Safety management systems
Safety management systems are recognized
and acceptedworldwide as bestpractice
methods for managing risk.
They typically consist of 10–20 program
elements that must be effectively
carried out to manage the risks in an
acceptable way. This need is based on
the understanding that once a risk is
accepted, it does not go away; it is
there waiting for an opportunity to
happen unless the management system
is actively monitoring company
operations for concerns and taking
proactive actions to correct potential
problems.
As a primary corporate objective,
dust explosion prevention and mitigation
would typically fall within the
scope of a Process Safety Management
system (i.e., a management system for
process-related hazards such as fire,
explosion, release of toxic materials,
etc.) One such system widely used in
industry is termed PSM, Process Safety
Management—where PSM is defined
as the application of management
principles and systems to the identification,
understanding and control of
process hazards to prevent processrelated
injuries and accidents. The
suite of PSM elements is shown in ตาราง 6
In light of the previous discussion on
the hierarchy of controls, a strong case
can be made for the need to demonstrate
a commitment to the principles
of inherent safety within each of the
PSM elements listed in Table 6.16 Thus,
within element 6, process risk management,
the hierarchical arrangement of
dust explosion prevention and mitigation
measures shown in Table 5 would
find direct application. Additionally,
within element 8, training and performance,
a strong safety culture would
necessitate the provision of workplace
training in dust explosion hazards, and
how these hazards can be alleviated by
application of, for example, the inherent
safety principle of minimization
through effective housekeeping. As
illustrated by the analysis that follows