907 Introduction to SEMS II

Operating Procedure Elements

SEMS operating procedures should include the job title and reporting relationship of the person or persons responsible for each of the facility's operating areas and address the following 12 elements:

1. initial startup
2. normal operations
3. all emergency operations (including but not limited to medical evacuations, weather-related evacuations and emergency shutdown operations)
4. normal shutdown
5. startup following a turnaround, or after an emergency shutdown
6. bypassing and flagging out-of-service equipment
7. safety and environmental consequences of deviating from the equipment operating limits and steps required to correct or avoid this deviation
8. properties of, and hazards presented by, the chemicals used in the operations
9. precautions taken to prevent the exposure of chemicals used in the operations to personnel and the environment (including control technology, personal protective equipment, and measures to be taken if physical contact or airborne exposure occurs)
10. raw materials used in the operations and the quality control procedures you used in purchasing these raw materials
11. control of hazardous chemical inventory
12. impacts to the human and marine environment identified through the hazards analysis

Make sure operating procedures are accessible to all employees involved in the operations.

Review operating procedures at the conclusion of specified periods and as often as necessary to assure they reflect current and actual operating practices, including any changes made to the operations.

You should develop and implement safe and environmentally sound work practices for identified hazards during operations and the degree of hazard presented.

You should document the review and changing of procedures and communicate it to responsible personnel.

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.