Process Improvement Institute

04/14/2026

https://www.process-improvement-institute.com/conditional-modifiers-and-enabling-events-should-you-ever-trust-them/

Good morning, visitors to the 2026 Spring Meeting and 22nd Global Congress on Process Safety! Be sure to visit PII's Technical Director William Bridges' presentation this morning at 11:00 AM Central in Room 361 - GRB (3, George R. Brown Convention Center) on Conditional Modifiers and Enabling Events...

04/14/2026

Another important LOPA presentation today - from one of the original co-developers of LOPA! Don't miss it!

Hello again, visitors to the 2026 Spring Meeting and 22nd Global Congress on Process Safety! Be sure to also visit PII's Technical Director William Bridges' presentation this afternoon at 1:30 PM Central in Room 360 - GRB (3, George R. Brown Convention Center) on Human Response IPLs and Human Error Prevention IPLs (Beyond Administrative Controls), and then be sure to download the paper accompanying the presentation from our website's Free Resources section:

https://www.process-improvement-institute.com/_downloads/Human%20IPLs%20and%20HEP%20IPLs%20-%202026%20-%20R10%20-%20FINAL.pdf

From the paper's Abstract:

There are many scenarios for which Layers of Protection Analysis (LOPA) may be difficult to apply. One such case is when a scenario is dominated by human error, and yet there does not appear to be a way to have one or more IPLs. This paper provides a list of human-error prevention IPLs to consider. Several case studies are provided, including an assessment of a task at a copper smelter that was addressed using LOPA, incorporating human-error-prevention IPLs that other sites may not have considered. It appears always possible to develop and install IPLs against high-human-error scenarios.

And remember, while you're at the conference, be sure to visit PII's booth # 431 to talk about process safety with Bill and Matías, and learn more about our becoming part of the Trinity Consultants group!

Hello again, visitors to the 2026 Spring Meeting and 22nd Global Congress on Process Safety! Be sure to also visit PII's Technical Director William Bridges' presentation this afternoon at 1:30 PM Central in Room 360 - GRB (3, George R. Brown Convention Center) on Human Response IPLs and Human Error....

04/14/2026

Don't miss this one, conference-goers!

Good morning, visitors to the 2026 Spring Meeting and 22nd Global Congress on Process Safety! Be sure to visit PII's Technical Director William Bridges' presentation this morning at 11:00 AM Central in Room 361 - GRB (3, George R. Brown Convention Center) on Conditional Modifiers and Enabling Events...

03/19/2026

Trinity Consultants Acquires Process Improvement Institute Inc.

Process Improvement Institute is excited to announce its acquisition by Trinity Consultants, a leader in global environmental consulting. Trinity Consultants delivers expertise and solutions to help clients, support, monitor, build, and protect in the evolving natural, scientific, and built environments. (Select the following link to see the press announcement released by Trinity Consultants today, March 18, 2026.)

PII strengthens Trinity’s expertise in process safety management and expands its international presence

11/22/2025

Come visit us at the upcoming 2025 Global Process Safety Conference in Dubai, UAE! Process Improvement Institute President William Bridges will be presenting an important paper at the conference on Tuesday, November 25th at 9:20 AM, and Bill invites you to visit him to talk process safety at our booth on November 24th and 25th! See you at the conference!

Come visit us at the upcoming 2025 Global Process Safety Conference in Dubai, UAE! Process Improvement Institute President William Bridges will be presenting an important paper at the conference on Tuesday, November 25th at 9:20 AM, and Bill invites you to visit him to talk process safety at our boo...

03/27/2024

Wednesday @ GCPS: PSM Issues from Non-Operational Departments

It's Wednesday, March 27th at the 2024 Spring Meeting and 20th Global Congress on Process Safety! In this morning's Session 160 - Effective Process Safety Management Programs, Process Improvement Institute's CEO William Bridges is presenting an important paper on Process Safety Management (PSM) titled PSM Issues from Non-Operational Departments from 8:45 AM to 9:15 AM CDT in Rooms 217-218 (New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center).

This paper explains the role that non-operational departments such has Purchasing, Project management, Human resources, Shipping/Receiving, Accounting, and Others have in process safety. The paper presents many examples where these non-operational departments have impacted process safety and provides examples of how to integrate these departments into the goals of process safety.

03/27/2024

Wednesday @ GCPS: Spanish Session: Tecnología y herramientas para PSM

It's Wednesday, March 27th at the 2024 Spring Meeting and 20th Global Congress on Process Safety! This morning, Process Improvement Institute's Matias Massello has his final co-chair assignment of the conference in an important Spanish-language session titled "Tecnología y herramientas para PSM" (Technology and tools for PSM) from 8:15 AM to 9:45 AM CDT in Room 223 (New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center).

Herramientas tecnológicas que den soporte a la implementación y mantenimiento de PSM en una organización, tecnologías asociadas en el marco de la transición energética, así como sistemas y tecnologías que dan soporte a la efectiva ejecución de los procesos que son parte del marco PSM (ej., herramientas tecnológicas para permiso de trabajo, visualización de procedimientos operativos en campo, gestión de factores humanos, manejo de datos e información operativa que de soporte a una operación segura, herramientas para seguimiento efectivo de MOC, gestión de crisis multinivel, dashboards, etc.).

03/27/2024

Wednesday @ GCPS: Spanish Session: Análisis Técnicos de riesgos y barreras

It's Wednesday, March 27th at the 2024 Spring Meeting and 20th Global Congress on Process Safety! This morning, Process Improvement Institute's Matias Massello is once again co-chairing an important Spanish-language session titled "Análisis Técnicos de riesgos y barreras" (Technical analysis of risks and barriers) from 6:00 AM to 7:30 AM CDT in Room 223 (New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center), and he is also presenting an important PHA paper during the session titled "Como Incorporar y Analizar Los Modos No Rutinarios (Arranque, Parada y Mantenimiento en línea) En Los PHAs De Manera Eficiente" (How to Incorporate and Analyze Non-Routine Modes (Start, Stop and Online Maintenance) in PHAs Efficiently) from 6:00 AM to 6:30 AM during the session.

Las Evaluaciones de peligros, también llamadas Análisis de Peligros del Proceso (PHA, por sus siglas en inglés), se han realizado con mejoras graduales durante más de cinco décadas. Durante este tiempo, se han desarrollado y perfeccionado métodos como HAZOP y What-If. Sin embargo, algunas debilidades identificadas hace 30 años aún existen en la mayoría de los PHAs realizados en todo el mundo. El punto más crítico es que la mayoría de los PHAs no analizan a fondo los errores que pueden ocurrir durante arranque, parada y otros modos de operación no rutinarios.

A pesar de que alrededor del 80% de los accidentes graves ocurren durante las operaciones no rutinarias, la mayoría de los PHAs se enfocan principalmente en la operación normal (por ejemplo, HAZOP de nodos de equipo) ignorando casi completamente los modos de operación más peligrosos. Lamentablemente el enfoque habitual utilizado para modo de operación continuo solo encuentra alrededor de 5 - 10% de los escenarios de accidentes que pueden ocurrir durante arranque, parada y mantenimiento en línea. Esto resulta en un gran porcentaje de potenciales accidentes sin identificar. Si el PHA no encuentra los escenarios que podrían ocurrir durante estas operaciones no rutinarias, la organización no sabrá qué salvaguardas son necesarias para controlar su riesgo.

Una de las razones por las que muchas empresas no realizan PHA de Procedimientos es porque creen que el tiempo requerido para dicho análisis será excesivo. El objetivo de este artículo es describir las mejores prácticas para: (1) la selección y clasificación de los procedimientos más críticos para el análisis, (2) decidir sobre el método para optimizar el tiempo invertido, y (3) agilizar la documentación de los resultados del PHA.

03/26/2024

Tuesday @ GCPS: Spanish Session: Marcos de gestión e implementación PSM

It's Tuesday, March 26th at the 2024 Spring Meeting and 20th Global Congress on Process Safety! This morning, Process Improvement Institute's Matias Massello is co-chairing an important Spanish-language session titled Marcos de gestión e implementación PSM from 8:15 AM to 9:45 AM CDT in Room 223 (New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center).

Lo invitamos a compartir ideas innovadoras y experiencias relacionadas con la implementación de PSM, los marcos corporativos de gestión donde se encuadra PSM (ej., sistemas de gestión de operaciones, Marcos de sostenibilidad, Regulación, ESG), la relevancia de PSM en la transición energética. Asimismo, compartir metodologías y prácticas para la implementación efectiva de los procesos que forman parte de los elementos del marco de gestión PSM, criterios y aspectos a tener en cuenta (ej. alcance, recursos humanos y sus competencias, recursos financieros/ caso de negocio, criterios de éxito y medición de avance y grado de madurez de la implementación, KPIs, factores humanos asociados a la implementación), desarrollo temporal de una implementación en una organización, etc.

03/26/2024

Tuesday @ GCPS: Optimizing PHAs While Maximizing Brainstorming

It's Tuesday, March 26th at the 2024 Spring Meeting and 20th Global Congress on Process Safety! In this morning's Session 65 - Improvement of PHA Leadership and Study Outcomes, Process Improvement Institute's CEO William Bridges is presenting an important paper on Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) titled Optimizing PHAs While Maximizing Brainstorming (to ensure scenarios are not missed) from 6:30 AM to 7:00 AM CDT in Rooms 220-221 (New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center).

This paper discusses the lessons gleaned from more than 8000 qualitative hazard evaluations completed by the authors and compatriots over the past 40-years. The learnings were from project risk reviews, management of change (MOC) risk reviews, full unit process hazard analyses (PHAs), and PHA revalidations. (All of these evaluations fall within the qualitative category of CCPS’s “Hazard Identifications and Risk Assessments [HIRAs],” required in the Risk-Based Process Safety [RBPS] guide [CCPS, 2007].) The experience covers all chemical and related industry. The paper shares secrets that will speed up your hazard evaluations while not sacrificing thoroughness; maximizing brainstorming is the Key to finding accident scenarios. Issues covered include: Should you project your notes during the meetings? Should you use dedicated software? Should you have a dedicated scribe? Should you define the methods and make sections/nodes ahead of the meetings? What methods should you choose? What documentation rules speed up the meeting? What facilitation rules speed up the meetings without crimping brainstorming? What mistakes kill brainstorming and also slow the meetings? Data based on thousands of PHAs is presented, along with a condensed set of optimization rules.

03/25/2024

Monday @ GCPS: Human Error Limits Sil Rating

It's Monday, March 25th at the 2024 Spring Meeting and 20th Global Congress on Process Safety! Today, Process Improvement Institute is presenting an important SIL paper on human error in the Process Safety Poster Session being held from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM CDT in Hall B-1 (1, New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center).

SIL Verification calculations that are required by IEC and ANSI/ISA do NOT include the probability of humans making mistakes, which they will, during human interventions such as during calibration checks. Therefore, the PFD of SIF calculated in such a way will omit the probability of these human errors, which are the largest terms for SIFs with PFDs of less than or equal to 0.01. A couple of papers have been published on this topic. This paper will reiterate this significant limitation on SIL rating for this panel discussion.