HAZID (Hazard Identification) is a technique to identify hazards & threats, to assess consequential impacts (on health & safety of people, environment, asset and reputation) and to list out controls (preventive / mitigate / recovery) that are already in place or required additional.
HAZID is generally the first formal HSE-related study for any project. The major benefit of HAZID is early identification and assessment of critical HSE hazards that provides essential input to project development decisions. This will lead to safer and more cost-effective design options being adopted with a minimum cost of change penalty.
HAZID reflects the importance of HSE issues on the fundamental (and often non-HSE-related) decisions that are made at the inception of all development projects (e.g., design concept and location). HAZID is the first opportunity to collect experienced line and HSE staff together to address, in a short timeframe, the issues surrounding a new venture or development.
HAZID technique is equally effective for oil-and-gas (on-shore/off-shore, upstream/midstream/downstream), chemicals& petrochemicals, industrial units, maritime (seaports, jetties), power generation (water/ electrical/ solar), etc.
HAZID benefit generally includes:
- Recognition of importance & interdependence of HSE aspects at the outset of development.
- Opportunity to consider HSE implications of alternative developments and process designs, as part of selection process between (competing) options.
- Identification of potential to affect major changes to philosophy/design at an early stage, before significant financial commitments are made.
- Identification of specific hazards and threats within a project life-cycle phase or process option.
- Acquaintance with HSE hazards and threats that provides a springboard for the development of HSE Case and Risk Register.
- Identification of all the intended continuous emissions from the facility. This will focus design effort on the minimization of such emissions as well as compliance with company and third-party requirements.
There are two types of HAZID: (For both types, the methodology remains the same).
- Conceptual HAZID; this would include information on proposed technical & facility schemes, locations of the development, the quality of the infrastructure, details about the population and previous land use. In terms of the proposed development, several options may have been under consideration and some information on costing and project economics should be available.
- Detailed HAZID; design work would normally have progressed to the point where a Process Flow Scheme (PFS) has been developed and some thought has been given to plot layout, hazardous inventories, utility requirements, etc.
HAZID Workshop is carried out at various stages of project lifecycle viz. FEED, detailed design, construction, operation and decommissioning.
HAZID team should be kept comparatively small, but the team should contain sufficient knowledge to recognize and identify all HSE issues. The key to a successful HAZID is the correct combination of breadth and depth in the experience of the team. In common with other structured brainstorming and review studies, the role of the chairman is critical to the success of HAZID, who shall remain independent of the discussion, and it is recommended that he is not associated with the development (i.e., a person looking at HSE aspects with a fresh pair of eyes, as an outsider). Like other workshops, there should be a technical scribe who can record the discussions in agreed worksheet templates.
HAZID review sequence process should be divided into the following steps:
- Establish nodes as (a) Design and Operation and (b) Construction and Commissioning.
- Select plant area for review (this would be treated as sub-nodes), to ensure inclusion of full study scope. [This step can be avoided for a relatively small project; the entire project would then be treated as a sub-node].
- Describe main features of the system (layout, control measures, operating conditions, etc.) or activity.
- Identification of Hazards & Causes: Review guidewords as per ISO17776 or COMPANY specified list against potential activities.
- Assessment of Consequences: Identify top event & assess ultimate consequences, and how an accident might escalate for each scenario (or impact severity on health & safety of people, environment, asset and reputation).
- Identification & evaluation of Controls: Identify existing controls to prevent cause/threat and mitigate the consequences.
- Identification and defining actions/ recommendations: Analyze whether existing controls are sufficient to either prevent or mitigate. If not, actions/ recommendations to be identified, during HAZID study, assigned to appropriate action party for resolution, to ensure that the risk is reduced to ALARP or acceptable region. The recommendations should be definitive, affirmative with clear directions for the proposed project to implement.
- Risk Ranking / Impact Severity Ranking of Consequences: The risk assessment should be carried out considering as if there are no controls in place (Unmitigated Risk), and considering controls in place (Mitigated Risk). Severity, Probability and Risk classification shall be applied for relevant impact aspects in accordance with COMPANY Risk Assessment Matrix (RAM).
- Apply the next guideword.
- Apply the next hazard scenario until they all have been considered.
- Move to the next area of the plant area/sub-node.
- Ensure all project areas are covered. There might be identical areas that shall be reviewed by difference.
HAZID Report is a document describing objectives and outcome of the study. The report should form the basis of a reviewer’s understanding of the completeness of the study, and the confidence that can be put in the results. The draft report should be reviewed by team members prior to a formal, timely issue. In general, HAZID report should contain the following sections:
- Executive Summary
- Project background
- Purpose and Objectives
- Terms of Reference specified prior to the Workshop
- Nodes and Sub-Nodes
- Workshop Methodology
- Timing, Schedule and Venue
- Workshop Recordings
- Team Members
- Disclaimer (In case there is any deviation or some areas cannot be completed due to non-availability of information / key personnel)
- Findings
- Recommendations
- Risk Ranking Results
- Chairman’s Note
- Areas of potential weakness
- Further studies required
- Appendices
- Terms of reference
- List of guidewords used
- Plant Area/Node list
- Worksheets
- Drawings utilized during the Workshop
- List of background reference documents
- All communications to and from HAZID team to subject-matter experts (SME), vendors and third parties.
Seldom HSE Action Sheets are prepared as part of HAZID report. All HAZID actions shall be closed-out appropriately with substantiation (auditable, fully documented record of all actions taken, decisions and alternative solutions), and should be signed-off by all stakeholders. All accepted actions shall be tracked and ensured that all actions are implemented by the project.
Once all actions response sheets are completed and signed-off. A close-out report with the summary of actions, action response sheet, supporting documentations, copies of communications should be issued.
HAZID actions shall be included in HSE Action Tracking Register, which will be a live document that is useful to track HSE actions during various project lifecycles.
