3652 Human factors in valve criticality analysis

Overview:

This guidance has been prepared by the Energy Institute (EI), drawing on the expertise of human factors engineering (HFE) specialists, process safety engineers and design practitioners from across the oil and gas, nuclear and renewables sectors. Valve criticality analysis (VCA) is a structured process used to categorise and prioritise manual valves according to their criticality for safety and operations and to ensure that the design and layout of facilities supports safe, effective and timely access to those valves by personnel.

Despite the importance of VCA in reducing the potential for human error and supporting emergency response, there has to date been no single, consolidated piece of industry guidance on the subject. This publication addresses that gap by providing a practical framework for conducting VCA, integrating established human factors design principles relating to valve criticality, frequency of use, sequence of operation and functional grouping. This guidance is intended for use by project managers, safety and technical leads, senior engineers within design contractors, equipment vendors and other engineering contractors, as well as HFE specialists responsible for the execution of VCA studies. It is also relevant to piping, layout and structural discipline engineers responsible for incorporating VCA outcomes into facility design.

While written in the context of the United Kingdom (UK) legislative and regulatory framework, the principles set out in this publication can similarly be applied in other countries provided that national and local statutory requirements are complied with. Where requirements differ, the more stringent should be adopted. A similar legislative and regulatory framework generally applies elsewhere in the European Union.