A Brief History of Process Safety Management

Common root causes are often to be found in many, if not most, process safety incidents. Whilst largescale events are relatively rare, such events can have devastating consequences. The subsequent investigations often uncover that the risks are rarely visible, the direct causes are often hidden, and that a ‘normalization of deviation’ is a common human characteristic. Process Safety Management (PSM) builds on the valuable lessons learned from past incidents to help prevent future recurrences. An understanding of how PSM originated and has evolved as a discipline over the past 200 years can be instructive when considering the safety implications of emerging technologies. An example is hydrogen production where risks must be effectively identified, mitigated, and addressed to provide safe production, transportation, storage and use .