists, your business will comply with OSHA guidelines and be free of risks.
Engage Employees
When there is a problem with the system, it is important to reach the manager quickly and efficiently. Process safety management software helps to make communication among workers, managers, engineers, and other personnel quicker, easier, and more reliable. It also promotes communication among different departments for a quick solution.
Rapid Implementation and Save Costs
The PSM software decreases the number of potential safety incidents and the overall time and costs to fix them. Let’s take an example to comprehend this point better: If a factory worker sees a gas leak, he can immediately use the software to notify the concerned manager. The manager can respond promptly to the notification and send the team to resolve the issue.
If the software isn’t in place, the workers may have to stop their work and go through different levels of corporate hierarchy to connect with the right professionals. As a result, the organization’s time, human resources, and money are spent ineffectively. A Process Safety Management solution can help companies better allocate their resources by pursuing operational excellence
Benefits You Can Expect
Here are some of the leading reasons that companies go digital and switch to PSM software:
Enhanced Employee Participation
The employer must engage the employees, and the PSM software keeps track of that engagement. With this optimized communication, the relevant authorities can:
- Get insights into past safety hazard analysis reports.
- Receive and propose solutions to potential problems.
- Ensure advancement and improvement of other elements in process safety management.
Risk Assessment and Hazard Analysis
PSM software can help you predict, manage, and avoid a significant number of health, environmental, and safety risks. Several variables can change the status of risks and hazards, but this smart solution makes risk management more effortless. Due to the centralized risk and hazard registry, you can take a macro look at the situation and assess which area needs attention first. This way, the most dangerous threats and risks are taken care of first. Hence, employee safety is guaranteed.
Standardized Tracking
Employing user-friendly PSM software helps everyone stay organized with the compliant standardized system. It can monitor one-time or recurring tasks to the assigned teams. If the workflow stops, the manager can identify where the problem occurred and fix it within hours (which otherwise would have taken days or even months to resolve).
Compliance Audits
Another burden that the PSM software removes from your shoulders is compliance audits. The software enables operational excellence by tracking all the details for inspections, reviews, deadlines, training management, audit, inspection, etc. With a few simple clicks, you can review the compliance status according to the input and optimize and fix the issues where necessary. Furthermore, you can preview your compliance status with OSHA’s process safety management regulations. Since you can check all the reports and deadlines in one place, it is easier to decide and prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency.
The NonStop Suite, with its dynamic e-forms, allows you to mitigate compliance gaps without extensive paperwork or complicated procedures. It also keeps a complete track of all changes you have implemented and those remaining, so you can stay apprised of your progress.
Emergency Planning and Safety Review
PMS software makes all the records and updates available in a single location. The convenience of this system allows relevant authorities to observe and improve risk management more quickly. In case of a malfunction, incident, or emergency, the engineers can notify the team for a timely hand hassle-free solution to the problem. Furthermore, they can audit and review the safety status of different locations and departments to ensure all the procedures go smoothly as possible.
Incident Investigation
PMS software provides better communication and easier access to information. This allows examiners to remain informed with the latest updates about an incident and investigation to be swifter and more transparent. PMS software solutions also provide improved multi-level security for safety data. This means that only investigators and authorized personnel can access incident information.
Change Management
There is a higher risk of workflow disruption during change, leaving room for new problems. This, however, is not an ideal situation. PSM software, like the NonStop Suite, helps to identify, control and manage risk before and during the change. Such efficient change management also decreases injury risk, environmental damages, operational inefficiency, regulatory non-compliance, quality concerns, and more!
What to Look for in a Process Safety Management Software?
Before purchasing a process safety management software, here are a few things you must consider:
Will the Software help you with OSHA compliance?
The Occupational Safety and Health Association is a central regulatory system developed in 1971 by the US Department of Labor. This regulatory body deals with the health and safety of workers. Furthermore, OSHA is responsible for setting and enforcing standards to educate and assist the factory regarding risk management. OSHA has established a set of guidelines regarding process safety management. All the factories or companies have to consider the following 14 key elements in their PSM programs:
- Implement an efficient process hazard analysis.
- Conduct, track and save incident investigations.
- Implement systematic process safety information.
- Work on employee participation in PSM programs.
- Conduct compliance audits at reasonable intervals.
- Have a plan ready for all the possible emergency hazards.
- Maintain the mechanical integrity for documented inspections.
- Train workers that are responsible for handling hazardous chemicals.
- Management of change to ensure the process transition goes as smoothly as possible.
- Operate safety and hazard procedures systematically and efficiently – document everything carefully.
- Protect trade secrets – Only authorized individuals should have access to confidential information.
- Before the operation begins, new and modified facilities must undergo a Pre-Startup Safety Review (PSSR).
- Track the issuance of hot work permits – Individuals with a hot work permit can work in a high-temperature environment.
- Contractors responsible for working near hazardous chemicals must be trained on emergency procedures and the operations of the PSM program.
Good PSM software should help you comply with the safety guidelines set by OSHA and other regulators. This can be beneficial in ensuring a safe workplace for you and your employees. The NonStop Suite can help your business align with each of these 14 elements of process safety management. The elaborative dashboard with a real-time view of operating conditions ensures that you are always aware of the current conditions in the workplace.
Versatility and User-Friendly Interface
After testing to ensure that PSM is functioning as intended, the next concern should be its versatility. Can it adapt to the constantly changing needs of your business? Is the interface easy to use? Is customer support adequate?
Pricing
An important factor to consider before buying PSM software is pricing. You should opt for software with good repute and affordable pricing. Keep in mind that being expensive does not always mean better.
An Integrated Platform With Multiple Templates
PSM that addresses all your needs in a centralized, integrated manner should be your top priority. It should have templates for Bow-Tie Risk Analysis, Hazard And Operability Analysis, Layers Of Protection Analysis, etc.
Simplify the Management Tasks with Process Safety Management Software!
No one can deny the optimization and revolution that PSM software brings to a company. PSM software unlocks benefits like efficient incident management, regulatory compliance, and training management. It has made process safety management easy, automated, and more manageable than ever!
The NonStop Suite is here to help you track all the critical aspects of process safety management. The on-the-go asset management capabilities of NonStop Suite paired with smart NFC asset tags allow you to mobilize your work processes and streamline compliance.
We at NonStop Group have extensive experience working with clients in the oil and gas, manufacturing, logistics, and transportation industries. By adopting an ROI-driven asset management approach, we have helped our clients lower operational accidents by 76%. If your company is looking for ways to reduce operational accidents, we urge you to consult with us today.
You can also request a free personalized product tour to learn more about how NonStop Group can help your company excel in Process Safety Management.
