A Simplified, Graphical Representation of Process Safety Competency Development

A pillar of the Center for Chemical Process Safety's (CCPS) Risk Based Process Safety (RBPS) management system is “Commitment to Process Safety.” Within this pillar is the element of competency. Using our expertise gained through competency development is a key element of commitment to process safety. What does it take to become competent at process safety? This paper will describe how personnel must have levels of competency and how there is a logical progression of competency development. Using a competency pyramid, the author will explain this progression and how personnel working in the oil and gas industry can achieve higher level competencies to enhance their expertise and therefore become more valuable to the organization. Starting with company policies, the pyramid graphically represents how new hires and more experienced persons must learn from their experience to become proficient at identifying, analyzing and mitigating process safety hazards. This simple tool has proven to be very effective during numerous training sessions on RBPS management and has become a key learning point for participants to use in revitalizing and eliminating the confusion that sometimes exists in organizations struggling to comply with the requirements of process safety elements.