Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA)

Description

As a result of major incidents such as the Buncefield storage depot explosion in the UK, it is now expected that achieving tolerable risk is justified by a rigorous method. The method – Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) – will assist organisations with the analysis and assessment of identified process plant hazards.

This method can answer key questions like ‘Do we have enough controls?’ or ‘Are they sufficiently effective?’ It is often used as a follow-up to a HAZOP study to confirm the qualitative judgement and decisions made by the team. It is considered to be a semi-quantitative technique since it uses ‘order of magnitude’ estimates of risk reduction of each protection layer and is therefore less time-consuming than using Fully Quantified Risk Analysis (QRA).

This 2 full-day course will equip participants with an understanding of how a hazard scenario is defined and its severity is categorized to set a tolerable frequency. The participants will learn to determine how many Independent Protection Layers (IPL) are required to achieve the tolerable frequency, and how to specify an IPL.

All of these activities are covered by a tutored exercise and group work. Only simple numeracy skills with an understanding of scientific notation, for example, one in a thousand expressed as 1.0E-03, are required. The course materials will include a copy of the presentation slides, comprehensive notes and recommended further reading. Teaching will be delivered via 2 full-days, with informative videos and plenty of opportunities to ask questions.

TRAINING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course, the participants will have an understanding of:

and they will be able to:

TARGET AUDIENCE

This course is intended for:

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TRAINER

Your expert course leader has 50 years’ experience in chemical and process safety engineering. His early career included 20 years in design and project engineering with various fine chemical and pharmaceutical companies where he designed chemical processes, specified plant equipment and selected materials for highly corrosive and toxic processes, often where textbook data was not available. This was followed by 10 years in offshore oil and gas design projects where he was responsible for setting up a Technical Safety group to change design safety practices in the aftermath of the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster. In recent years, he has been called upon to conduct various offshore and onshore incident investigations. His career has given him experience in project engineering, project management, process design and operations, safety engineering and risk management. He is a Fellow of the UK Institution of Chemical Engineers. He served on the Scottish Branch committee, and was elected chairman for a two-year term in 1991. He has also been chairman of the Safety and Reliability Society – North of Scotland Branch. He has delivered training courses in Process Hazard Analysis (HAZOP and HAZID), Process Safety Management, Hazard Awareness, Risk Assessment, Root Cause Analysis, Failure Modes & Effect Analysis and has lectured on Reliability Analysis to the M.Sc. course in Process Safety and Loss Prevention at Sheffield University. In addition to delivering training courses, he currently facilitates HAZOP / HAZID / LOPA studies and undertakes expert witness roles advising lawyers engaged in contractual disputes, usually involving the design or construction of chemical plants or Oil & Gas production facilities, or criminal prosecutions.

POST TRAINING COACHING SUPPORT (OPTIONAL)

To further optimise your learning experience from our courses, we also offer individualized “One to One” coaching support for 2 hours post training. We can help improve your competence in your chosen area of interest, based on your learning needs and available hours. This is a great opportunity to improve your capability and confidence in a particular area of expertise. It will be delivered over a secure video conference call by one of our senior trainers. They will work with you to create a tailor-made coaching program that will help you achieve your goals faster.
Request for further information post training support and fees applicable