A Hazard and Operability study (HAZOP) is a structured and systematic qualitative technique for identifying and assessing potential hazards and operability concerns with a process design and the proposed method of their control.  When done well, a HAZOP produces a comprehensive list of potentially hazardous scenarios and identifies safeguards to manage the risk.  However, where a HAZOP is repeated through-out the life-cycle of a facility, the identification of significant issues is likely to decrease.

To address this, a ‘Delta HAZOP’ may be conducted instead to maximise the chances of identifying hazards that may be missed during a conventional ‘Re-Do HAZOP’ (i.e. an update to a previously conducted HAZOP).  Delta HAZOPs put a greater focus on understanding the creeping changes that have occurred to a process and ensuring that the risks associated with these changes have been understood and addressed.

Some of the items that would typically be reviewed during a Delta HAZOP include:

• Management of change documents
• Site-wide changes
• Staff level changes
• Regulatory, industry or company standard changes
• Procedural changes
• Audit findings
• Near misses and incidents.

In order to utilise the Delta HAZOP process, it is important to have already completed a ‘design stage’ HAZOP and a ‘utilisation stage’ HAZOP that are reflective of the current facility.  The IChemE Safety Centre has developed a guidance note on when and how to effectively conduct a Delta HAZOP, which can be accessed here.R4Risk has expert knowledge in conducting HAZOP workshops and is well-equipped to conduct a Delta HAZOP for your facility.

For more information, please contact us.

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