MATRIC offers a full suite of safety services, including reviews, analyses,
accident/incident investigation, program and plan development,
modeling, audits, and training. These capabilities will help an organization reduce the risks associated with a variety of
industrial and laboratory operations.
Background
Since its inception, MATRIC has been staffed with experienced safety, engineering, and research professionals who have helped develop programs and texts to satisfy the safety and risk analysis needs of manufacturers related to OSHA PSM, EPA RMP and other safety programs. Staff members have helped develop the “Guidelines” book series of The American Institute of Chemical Engineers Center For Chemical Process Safety. These books have become the textbooks of college safety curricula worldwide. MATRIC has found that safety investigation techniques applied to chemical plant operations are also adaptable to many other manufacturing operations, including mining, timber, oil and gas, food, general manufacturing, aerospace, and transportation industries.
Expertise within MATRIC also includes knowledge and application of generally accepted safety practices and criteria promulgated by specific industry focus groups such as The National Fire Protection Association, The Chlorine Institute, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, the Center for Chemical Process Safety, ASTM, AIChE, ASME, and governmental rule-making entities.
MATRIC’s offerings are aimed toward identification and mitigation/reduction of risks created by hazard and operability shortcomings. In every instance MATRIC seeks to recommend potential risk reductions for hazard and operability issues, whether it is injury/fatality impacts in the plant or community, loss of production (plant outage), major equipment loss, or damage to the environment.
Identifying and Quantifying Risk
Risks all have the potential to cost your business money and can result in crippling outages or loss, adverse publicity, and the potential for acute injuries during times that plant production is needed to meet sales and operating demands. By employing tried-and-true hazard identification methods and risk quantification technologies, MATRIC can assist your in-house risk/loss control efforts by offering a fresh and multi-disciplined examination of the processes and operations that affect your profitability. MATRIC can also investigate accidents, determine the root causes, and recommend fixes.
MATRIC offers a complete suite of safety analysis tools and the expertise to recommend the appropriate tools for specific problems. Among the hazard identification methods most often used are:
- WICL, What-If/Checklist Analysis. Stepwise questioning by a team of experts about every facet of the process. The work process is structured, but the questions originate from the cumulative expertise of the team.
- FMEA, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis. Line by line failure mode analysis of a system or item of equipment; a deductive logic process.
- HAZOP, Hazard and Operability Analysis. Guideword failure analysis for processes, systems or equipment. Rigorous and can be time consuming.
MATRIC has the expertise to use these tools to either perform your risk analysis or to lead your staff in an appropriate risk analysis. In addition, MATRIC can educate your staff to conduct objective examinations of your processes and operations, either through the MATRIC Safety Training Institute or by carrying out a study in partnership with your staff.
Implementing Reduction of Risk
The intent of any study is to control or prevent events that lead to any type of liability to the client’s business. This is accomplished by making operation or design recommendations based upon the true root cause(s) of the observed or potential impacts quantified in each study. When necessary, MATRIC is prepared and well-qualified to assist the client in implementing the needed changes to address risks found by a safety study or root cause analysis. These changes can generally be placed within one of three categories:
- Issues that can be solved within present budget allocation
- Issues that can be solved within the next budget cycle
- Issues requiring capital projects
Accident and Incident Investigation
MATRIC has developed and used a formal accident investigation protocol. The full protocol is available to our clients in an investigation.
Areas of Expertise
MATRIC Safety Engineering Services areas of expertise focus on but are not limited to the following operations processing and design areas.
- OSHA PSM and EPA RMP plans, initial documentation or revalidation studies
- Hazard identification and importance ranking (quantification)
- Process Safety Control Analysis, Human Error Analysis, and Safety Instrumented Systems
- Management of Change (Identifying how a process or operation has suffered “creep” away from the original design intent)
- Implementation of Inherently Safer Design Technology and Techniques to reduce risks
- Development/documentation of process or operations Critical Operating Parameters and Safety Standards
- Process and Instrument Diagram Management and Documentation
- Alarm and Response Management for Critical and Non-Critical Alarms during startup, run, idle, and normal/emergency shutdowns
- Pilot Plant and Laboratory Process Design and Operations Hazard Investigation and Control
- Site and Facility Safety Inspections
- Safe Work Practices Development and Training (e.g., Job Safety Analyses, Operating Instructions) for any facet of processing or operations/maintenance
- High Pressure Systems Safety Studies
- Low Temperature Embrittlement Safety Studies
- Dust Explosion Safety Analysis
- Direct Oxygenation, Chlorination System Design Safety Studies
- Pressure Vessel Relief Design, all types including ASME Code Case 2211 cases
- Safe Storage of Flammable and Toxic Materials in the Plant or Laboratory
- Accident/Incident Investigation, determining root causes and corrective measures
- Study and prevention of electrostatic and mechanical ignition potential in your process, operation, transport or laboratory system
- Investigation and Prevention of Ignition in closed systems such as tanks and vent header systems
- Development assistance for creating a Risk Management Program
- Search for unidentified chemical or physical phenomena manifested in your present production system that are currently unrecognized hazards (Periodic Technology Reviews)
- AIChE's Layers of Protection Analysis methodology
- Fire Protection Surveys
Project Analysis Expertise Areas
- Fire Protection Engineering
- Development, Costing
- Layout and Spacing of Structures and Facilities
- Inherently Safer Design
- Transportation Analysis, land and marine
- Life Cycle Cost Analysis/Reliability
- Fault Dynamics Analysis
- Scheduling
- Heat and Pressure balance determination
- Process Control Technology analog, digital
- Process Safety Shutdown Protection Logic Analysis
Chemical Process Expertise Areas
- Batch reactions/distillation
- Continuous reaction systems
- Continuous/batch distillation
- Reactive distillation
- Direct oxidation
- Direct chlorination
- Spray drying
- Flash dryers
- Calciners
- Relief vent sizing
- Autoclaves
- Bench chemistry and analysis methods
