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Benchmarking An Important Milestone in the Journey towards

PSM Excellence
Prerna Jain
Reliance Industries Limited
India
prerna.jain@ril.com
1

CindiePridy, 2Ravi Ramaswamy, 3Robert Cravens

1,3

Phillip Townsend Associates, Texas

Reliance Industries Limited, India

cpridy@ptai.com
ravi.ramaswamy@ril.com
rcravens@ptai.com
Prepared for Presentation at

American Institute of Chemical Engineers

2013 Spring Meeting
9th Global Congress on Process Safety
San Antonio, Texas
April 28 May 1, 2013

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UNPUBLISHED
AIChE shall not be responsible for statements or opinions contained
in papers or printed in its publications

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Benchmarking An Important Milestone in the Journey

towards PSM Excellence
Prerna Jain
Reliance Industries Limited
India
prerna.jain@ril.com

CindiePridy, 2Ravi Ramaswamy, 3Robert Cravens

1,3

Phillip Townsend Associates

Reliance Industries Limited

Keywords: benchmarking, gap analysis, metric, performance gap, process safety

management system, risk based process safety element, survey

Abstract
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has implemented a Process Safety Management (PSM)
system through a structured and systematic approach over the last 6 years. In its PSM
journey, RIL realized that there is a continuing need to improve and sustain PSM
performance and to develop an understanding of the current status of RILs existing PSM
system, a benchmarking process of PSM practices, with reference to industry peers, is
required. This was essential in order to identify and address the gaps to best performers
within the peer group, define specific action items to obtain significant performance
improvements, and ultimately achieve the best systems in the world in field of Process
Safety Management.
To accomplish this goal, RIL conducted a PSM Benchmark Program Study designed by
Phillip Townsend Associates (PTAI) and CCPS at its six largest manufacturing
locations in India. By helping to understand the relationship between process safety
outcomes and management practices; this benchmarking program provided several key
approaches for improving overall PSM performance. The program covered benchmarking
of six elements related to a world class process safety management system. They are:
process safety culture; compliance with standards, codes, regulations, and laws; hazard
identification and risk analysis; asset integrity and reliability; management of change; and
measurement and metrics.
The results of the study provided element specific quartile performance of each of the six
manufacturing sites and Reliance as a whole in comparison to the industry peers who
participated in the PTAI study. The gap analysis report presented by PTAI to the six sites

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PSM team and senior management of RIL upon completion of the benchmarking study
identified key areas of improvement for implementing and evolving effective Process
Safety Management System at RIL.
This paper, presented by RIL and PTAI, discusses the benchmark process, methodology
followed for the program, the value proposition of Process Safety Benchmarking,
benefits of the program, key applications and lessons learned by RIL and new directions
for improving PSM. The paper specifically focuses on the journey to success by realizing
the gaps to top performers in the peer group, enhancing PSM knowledge and spreading
PSM best practices.

1. Introduction
Chemical production and the associated processing industries dealing with hazardous and
toxic materials have a significant commercial and societal responsibility to eliminate
and/or mitigate the loss of primary containment or fires related to process materials while
also ensuring that adequate safety systems are in place. Process Safety Management
systems differ from personnel safety management in that process safety focuses directly
on the processes, equipment and technology involved in causing an incident. The broader
application of process safety management decision making and leadership behavior needs
to address loss of containment events of greater and lesser consequences, safety system
challenges and failures that could have led to failure, and operating discipline and
management behaviors that ensure adequate layers of protection are being maintained.
The focus shifts from the lagging indicators that track incidents to leading metrics that are
used in a proactive manner to prevent incidents and continuously improve as shown in
Figure 1: Process Safety Indicator Pyramid (API RP 754, 2010).

Figure 1: Process Safety Indicator Pyramid

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The vision and recommendation of industry-wide process safety originated with the
setting up of Centre for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) by AIChE as a result of the
December 3, 1984 Bhopal incident killing more than 3000 people due to toxic Methyl Iso
Cyanate gas release. The need for continued focus on process safety got reinforced with
the 2005 explosion at the BP refinery in Texas City, Texas. Since then, the Center for
Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) has identified 20 process safety elements to be used
as guidelines for a risk based safety process (CCPS, 2007). In 2009, the CCPS and
Phillip Townsend Associates, Inc. (PTAI) entered into an agreement to develop a
benchmarking program for Process Safety Management Systems (PSM).
Viewed from a risk based perspective, the process safety elements can be grouped into
four categories: Commitment to Process Safety, Understanding Hazards and Risk,
Managing Risk, and Systematic Learning from Experience. PTAI and CCPS designed
the PSM benchmark selecting six of the 20 elements: Process Safety Culture, Compliance
with Standards, Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis, Asset Integrity and Reliability,
Management of Change, and Measurement and Metrics (CCPS, 2007). The key goal
was to seek an understanding of the relationship between process safety outcomes and
management practices.
This paper discusses the details of the PSM benchmark, the value proposition to be
gained, and specifically the experience of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in
developing an understanding of the current status of RILs existing PSM system, and the
practices that will improve and sustain PSM performance. The objective of RIL is to take
PSM systems and practices to the top quartile performance through a benchmarking
process of industry peers relative to PSM practices. Specifically, the paper focuses on the
most important decisions and behavior changes that leadership can make to spread
process safety awareness throughout the organization, close the gap to the top performers,
develop central and site specific action plans for improvement, and raise the internal level
of all organizational units to the that of the top internal performer.

2. Methodology
Benchmarking identifies how well a company is doing compared to its peers in the
industry, what the industry top performance is, how large the gap is to the top performers
within the industry, and create a stimulus for continuous improvement. Benchmarking
programs seek to understand the relationship between outcomes and management
practices. The PSM benchmarking program is a systematic study of process safety
between companies that will allow sites/companies to compare their management
systems with the goal of improving the design and implementation of management
practices that impact process safety.
2.1

Value Proposition of Process Safety Benchmarking

PSM benchmarking can elevate a companys process safety performance through four
distinct steps:

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2.1.1

Identify performance gaps

The identification of a companys performance in relation to Performance Quartiles will

highlight key drivers for performance enhancement versus its peers. These quantifiable
results replace perceptions with a data-based reality check. In addition, these results
identify if the enterprise policies, practices, and procedures are operating as intended and
are achieving the desired results.
2.1.2 Create performance enhancement goals
Data driven information provides a measure of the enterprise effectiveness emphasizing
strengths, weaknesses and potential for improvement over time. This helps focus
attention on the critical aspects of an enterprise that create risk. It also underscores what
improvements should be made providing quantifiable performance enhancement goals.
2.1.3 Measure the effectiveness of improvement programs
PSM benchmarking can be a starting point for goal setting and performance initiatives
aimed at boosting step change improvements in process safety. The clear outcome is that
this will add significant shareholder value through reduced risks of catastrophic incidents.
2.1.4 Maintain continuous improvement
The PSM benchmark helps maintain a stimulus for continuous improvement. It provides
the necessary motivation to ensure consistent top performance results.
2.2 Benchmarking Process
A peer group is established by PTAI of sites/companies agreeing to compare their
process safety programs and performance in an effort to identify best practices and drive
improvement. Ensuring consistency and protection of each participants interests are
critical to a successful benchmark. A confidentiality agreement was completed between
PTAI and RIL along with execution of a participation agreement. The Data Collection
Instrument (DCI), providing clear and consistent definitions for all participating
sites/companies was made available. The use of a secure site over the internet ensured
security of data and ease of use by participants as they are able to see all the survey
questions and select their answers. A kickoff discussion to align key stakeholders at each
of the sites is critical. In RIL case, this was done through a series of webinars between
PTAI consultants, RILs Centre for HSE Excellence and stakeholders at each of the
participating sites.
RIL chose to benchmark PSM in six of its large Refining and Petrochemical
manufacturing sites in India and a team of site focal points, corporate coordinator and
PTAI worked in a seamless manner to plan and execute the benchmark program.
Following submission of the data, PTAI validates the data on a site and company basis
and provides analysis of the results. Validation was enhanced with RIL by individual site
visits to each of the six sites by PTAI. This provided the opportunity for discussion and

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verification of the results reported to the on-line survey. Participation by key RIL
personnel during this process added to the effectiveness and accuracy of data reported
and provided a seamless voice to the sites between RILs Center for HSE Excellence and
PTAI.
In particular, statistical analysis of the data was performed by PTAI to evaluate various
drivers of process safety using a Gap Analysis comparing RILs performance to the top
quartile of the peer group. The quantitative and qualitative results were distributed to
participants with numerical scores for each element along with an overall site/company
specific score. Strengths, as well as the main opportunities for improvement to close the
gap towards the top performers were identified. A discussion of the study results and gap
opportunities was held with the executive management in an executive management
summary with specific individual gap analysis presentations to the top Line and HSE
management of each of the six RIL sites benchmarked.
2.3Benefits of PSM Benchmarking
Management review is an integral part of moving from lessons learned to systematic
improvement of PSM. Reviews of the performance gaps can identify potential problems
and address them before an incident occurs; as well as, identify opportunities for
improvement to move from current levels to the level of top performers. PSM
benchmarking helps an organization prioritize the allocation of process safety resources,
both financial and human, to focus on the highest identified risk areas.
Among the benefits of PSM benchmarking, there are certain ones that can have a big
impact on an organization. There should be a marked increase in staff awareness of
process safety issues. This awareness will expand the issues from the Health & Safety
group to Engineering to Operations. Based on the organizational level of results
discussion, it will potentially increase awareness from site management to impact those
that are responsible for setting corporate strategy. A key learning for RIL was the
differences between the individual site scores resulting in a changed perception by the
Center for HSE Excellence and executive management. PSM benchmarking creates a
common understanding and language on process safety matters. Benchmarking can also
reduce risks by potentially providing an incident early warning signs.
Sometimes the opportunities for improvement can be very different from the perceived
gaps in an organization. Identifying and gaining insight on perceived gaps versus actual
gaps is greatly enhanced by an independent benchmark which effectively creates
consistency across multiple sites within a company and with the others in the peer group.

3. Key Applications and Lessons Learned

Traditional process safety surveys have identified a list of both quantitative and
qualitative issues. Translating the qualitative issues into measurable, actionable steps is a
key issue for senior management decision making and allocation of resources.
Benchmarking results must be measurable and use a scoring methodology that will not
only identify the performance gaps, but also quantify the impact of selected actions. The

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PSM benchmarking process designed by CCPS and PTAI includes a scoring

methodology which enables participants to have measurable action plans. Benchmarking
is a systematic way to make site-to-site company comparisons and view a companys
performance level in relation to that of top performers.
The application of the benchmarking results to identify performance gaps provides
meaningful insight for organizations as they develop goals and the associated
improvement plans to reach those goals. Repeated benchmarking monitors the rate of
improvement. One example of a lesson learned that applies to numerous organizations
relates to Process Safety Culture. The findings from the Process Safety Culture section
indicate the largest range of results compared to the other sections. The underlying cause
of the low scores was a direct outcome of not monitoring the process safety culture
through the use of an employee survey. Without a way to assess their work forces
values, attitudes and behaviors pertaining to process safety, an organization will have no
meaningful basis for making and measuring improvements.
The global process safety incidents have produced tremendous need for the use of PSM
benchmark assessment to measure and improve process safety performance. Initially
focused on fatality rates, manufacturers quickly learned that having strong PSM system
and effective layers of protection were important to prevent any loss of containment
scenarios.
At RIL, PSM Benchmark assessment and results helped in identifying following three
main interrelated but distinct benefits or observations: (a) Internal Benchmark of various
RIL sites, (b) learning through process of understanding the benchmark questionnaire,
and (d) need for a detailed analysis of existing systems implementation. We briefly
discuss and illustrate examples of each benefit or observation, highlighting how the
results could be used.
(a)

Internal Benchmark of RIL multiple sites:

PSM Benchmark program conducted for six RIL sites brought to the surface best
practices followed at different sites like: Number of indicators tracked and
analysis of metrics trend, Quality control reviews of Process Hazard Analysis
reports, action plan clearly defined from the Operational Discipline survey results,
employee involvement through various PSM campaigns and some other actions
related to operational discipline. These practices were beyond the existing
standard and system requirements and became good learning for other sites. Also,
these best practices will be additional inputs to the group level company
documents on PSM. For example, the delta between the site with the highest score
and the site with the lowest score in the Compliance with Standards section was
17%; offering a significant opportunity to analyze internal best practices and
improve the level of performance to the highest score.

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(b)

Learning through process of understanding the questionnaire

The benchmarking questionnaire itself generated opportunities for learning new
knowledge. Understanding the why part of questions called for discussions
among various functions at each of the manufacturing sites and reinforced the
understanding of PSM. A self-assessment process got started on the compliance to
PSM requirement. Following table gives certain examples of learning and new
knowledge for the questionnaire itself:
Table 1. Examples of learning and new knowledge from Benchmark
questionnaire
Sr.
no.

PSM Element

Question

Learning

Hazard
How are overdue HIRA action Tracking system to be further
Identification
items
escalated
in
your strengthened for overdue
and
Risk organization?
HIRA action items.
Analysis

How is the metal thickness data Thickness measurement trends

Asset
integrity and from the periodic inspections should be analyzed, remaining
analyzed for trends?
life projections should be
reliability

calculated, and adjustments to

be made to inspection
intervals.

Process
safety culture

If your organization has utilized PSM Culture Survey to be

for
the
a survey tool to assess Process established
Safety Culture, how many organization.
questions were on the survey?

The validation visits from PTAI enhanced the quality of responses and the
participation of various functions in the PSM benchmarking program.
(c)

Need for a detailed analysis of existing systems implementation

The PSM benchmark results identified areas for further analysis to enhance the
systems implementation for improved performance. At RIL, the trend of Process
Safety incidents is varying for the last three years and there is no clear trend of
reduction in loss of containment events from the metrics, inspite of implementing
PSM systems for the last four years. For this, RIL has initiated a group level six
sigma project on reduction in loss of containment events with support of an intersite team. The project follows Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control

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(DMAIC) methodology of six sigma. Following is a brief of activities initiated for

the above:

A multisite team has been formed with a six sigma Black Belt
guide.

Literature on Process Safety and Six sigma circulated to team

members.

Project charter was prepared and circulated to team members

and other stakeholders for inputs/suggestions and firmed up.

Cause-Effect Matrix Format developed and Process mapping

completed for PSM elements.

Audit Report Analysis.

Incident investigation report analysis.

4. New Directions and Next Steps

The PSM benchmark program results gave new insights to the RIL team on the status of
PSM within RIL and in relation to the other participants. The gap analysis was converted
to actionable recommendations at Group Level and individual site level. Next steps in the
PSM excellence journey for RIL have been identified and these are

Develop a formal system of Process Safety Culture Survey.

Review of existing PSM metrics and make necessary amendments.
Review Human Reliability/Human Factors/ HumanMachine Interface
requirements, develop best practice requirements and make necessary
amendments in Standards.
Develop program for assessment of compliance with standards/codes/practices for
existing equipment.
Establish system to manage deviations from the industry consensus standards.
Roll out the Management of Change Personnel process formally.
Actual implementation of Standards/Procedures/Practices in field:
Meeting target inspection/testing intervals, backlog of overdue inspections
Closure of recommendations of PHA, QRA studies
HIRA team members to meet qualification requirements
Closure of Audit recommendations
Implementation of temporary Management of Change
Review RIL Group PSM Standards and Procedures for gaps and make necessary
amendments.

A key benefit of the program for RIL is an Internal Benchmarking among its major
manufacturing sites and sharing the best practices within the group. All the sites have
developed action plans to close their own gaps in PSM practices.

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The collaboration between PTAI and RIL gave new directions for RIL as well as for the
Benchmark program itself. A development of two distinct Plan Do Check Act Assess
(PDCAA) cycles, one for RIL and the other for PTAI has been the result of this
collaboration.
4.1 Overview of PDCAA cycle
PDCAA is a 5-step methodology for process improvement. The stages are shown in
Table 2.
Table 2. PDCAA stages
Plan

Establish objectives and how they will be achieved

Do

Put the plan into effect

Check

Verify that the process achieved the desired results

Act

Analyze any differences and their causes. Take action to improve

things.

Assess

Analyze and reflect on evidence to make informed and consistent

judgments on an ongoing basis for continual improvement.

The PDCAA Cycle for RIL is addressed through the following:

Planning upgrade of RIL PSM standards to industry best levels and establishing
systems to manage deviations, and developing appropriate leading and lagging
metrics.

The do part of the cycle will address the actual implementation of standards and
practices in the field at different sites through a process of sharing the best
practices by institutionalizing the inter-site network teams for the PSM elements.

Check part will address strengthen the current PSM metrics tracking and review
systems, IT enablement of dashboards for Process Safety at different levels of
organization, and reflecting the updated requirements of compliance in the PSM
audit protocols.

A robust system of closure of recommendation and actions arising out of various

studies and audits through a system of IT enabled universal work list and linking
it to individual performance management system is under development which
form the Act step of the cycle.

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Periodic reviews and assessment of PSM will complete the whole cycle of
improvement.

4.2 Plan-Do-Check-Act-Assess- RIL Example: (Hazard Identification and Risk

Assessment)
Plan
In this step, process needs are analyzed by examining a range of data available from the
Benchmark assessment gap analysis relating questions in program to performance results.
Data can be analyzed at the individual sites level and the company level. In this process,
aspects on HIRA management system, including HIRA methodologies, team
composition, criteria for HIRA team leaders/facilitators, level of training, techniques, risk
criteria, recommendations and their status were covered.
Do
This step asks what group standards require and how they will be assessed. Forward
action plan is made by looking at what is lagging in actual implementation in field ; such
as, the timely closure of HIRA recommendations and minimum criteria/qualification for
team members. Sites develop individual goals to improve their performance.
Check
In the check step, formal and informal assessments take place continually, to strengthen
the performance of Metrics on HIRA elements. Sites can make use of comparative data to
identify trends to study; for example, overdue HIRA action items.
Act
In this example the act step calls for standardization or having a robust system to
ensure closure of overdue action items. Results from this cycle become input for the
assess phase.
Assess
In this step, process of periodic reviews and monitoring of HIRA action items is done and
tracked to ensure continual improvement.
4.3 Plan-Do-Check-Act-Assess- PTAI Example: (The benchmarking process and
Process Safety Culture)
The PDCAA Cycle has also provided the opportunity for continuous improvement for
PTAI and the PMS benchmarking survey.

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Plan
Through the validation process the iterative nature of conference calls and site visits
proved to be of significant value in providing accurate and consistent understanding of
the survey questions. This resulted in comparable and meaningful results among the sites
and RIL total scores.
Do
Reviewing the current benchmarking process and seeking feedback from RIL identified
that enhanced validation and the creation of a more iterative process could be
incorporated into the benchmarking process. A key area of needed improvement
supporting the benchmarking process in the Process Safety Culture section is the
measurement of Process Safety Culture. Both RIL and PTAI determined the need for a
formal system for a Process Safety Culture Survey that provides more consistent
measurement and comparable results of the safety culture that can be utilized for RIL
internal site to site comparisons and RILs sites to the external peer group. RIL and PTAI
have discussed future collaboration on this project and the possible implementation to all
of the RIL sites for internal benchmarking and review.
Check
Informal and formal process assessments are the key to continuous improvement of the
PSM Benchmarking Survey and process.
Act
The act step calls for standardization of a formal process assessment tool to measure the
benchmarking efforts required by participants and the actual benchmarking survey tool.
Feedback from participants needs to be evaluated and appropriate improvements to the
program parameters and the benchmarking process implemented.
Assess
This is the process of continuous improvement and an environment of continuous
learning. PTAI will periodically review the process and enhancements with CCPS to
ensure an evolving process that grows in value-added elements.

5. Key success factors

The success of the PSM benchmarking survey hinged on four key factors; management
support of a systematic approach, the strength of the validation process, the ability to
report results with a detailed gap analysis that could be translated into specific action
plans at a central and site level, and the seamless voice of RILs Center for HSE
Excellence and PTAI through strong communication and a systematic effort.

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The management presentation of results was opened with comments from RILs
President, HSE, emphasizing the strategic importance and focus of PSM as a systematic
process and not simply a process safety program. His comments were directed and
focused on the areas he felt most important to taking RIL to the next level. This sent a
very clear message of the strategic focus placed on PSM at RIL.
The continued dialogue and collaboration between RIL and PTAI has enhanced the
double loop, PDCAA cycle. As a critical success factor this creates ongoing and new
opportunities for both.

6. Conclusion
Process safety is a mature, but continuously evolving concept with practices and
procedures varying widely among the refining, chemical and chemical processing
industry. Moving from a compliance model to a risk-based model requires a
comprehensive approach to managing process safety. Substantial improvement
opportunities exist for even the current top performers. Specifically, no site has made a
perfect score on any of the risk-based elements of the PSM benchmark.
The PSM benchmarking program is a unique methodology to allow companies to identify
how large the gap is to top performers and to learn how to prioritize resource
allocations based on the greatest impact opportunity to improve their process safety
management system. This shifts the understanding of current practices to the lessons
learned that are measurable and actionable. The benchmarking process identifies top
quartile management practices while highlighting not only a companys strengths, but
also potential development opportunities. The programs scoring system provides a
marker to track improvements and measure the gaps within the company sites and against
external top performers.
Using a systematic Process Safety Management System benchmark drives lessons
learned to strategic and organizational learning.RIL considers periodical assessment of its
PSM through repeat benchmarking at regular intervals as a good value proposition to
monitor trends of performance and to achieve pacesetter performance compared to
industry peers.

7. References
[1] American Petroleum Institute, API RP 754, Process Safety Performance Indicators
for the Refining and Petrochemical Industries, First Edition, 2010.
[2] Center for Chemical Process Safety CCPS, Guidelines for Risk Based Process
Safety, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, ISBN 978-0-470-16569-0: liii-liv, 2007.