SIL DETERMINATION
Are you certain that your process/plant has sufficient layers of protection to prevent a major hazard accident?
Are your staff in offices and other workplaces adequately protected against the potential hazards on site?
HFL Risk Services has been actively involved in helping operators to determine whether or not existing systems are able to provide the necessary level of risk reduction.
The risk assessment process starts with Hazard Identification (HAZID). The HAZID should examine events with the potential to cause harm to people and/or the environment. This information is then used to provide a basis for understanding which instrument systems are critical to safe operation.
Critical scenarios (i.e. those where there is a reliance on safety instrumented systems as a means of risk reduction) are then examined in more detail. In each case the potential consequences are assessed and tolerable failure rates are determined for the layers of protection in place. This information is used to determine the required Safety Integrity Level (SIL) for each safety instrumented system.
Having determined the required SIL, the operator must confirm whether or not the safety instrumented system, as designed, is capable of providing the required level of integrity. It may be that an element of redesign is required and/or the inspection and test regime has to be adapted to ensure continued safe operation.
We can help by:
- > Undertaking hazard identification studies
- > Undertaking HAZOP and HAZAN reviews
- > Carrying out LOPA studies and determining the SIL requirements
for safety instrumented systems