Integripedia Topic
Management of Change (MOC)
Management of Change (MOC) is a best practice that controls safety, health, and environmental risks and hazards as they pertain to an organization’s changes to its facilities, operations, or personnel. A properly implemented MOC policy prevents increased risks for current hazards and guards against the introduction of new hazards. Inadequate MOC can increase risks to the health and safety of employees and the environment.
Effective MOC involves review of all significant changes to ensure that an acceptable level of safety will be maintained after the change has been implemented. From this evaluation, the proposed change can either be set for implementation, amended to make it more safe, or rejected entirely. Should the change be implemented, personnel should be informed about the change and how to maintain a safe workspace in this new environment.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA's) Process Safety Management (PSM) standard, performing MOC is required when making changes that could affect the safety of a facility. This can include changes in process chemicals, technology, equipment, procedures, and the number of employees involved in a process.
While MOC is generally used to examine the effects of a proposed permanent change to a facility, temporary changes should not be overlooked. A number of catastrophic events have occurred over the years due to temporary changes in operating conditions, staffing, etc. For this reason, an effective MOC program should address all changes that could affect the safety of a facility or personnel, regardless of whether or not it is permanent.
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November/December 2020 Inspectioneering JournalBy Matthew K. Caserta, PE at Becht Pono Division
IOWs are an important component of a world-class mechanical integrity program. In order to have a robust IOW program, the integration of IOWs into other areas of PSM is critical. This article provides four concrete examples of integration.
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BlogSeptember 13, 2017 By Jeremiah Wooten at Inspectioneering, LLC.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released a new guide to help petroleum refiners comply with its Process Safety Management (PSM) standard (1910.119). The guide presents lessons learned from the petroleum...
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Integrity Operating Windows (IOWs) have a subset of operating variables that are important for degradation monitoring, but may not have direct operational controls. Per API RP 584 Integrity Operating Windows, these are known as IOW Informational...
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January/February 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Israel D. Martinez at ORPIC
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January/February 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Edwin A. Merrick, PE at The Augustus Group
This article presents a perspective on the human factor and emphasizes the value of using risk tools at all levels in the organization to help provide management focus during times of severe economic pressure.
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May/June 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Jeffrey Foushee at Pinnacle, and Ryan Myers at Pinnacle
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Equipment integrity and reliability programs are essential for refinery and chemical facility operators. The processes of the programs are developed to ensure safety, optimize component life cycles, and promote smooth and economical operations.
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September/October 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Marc McConnell, P.E. at Pro-Surve Technical Services, and Nolan L. Miller at SASOL North America
If we could measure, understand, mitigate, and most importantly, control corrosion, we can do a better job of keeping the product in the pipes. To accomplish this task, we needed to know what is causing the corrosion and how to control it.
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BlogMarch 9, 2015 By John Reynolds at Intertek
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Scott Corey at Sentinel Integrity Solutions Inc.
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September/October 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
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BlogJuly 28, 2014 By John Reynolds at Intertek
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BlogOctober 21, 2013 By John Reynolds at Intertek
As I stated in my previous post, there are 10 essential Management Systems (MSs) needed for an effective PEI program that can achieve excellence. These 10 PEI MSs contain all the necessary information that describe what needs to be accomplished, and...
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BlogOctober 7, 2013 By John Reynolds at Intertek
Knowing what needs to be accomplished in order to achieve excellence in pressure equipment integrity (PEI) is one thing, but knowing how to organize it all for success is quite another.
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BlogSeptember 23, 2013 By John Reynolds at Intertek
These posts came about because, from time to time, I’m asked why some operating sites don’t seem to pay adequate attention to the need to protect and preserve pressure equipment integrity (PEI). Too often a few sites don’t seem to “get...
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BlogJuly 22, 2013 By John Reynolds at Intertek
Without doubt management needs to ensure that the appropriate resources (human and budgetary) need to be provided for corrosion control and prevention. The C/M engineer/specialist or other responsible party needs to assure that management is advised...
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July/August 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy Marc McConnell, P.E. at Pro-Surve Technical Services
Who at your facility owns injection point hardware? Typically, injection point hardware falls into the Gray Zone.
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March/April 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy Hearl E. Mead Jr. at Shell Oil Company
Over the past few years increased feedstock flexibility has become a growing reality for sustainability of the refining business, requiring processing of more difficult crudes, increased volumes of spot cargoes, and rapid response to crude...
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November/December 2010 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
High Temperature Hydrogen Attack (HTHA) is a long known and still occurring degradation issue for fixed equipment construction materials in the hydrocarbon process industry where hydroprocess plants (hydrogen plus hydrocarbons) are in service....
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March/April 2010 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
This article in the series will focus on two more of the necessary MSs for achieving excellence in PEI: Integrity Operating Windows (IOWs) and Management of Change (MOC).
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July/August 2004 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
High temperature oxidation is not a real common type of failure in our industry, but it can and does happen when temperatures exceed design maximums. All metals oxidize, even at room temperature, and in many cases that slow oxidation process...
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July/August 2004 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
High temperature sulfidation is probably the most common high temperature corrosion nemesis in the refining industry, since there are very few “sweet” refineries still in operation. Sulfidation corrosion typically is of concern in sour oil...
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101 Essential Elements in a Pressure Equipment Integrity Management Program for the Hydrocarbon Process IndustryMay/June 2000 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
This is the first of a series of articles that outlines the 101 essential elements that need to be in place, and functioning well, to preserve and protect the reliability and integrity of pressure equipment (vessels, exchangers, furnaces, boilers,...
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May/June 1997 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
In the Jan/Feb issue of the IJ, I mentioned how important the Management of Change (MOC) process is when it comes to maintaining safe, leak-free piping systems; stating that we in the inspection business cannot do it alone; that is, we taint the...
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January/February 1997 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
It's probably more important to those of us who don't have a brain tumor. Unfortunately, it's precisely because piping inspection is not neurosurgery that it's often done poorly, which can lead to significant impacts on process unit reliability, or...
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Published on January 26, 2017The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a safety video detailing its investigation of the June 13, 2013 explosion and fire at the Williams Olefins Plant in Geismar, Louisiana, which killed two workers and injured an additional 167.
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