Last month, Process Safety Consultant Arthur Morris applied LOPA and SIL determination techniques during a site visit to a long standing distillery client, putting his recent training into practice while supporting the assessment of critical protection systems.
At OTECSA, we specialise in LOPA and SIL determination to ensure safety related control systems are designed, specified and maintained in line with recognised international standards. Our work helps clients demonstrate that critical safeguards are reliable enough to protect against high consequence events.
Applying LOPA and SIL Determination on Site
Layers of Protection Analysis is a structured method used to evaluate whether existing safeguards reduce risk to a tolerable level, or whether additional risk reduction is required through safety instrumented functions. Where instrumented protection is relied upon, LOPA is commonly used to determine the required Safety Integrity Level of the system.
During this recent distillery visit, LOPA techniques were used to review hazardous scenarios and confirm that the proposed protection layers provided sufficient risk reduction. This ensured that any safety trips relied upon were appropriately specified and justified.
Regulatory Focus on SIL Studies
Since the Buncefield incident in December 2005, regulators have placed increased emphasis on the quality, transparency and rigour of SIL determination studies. These studies play a critical role in demonstrating that high severity risks are adequately controlled and that safety systems can be relied upon when demanded.
SIL determination is often challenging for operating sites, as it requires specialist methods, detailed understanding of failure data and experience in applying international standards. This level of expertise is not always available within in house engineering teams.
Supporting Clients with Specialist Expertise
By working with OTECSA Consulting, clients benefit from a proactive and practical approach to LOPA and SIL determination. We help organisations navigate complex regulatory expectations while delivering clear, defensible outcomes that support safe and compliant operations.
Our focus is always on providing proportionate solutions that improve safety performance without unnecessary complexity.