LAYER OF PROTECTION ANALYSIS (LOPA) -A PROCESS RISK ASSESSMENT TOOL: IS IT REALLY AN INDEPENDENT PROTECTION LAYER?

摘要

Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) is a simplified chemical process risk assessment tool that is used to determine if sufficient independent protection layers (IPLs) are in place to meet an organization's risk tolerance criteria for a particular hazardous scenario. LOPA can determine how much additional risk reduction is needed for the scenario and can help in specifying the additional protection layers. The CCPS books, Layer of Protection Analysis - Simplified Process Risk Assessment (2001) [1], and Guidelines for Safe and Reliable Instrumented Protective Systems (Center for Chemical Process Safety 2007) [2] identify required attributes of independent protective layers. In more than 15 years experience working with LOPA, I have frequently observed confusion about these attributes among LOPA analysts, protection layer implementers, and operations personnel [3].