2025 Spring Meeting and 21st Global Congress on Process Safety

(32an) From Standard to Practice: Developing a Compliance Framework for Process Safety Management (PSM) in the Philippines

Authors

Michael Saura, Risk Management Professionals
Loriel Jhane Refuerzo, Saltegra Consulting LLC
A vast majority of the chemical processing facilities in the Philippines operate with a primary focus on occupational safety and limited awareness of process safety principles. To address this gap, in August 2024, the Department of Trade and Industry’s Bureau of Philippine Standards (DTI-BPS) promulgated the Philippine National Standard PNS 2186:2024—Process Safety Management System—Guidelines for Implementation. This voluntary standard marks a foundational effort to embed PSM practices industry-wide. To support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in achieving minimum compliance with PSM standards, it is essential to consider the Philippines' unique historical, cultural, and economic landscape. In many regions, PSM frameworks were initially developed in response to high-profile industrial incidents, leading to stringent regulatory enforcement and well-defined compliance structures, as seen in early frameworks in the US and the UK. However, the Philippine context is marked by an absence of such regulatory enforcement, which poses distinct challenges for SMEs in terms of resources, technical capacity, and readiness to adopt new safety standards.

This study addresses these challenges by proposing a foundational, scalable compliance framework tailored to local industries' specific needs and constraints. By establishing minimum compliance requirements that prioritize immediate safety needs, the framework allows SMEs to engage in PSM practices incrementally, thus making the guidelines more accessible and achievable. Drawing on international best practices while integrating local insights, the framework is designed to offer practical, phased steps for aligning with the PNS guidelines, enabling SMEs to develop sustainable safety practices that can evolve alongside organizational growth.

Employing a mixed-method approach, this study integrates document analysis, stakeholder interviews, and case studies to validate the proposed compliance framework's applicability, feasibility, and practicality. In line with methodologies used in similar studies internationally, this research also draws on participatory workshops and benchmarking against global standards to refine the framework and ensure that it meets the distinct needs of the Philippine industrial sector. Findings indicate that this structured, scalable framework effectively enhances operational safety, promotes long-term regulatory readiness, and supports alignment with evolving global standards.

This study emphasizes the need for collaboration among regulatory bodies, industry leaders, and trade associations to support the adoption of a scalable PSM framework, especially for SMEs. By focusing on minimum compliance requirements, the framework addresses critical safety needs and provides SMEs with a practical entry point, establishing a foundation for consistent, long-term PSM adoption. This approach can strengthen safety culture, reduce operational risks, and align Philippine industry practices with global standards.