(370b) A Project Management Centered Approach for Moc in the Process Industry

The implementation of MOC in the process industry has always been known to be a challenging task. It is typical that companies need to keep track of thousands of MOC projects on an annual basis. In addition, companies need to ensure their MOC systems comply with regulations such as OSHA 29 CFR1910.110 and EPA RMP 40 CFR Part 68, and industrial accepted engineering standards such as ANSI/ISA-84.00.01-2004 Functional Safety: Safety Instrumented Systems for the Process Industry Sector, meet corporate safety and environmental strategies, and align with business objectives and targets.

In order to accommodate the above challenges, the MOC procedure needs to be well designed and properly implemented. This requires careful consideration of various factors, such as types of changes that are covered in the MOC system, definition of Replacement-in-Kind, level of reviews and approval, together with roles and responsibilities. The tool used to track and administrate all MOC actives needs to provide transparency of projects, allow performance monitoring of the MOC system using predefined Key Performance Indicators and enforce accountability in the process. An off-the-shelf software solution is not a viable option. To meet these needs, companies should consider an Enterprise Level Project Management Application (ELPMA) solution. ELPMA is a project management centred application powered by a workflow engine. It allows real time tracking and managing all MOC activities among multidisciplinary groups from facility to corporate levels and automates the administration of the MOC process. This paper describes major considerations and difficulties in setting up and administering a MOC system at both facility and corporate levels, the requirements in selecting an ELPMA solution and the associated benefits.