Review of Adequacy of Safeguards and Mitigation of Hazards Through Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) Study

Implementation of HAZOP technique in existing and new facilities leads to increase in safety through overall improvement in quality, efficiency and reliability. This paper focuses on the basic principles of HAZOP studies used to assess safety systems for their adequacy in handling hazards. This paper includes detailed discussion on the application of HAZOP to the process of uranium sequestration using cyanobacteria. The study is unique in the sense that it is HAZOP study of a laboratory scale process. After identification of hazard and operability problems in the system, recommendations are provided to reduce the probability and consequences of an incident. This involves detailed review of process to identify study nodes based on operating conditions. Deviations from design intent and operating conditions in the node are identified by applying standard guidewords. A deviation is considered ‘meaningful’ if its causes are credible and consequences have impact on safety of operations and potential incidents which can be severe.