A Process Safety Analysis Implementation Program

A Process Safety Analysis Implementation Program 
Charles P. Lichtenwalner – Lucent Technologies, John A. Mosovsky – Lucent Technologies (SSA Journal Volume 11 Number 2 – Summer 1997 pp. 19 – 26 )

The semiconductor industry is experiencing phenomenal growth. The rapid and complex construction of integrated circuit fabrication facilities presents a challenge to the environmental health and safety professional of providing input into the design review process. This review process must be formalized if the EH&S professional expects to make a difference. OSHA’s Standard for Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals includes the elements necessary for a process safety management program, however, based upon the standard’s specified threshold quantities, many semiconductor processes are exempt from the standard’s requirements. Consequently, at some facilities, efforts to initiate a formal EH&S review process may not receive the support necessary for an effective program. This article describes a program for implementing process safety analysis into a facility’s management system. (We prefer to emphasize “safety” to diffuse the negative connotations in the traditional phrase “Process Hazard Analysis”.) The program expands upon some of OSHA’s process safety management elements, however, it is sufficiently developed to stand alone for those facilities exempt from the OSHA standard. Information is also included on how to make process safety analyses more efficient/productive and when to use particular analysis techniques.