Process Safety Management Review As a Driver for Cultural Change : GPS or Waze?

This paper is intended to drive thoughts around the approach that is given to the process safety management review process. Generally speaking, a management review process consists of a routine evaluation of whether management systems are performing as intended and are producing the desired results as efficiently as possible. If we give a deep thought to this description, some thoughts come to mind:

• How Process Safety Management Review is really implemented at the inside of our companies?
• Are we considering routine the annual review of results and goal setting process?
• Is this a “check the box” exercise?
• The involvement of higher level leadership is limited to receiving the executive report of the annual review?

If companies want to drive a deep cultural change towards process safety the first step is commitment and culture. So here comes the question, how to ensure commitment and culture are part of the process safety program? There is not a magical formula, but the process safety management review plays a principal role in shaping an organizations culture.

In several ways, an effective Process Safety Management Review cultivates a culture of trust, learning and responsibility:

• PSM reviews involve leadership commitment.
• PSM reviews involve cross-functional teams, fostering collaboration and engagement.
• PSM reviews provide learning opportunities. Employees gain insights into safety practices, incident prevention, and emergency response.
• Transparent PSM reviews build trust between management and employees.
• A thorough PSM review reinforces safety as a core value. Employees

So, at the end, is the process safety management review a traditional GPS or Waze?