A process safety chair is an important part of any process hazard analysis technique and within a process safety management system. This person is responsible for ensuring that a company's assessment of its risks and controls is accurate, effective, and thorough.
Posted
20.06.2024
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The role of the independent chair goes far beyond simply making sure the assessment is done correctly—it also involves providing leadership to those involved in completing this critical task. In this article, Tristan Pulford and Sohail Khan discuss why an independent chair is important and what can be achieved with the appointment of one.
Independence of the Chair
The role of the process safety chair is to ensure that all parties involved in an assessment can act in good faith, without any bias or conflict of interest. As such independence of this position means that it must be free from any influence which may affect the results. While in some instances this is an intra-company role, with the chair not being involved in the project itself, however in many cases the intra-company chair is involved with the project and responsible for closing actions. Some companies may not have or have low availability for a process safety chair internally. Therefore, the best method of ensuring independence is by appointing an external and independent person to carry out the role.
The ideal candidate will have technical knowledge, leadership skills and broad experience within the industry. Strong leadership is required to keep process hazard analysis teams focused and on task as well as generate discussion when there has been a stall in communication. The technical knowledge and experience are especially important to decern whether a viewpoint is grounded in a technical and engineering basis and not opinion. It can also be beneficial for the chair to have experience in other comparable industries so that best practices can be shared. They should also have strong written and oral communication skills, as well as an ability to make complex decisions in a timely manner while working with people from different cultures, backgrounds and experiences who may have different perspectives on issues at hand during an assessment.
An experienced chair can reduce risk profile
The knowledge and experience that a chair has allows for a thorough and efficient examination of the hazards and ensures that all members of the team can provide input into both the identification of any hazards but also the mitigation of those risks. A good chair can guide the team through the process, whilst providing input about potential measures used in the sector or other industries which may provide for safe remediation.