Protect personnel, processes, and profits by using a pre-startup safety review checklist.
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A Pre-Startup Safety Review checklist, or short PSSR checklist, is used to ensure a new or modified facility – such as a factory or manufacturing plant – is ready to go into production safely. The PSSR team will use an OSHA Pre-Startup Safety Review checklist before the plant is opened for the first time or reopened after alterations or additions have been made to the facility.
Also known as an Operational Readiness Review, the inspection team needs to ascertain five essential facts during the PSSR process:
1. The importance of a pre-startup safety review checklist
2. Steps to get a proper checklist
3. Examples for parts in a pre-startup safety review checklist
4. A digital tool for your PSSR checklist
The single most important goal of a PSSR checklist is to help avoid work accidents that can result in serious injury or even death for workers. History is littered with horrific incidents caused by equipment failure or human error. The Bhopal disaster, for example, led to the death of 16,000 people.
This is why making sure all staff have been properly trained is a core component of OSHA's pre-startup safety review checklist. While it’s impossible to predict every potential scenario or equipment breakdown, the PSSR aims to reduce that risk as much as possible.
Over and above this, a PSSR checklist is also a valuable tool from a business perspective. When new or cutting-edge equipment is installed, the PSSR can ensure that equipment does what it should. When hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars have been invested in new facilities, it’s vital that they can deliver what was promised.
In addition, making sure that workers are properly trained on new equipment and processes. Also, improve their performance and the facility’s efficiency as a whole.
In the US, PSSRs fall under OSHA’s PSM (Process Safety Management) program, specifically, OSHA 29 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) 1910.119(I). To comply with PSM regulations, a PSSR is required, especially in the case of hazardous chemicals or materials.
In order to make the process as simple as possible, the pre-startup safety review checklist has been broken down into five main steps:
Remember that the primary overarching goals of the PSSR are to ensure that:
Before the PSSR commences, a HAZOP (Hazard and Operability) study should be conducted. This involves examining all the current and new processes performed at the facility to identify and evaluate potential risks to personnel or equipment.
This points the PSSR team in the right direction and forms the backbone of a tailored PSSR checklist.
To work effectively, the PSSR needs to include representatives from multiple disciplines within the organization. Normally, this means staff from engineering, quality control, security, health and safety, and operations.
The team leader should be someone with an excellent overall knowledge of all these fields, who has the authority to implement changes and halt construction/installation if a risk is discovered.
Once the HAZOP study has been concluded, any equipment or processes which were flagged as potentially unsafe must be remedied before the PSSR continues. The team’s first job at this stage is to follow up on those changes and make sure all recommendations have been actioned. It’s also crucial that all these actions are thoroughly documented.
Next, the PSSR team needs to ensure that all of the following documents are available and in good order:
Finally, a thorough field evaluation and site inspection need to be performed. This is usually done just before the facility is about to open (or reopen in the case of modifications or additions).
Some examples of items which might appear on your PSSR checklist include:
A PSSR checklist is a helpful tool for preventing workplace accidents and maintaining workflow. Traditionally, checklists are used in paper format, but they are very mistake-prone. They also make reporting and evaluation difficult. Actually, this is no longer necessary today. Lumiform, an app and desktop software for audits and inspections, offers you the possibility to digitize your PSSR checklists, and these are not the only advantages that a digital tool offers you:
You have questions or would like to schedule a personal demo? We are happy to help you!