(19b) Experience of a Very Large Layer of Protection Analysis with More Than 2000 ‘Cause – Consequence Pairs' Covering a Large Gas Terminal in Europe

The activity starts with a series of public training sessions given by the author. The engineers experiencing the training realised that their major facility, whilst modern and well designed, would fail to meet the requirements of the Seveso 2 Directive for their country where IEC 61511 was adopted as Good Engineering Practice. As a result a large LOPA study was proposed for the largest terminal and an upgrade project. This LOPA study took approximately 6 weeks and involved the EH&S function and a range of operations personnel from production leaders to process operators. The paper describes:

? The software tools used

? The standards worked to

? The client risk tolerance criteria and how it was derived

? Supporting Independent reports on the existing system

? The work sessions and the performance of the various actors

? Common errors and misconceptions discovered

? The follow up

? The final outcome and decisions made

? The company's decision on the efficacy of LOPA and its applicability to their operation in the future