Safety and security concerns in the refining industry have become a greater challenge for refinery operators and contractors in the wake of terrorism threats and megadisasters.
At the same time, the refining industry continues to grapple with everyday workplace safety with an infrastructure and staff pressed to the limit.
Strategies
Developing a strategy to prevent operational security and safety incidents is not easy, notes Mark Opheim, director of marketing for oil and gas, Honeywell Process Solutions.
“Many companies focus on incident prevention, while others may only think about having plans in place to respond to incidents when they occur,” he says. “To focus on only one of these aspects is the wrong approach.”
Opheim contends that the most effective safety/security strategy requires a clear understanding of best practices in not only preventing incidents before they occur, but also in responding when they do occur.
“This requires a prevention strategy that includes risk analysis and supports early detection of issues. And if the incident occurs, it requires a response plan that allows the refinery to quickly recover to a normal state. The integration of prevention efforts and response plans provides the most effective means to prevent and overcome an incident.”
Technology used to prevent incidents is usually the most visible part of a safety/security plan, Opheim points out: “For example, a refinery’s perimeter fence line might feature digital cameras with microwave or motion sensors that can detect intruders. The entry points along the fence might also have access control technology that uses biometric and smart card readers to ensure that only authorized personnel enter the property.
“To ensure adequate response, however, this technology can be integrated with other technology within the refinery such as the process control and safety instrumented systems. If a process operator, for instance, sees a microwave sensor has been triggered by an intruder along the perimeter, he can then take the appropriate actions of shutting down a process and evacuating personnel from certain areas of the refinery.”
Access control and other technology such as smart cards can help supervisors locate their employees during an emergency without having to walk through dangerous areas of the refinery, says Opheim. “This also streamlines coordination with first responders who need to administer medical treatment, for example.”
Facilities access in an age of heightened security is the focus of new US federal regulations that will be implemented this year, according to Jeff Hazle, technical director, National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA).
The Transportation Worker Identification Credential Program is a regulation that the Transportation Safety Administration and the US Coast Guard finalized in January (more information on the rule is available at NPRA’s website at http://www.npra.org/forms/meeting/MeetingFormPublic/view?id=629A000001D4).
“This regulation will apply to anyone who may enter a facility unescorted in the course of their work, so it will cover all operators, contractors, supervisors, etc.,” Hazle says. “Companies will have 6 months to implement and meet the regulation’s requirements once the regulation is final. Anyone who needs to enter a covered facility will have to apply for a government credential from this program, which will be administered by the US Coast Guard.”
Process controls concerns
While physical security remains a concern for today’s refineries, increasing attention is also being paid to cyber-security, particularly in relation to the critical process control networks and safety systems, notes Chris Lyden, senior vice-president of global marketing for Invensys Process Systems.
“Process control network intrusions (malicious or otherwise) were not a huge concern in earlier decades when refinery DCSs [distributed controls systems] were both closed and highly proprietary,” he says. “However, today’s more open and standards-based systems open the potential for intrusions from both external and internal sources. This makes it critically important for refineries and other [hydrocarbon processing industry] plants to perform a thorough security risk assessment of their entire organizations and establish and rigidly enforce a comprehensive security policy. This is in addition to implementing a multitiered, ‘defense in depth’ hardware and software strategy. Clearly, firewalls alone are not enough.”
Lyden also contends that plant DCSs play a key role in safety strategies as well.
“Since process control operators and the plant DCSs represent the first line of defense, it’s important that process control loops and system alarms are managed properly. Today’s aging workforce, combined with the almost continuous introduction of new technologies, increases the need for effective loop management, alarm management, and operator training.”
The safety instrument system (SIS) represents the final line of defense against equipment or system failures and the resulting process events escalating into a situation that could threaten the safety of the plant, plant personnel, or the surrounding community, Lyden points out: “So it’s especially important that the safety systems in today’s refineries are able to perform the critical process safety shutdown function without any chance of being compromised by external systems and without concern for SIS failures. The gradual erosion of the well-proven concepts of ‘separation’ and ‘diversity’ between DCS and SIS due to cost pressures could eventually have catastrophic results.”
Technology aside, Lyden adds, clear management policies must be in place to ensure that security and safety procedures are clearly communicated, understood, and followed.
Everyday concerns
Hazle contends that safety should be an everyday concern.
“As always, the challenge is to make thinking/acting safely a part of the culture so that nothing is seen as routine,” he says.
Beyond that change in an organizational culture, disaster preparedness is another critical element in the refining industry’s efforts to remain safe and secure.
“With respect to disaster response-such as the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes-I think that one of the concerns is scarcity of resources and materials during the recovery phase,” Hazle notes. “Companies are planning to stockpile some critical materials so they are available for disaster recovery, but there will still be some resources that will be in short supply.
“Companies are also emphasizing the logistics of locating and communicating with employees, helping them relocate families and recover from storm damage, and working with local authorities to allow workers to return to work even if the refinery is located in an area closed to the general public.”
NPRA published a white paper titled “Hurricane Security Operations” (May 31, 2006) that outlines some of the issues that member companies will want to consider in preparing for and recovering from a storm. It is available on NPRA’s website: http://www.npra.org/publications/general/.
Contractors also have a vital role to play in safeguarding personnel at the worksite, says James Turner, director, process technology & engineering for Fluor Corp.’s energy and chemicals division.
“Engineering contractors need to take a greater leadership role in creating a safer work environment for their employees when they are working in operating refineries and chemical plants,” he points out. “One example is the relocation of all work trailers from within or immediately adjacent to operating units to a more protected location, which affords efficient egress in an emergency.”
Opheim sees a wireless solution in employee safety considerations: “A real-time location system, for example, can help monitor employee locations throughout a refinery and ensure safe procedural operations.”
