Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) and Hazard Identification (HAZID) Studies

The HAZOP technique is used universally across high hazard industries as a method of identifying hazards and operability problems in new and existing plant. In a “blame and claim” culture, companies are under increasing pressure to have safety measures in place to improve the protection both of workers and the general public. HAZOP is a powerful tool in helping to achieve this. It is a formal and objective process, where a group of experts assesses the different parts of a given system with the aid of "guidewords". The process ensures a systematic and well documented evaluation of potential problems/hazards.

Successful application of HAZOP requires the system design to have been established in a fair degree of detail. In the early stages of design (when insufficient information is available for the full-scale HAZOP) it is more usual to use HAZID, a high level version of the HAZOP process which provides a systematic assessment of a plant in order to identify potential hazards.

Egerton Consulting has provided Secretaries and Chairmen to companies for a variety of HAZOP and HAZID Studies across a wide range of sectors, including the oil and gas industry, the rail industry, and the water industry.

Example: Gas Plant HAZOP Studies

Client: Schlumberger

Egerton Consulting supplied HAZOP secretarial support for studies of five systems that were to form part of a Gas Plant with potential LPG extraction.

The systems analysed included an LP flare, liquids handling, a vendor membrane dehydration unit, a vendor liquids handling package, and a gas compression station.