Hazard Identification(HAZID)
Definition
A systematic process for identifying hazards — sources of potential harm — associated with a facility, process, or activity. Hazard identification techniques include HAZOP (Hazard and Operability Study), What-If analysis, checklist analysis, and preliminary hazard analysis (PHA). HAZID is the first step in risk assessment: risks cannot be managed if the hazards are not first identified.
Context
Hazard identification feeds directly into risk assessment, FMEA, and RBI programs. The hazards identified during HAZID determine the damage mechanisms to consider, the failure modes to analyze, and the consequence scenarios to evaluate. HAZID is a regulatory requirement under PSM and Seveso directives.
Examples
- A HAZOP study of a new reactor design identifies a hazard: 'loss of cooling flow leads to runaway reaction with potential for vessel rupture and toxic release', requiring a high-integrity trip system.
- A What-If analysis identifies the hazard of deadleg corrosion in piping that was previously overlooked because the deadleg was not shown on the simplified P&ID used for the original RBI assessment.
Applicable Standards
- IEC 61882 (HAZOP)
- 29 CFR 1910.119
- ISO 31010:2019
Related Terms
The overall process of risk identification, risk analysis, and risk evaluation. Risk assessment identifies what can go wrong (hazard identification), determines how likely it is and what the consequences would be (risk analysis), and compares the results against risk criteria to determine whether the risk is acceptable or requires treatment (risk evaluation). It is the systematic application of the ISO 31000 risk management process.
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis(FMEA)A systematic, proactive methodology for evaluating a process, product, or design to identify all possible failure modes, determine their effects on system performance, rank them by risk priority, and recommend actions to reduce or eliminate the highest risks. FMEA examines each component's potential failure modes, their causes, effects at local/system/end levels, current controls, and risk priority numbers.
OSHA PSM(PSM)Process Safety Management — OSHA's regulatory standard (29 CFR 1910.119) requiring employers to identify, evaluate, and control hazards associated with highly hazardous chemicals. PSM mandates 14 elements including process hazard analysis, mechanical integrity, management of change, operating procedures, training, and incident investigation.
Damage MechanismA specific process or phenomenon that causes degradation of material properties, leading to eventual failure of equipment. Damage mechanisms include corrosion (uniform, localized, galvanic), erosion, fatigue, creep, hydrogen damage, stress corrosion cracking, embrittlement, and other metallurgical or environmental attack modes. API 571 catalogues over 60 damage mechanisms relevant to refining and petrochemical equipment.
Management of Change(MOC)A systematic process for evaluating, approving, implementing, and documenting changes to process equipment, technology, procedures, or organizational structure that could affect safety, health, environment, or operations. MOC ensures that all changes are reviewed for potential hazards, that appropriate safeguards are implemented, and that affected personnel are informed and trained before the change is implemented.
Where this appears in Reliatic
This concept is used in the FMEA & Risk module.