Assignment 2 Process Plant Design and Operation : An Overview Introduction This assignment will be for you to look at the broad aspects of safety and design for safety in the establishment and operation of a process plant. The plant is not specific as the detail is not required. The aim of this exercise is to get you thinking as broadly as possible (within the realms of probability) . I have listed some possible topics to get you thinking; this is not an exhaustive list and you will need to add your own topics. This is intended to be an over view only at this stage. Later in the unit you will be shown more techniques to help you further analyse more deeply into this subject. This assignment is to help develop your thinking, mainly in breadth. Possible issues/items of consideration , 1. General access to plant ; restrictions, controls, management of people on site 2. Fire safety and management , alarms, drills, consequences and controls 3. Disposal of waste; hazards, handling, procedures, training of personnel, disposal sites and disposal equipment 4. On site disaster management and training, medical help, emergency equipment, proximity to outside help 5. On site operator training and facilities, procedures 6. Bunds, catchment, fences, warning signs, evacuation 7. Machine guards, accessibility to machine & process control equipment 8. Electrical safety and training 9. Proximity to residential or industrial areas, public parks, sports grounds 10. Plant emissions, odours, byproducts and potential risks from them 11. Weather protection of operators, drainage, runoff, leaching, flood potential 12. Power supply or supply failure, machine shutdown, restarts, process vulnerability to power failure 13. Energy efficiency and control of waste energy 14. Plant construction/material, layout, spacing between stages, emergency access, maintenance access 15. Individual operator safety , exposure to heat, harmful processes/materials 16. Working at heights, depths, enclosed spaces, within harmful environments You are not expected to be experts or experienced in this field. Rather this assignment may open your eyes to the size and complexity of this field, even in a relatively simple plant. The key exercise here is to let your thinking explore and visualize issues across the whole spectrum from the obvious to the highly improbable. Once these issues are on the table, the next step is implement control measure to either minimize or eliminate them. The next assignments will take you further down this path.