If you have ever participated in or facilitated a Process Hazard(s) Analysis before you have certainly heard the phrase “never happened before” and the implication that we would be wasting our time if we spent any more time discussing the scenario. As a facilitator, it is our responsibility to force the discussion, as we should NEVER accept the fact that just because no one in the room has experienced such a scenario or consequences from it that it should not be analyzed. In fact, this type of response is a perfect opening for us to have a teachable process safety moment.
When I get the push back about spending time on a scenario that the team feels is a waste of time, I always ask them to explain what the facility has done to be so successful as to have prevented this scenario from completing its full revolution. I mean, I have seen it happen before, so please tell me how this facility has been successful in preventing such an event.
I almost will always get crickets, but a few times I have been pleasantly surprised by an engineer (who had also experienced such a scenario in a previous job) steps up and begins to explain the Layers of Protection, using engineering controls, administrative controls, and PPE. He/she wows the team (and me) and thus we now know why no one at the facility has never seen or heard about the incident scenario in that process. We, the facilitator, documents all these layers of protection, and now we have a scenario with serious consequences and documented safeguards; rather than having a scenario that has no data to support WHY or HOW it “will never happen”.