With the recent catastrophic and fatal pressure vessel (PV) failure in KY, I have to speak up and point out a very dangerous and unfortunately common failure we see in our work. Far too often we visit a facility under the guise of doing process safety work and we typically find the PSM covered PVs and their PRDs are in a MI program. However, in the same room we can find PVs and their PRDs that are 40+ years old and never once been inspected and the PRD has never been tested, much less replaced. We are almost always told “Thanks, but please stay focused on the PSM process”.
And to put the cherry on top of this ______ Sunday, many of these organizations will proclaim they are utilizing the Serious-Injury-Fatality (SIF) Risk Management Model. There is not much more SIF than a catastrophic failure of a PV. With this said, I offer the following advice to those who really want to manage these SIF risks across the organization.