PII provides the highest value training and consulting services related to process safety management, risk management, and process reliability

In 2003, the Process Improvement Institute, Inc. (PII) was founded to help companies meet their safety, risk, and reliability challenges. By offering world-class training and consulting services, the company is based on the outstanding reputation for quality and excellence of the founders and is building on this reputation world-wide. The founders have had the highest reputations in their fields for many years, and each has considerable experience in meeting client needs while they worked as managing directors at other consulting companies or training institutes.

PII has already delivered training and consulting services in the USA, Canada, UK, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates; and the list is growing rapidly. This international effort helps PII and VECTRA stay focused on implementation of management systems, support services, and training that will have immediate and continuing payback of your investment.

Most other consultants and trainers only provide “compliance” services – we do not. Instead, PII finds the best approaches to risk management, process safety management, and reliability management to fit your specific needs and company culture. This is one reason our company experts are in such demand world-wide – because we deliver the highest value of service by customizing what we do to each client’s need. The other major reason we are in such demand is because of the many years of industrial experience of our providers. Each of PII’s experts has many years of implementation experience as they worked in the chemical and related industries before becoming consultants and external trainers. Many other consulting companies will sell you services and training from “experts” who have only ever been consultants. This is of little value to you compared to using consultants and trainers who have learned what works and doesn’t work by actual experience in settings similar to yours.

PII and it’s associates specialize consulting and training in:

  • Process safety management (PSM) and risk management programs (RMPs)
  • Management of change (MOC) and PSSR
  • Process hazard analysis (PHA), including HAZOP and FMEA-based studies
  • Safety Analysis, including Design Safety Analysis for US Department of Energy facilities
  • Quantitative risk analysis (QRA), including Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA)
  • Procedure development and writing for operations and maintenance
  • Root cause/failure analysis and development and incident/accident investigation
  • Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) and mechanical integrity (MI) implementation

We serve clients in a variety of industries and facilities, including: chemical, petrochemical, oil and gas, nuclear, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, hazardous waste, pulp and paper, manufacturing, mining, exploration, utilities, transportation, defense, and aerospace. Our principal engineers are internationally recognized experts who have extensive experience in the analysis of complex engineered systems. Our commitment to quality performance and customer service is underscored by our high percentage (~80%) of repeat business.
 

LOPA and SIS Expertise:

William Bridges and Revonda Tew have served as chair or co-chair of 6 major international conferences on process/safety and human reliability and they has authored or co-authored over 25 articles/papers on related topics and was a co-author of the following definitive textbooks for AIChE’s Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS):

  • Non-SIS Independent Protection Layers, CCPS/AIChE, 2008 [pending] (chair and main author) (this will be an essential supplement to the original LOPA book he co-authored)

  • Guidelines for Hazard Evaluation Procedures, CCPS/AIChE, 2008 [pending] (3nd Edition)  (this is the definitive text on performing PHAs; Mr. Bridges is a co-author

  • Layer of Protection Analysis, CCPS/AIChE, 2001 (co-chaired committee) (this is the definitive text on semi-quantitative risk assessment)

  • Guidelines for Hazard Evaluation Procedures, CCPS/AIChE, 1991 (2nd Edition)  (this is the definitive text on performing PHAs)

PII staff has led or actively participated in over 300 PHAs (qualitative risk assessments or HAZOPs; most of these were of entire units), over 200 PHAs of changes to plants, over 500 LOPA-based risk assessments, many full quantitative risk assessments, over 100 major investigations, and over 25 major PSM-type audits.  They have developed and implemented effective MOC programs, procedure writing protocols, and hazard review (risk assessment) methodologies.

Want to find out more about our Safety Instrumented Services (SIS, to determine the appropriate Safety Integrity Level [SIL]) or our Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) Services? 

For the links below to:

SIS and SIL services

LOPA services

LOPA Training

 

Our Experts – Your Solutions

PII engineers have years of practical in-plant experience. During PHAs and other qualitative or quantitative risk assessments, our experts will choose the best combination of various risk analysis techniques (such as HAZOP, FMEA, What-if, LOPA, QRA) weighing how well each method applies to actual plant systems and operating practices while taking into account the overall analysis objectives. During management system implementation assistance, we will bring together our experiences and merge these with the experiences of your internal experts to create systems that fit your company culture. PII personnel have dozens of years of experience in implementing process safety, risk, and reliability management systems in chemical plants and other industrial settings. Many are previous managers of such systems within chemical plants.

Our experts also have considerable experience helping clients develop programs to satisfy the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) PSM regulation, 29 CFR 1910.119, and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) RMP rule, 40 CFR 68, and similar regulations in Europe, such as Seveso II requirements (COMAH).

So, whether your needs are implementing comprehensive management systems for process safety, risk, or reliability management or are more tightly focused on compliance, our staff will help you design the optimal combination of training, coaching, and consulting services to meet the needs you have. This is the most cost-effective way for you to quickly acquire the capability you need to develop and maintain effective management systems and related expertise such as leading risk reviews, performing incident investigations and root cause analysis, and managing changes.

>> Click here to find out more about the many Training and Hands-on Coaching Services offered by PII and its associates world-wide. Our training-related services are designed to transfer all the experiences we have gained to your staff; to ultimately make you independent of consultants.

>> Click here to find out more about the many Contract and Consulting Services offered by PII and its associates world-wide. These services are intended to augment your staff needs (if your internal experts are overloaded) or to allow you to bring in expertise that you are currently missing.
 

LOPA and SIS Experts from PII

William G. Bridges (Bill)

E-mail Bill BridgesBill is President of the Process Improvement Institute (PII). Formerly, he was a director of the Risk Consulting Division of ABS Consulting (formerly JBF Associates and EQE International). He is considered one of the leading authorities on process safety engineering, risk management, and human error prevention. He has a Bachelor and Masters degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Akron (USA) and he has over 25 years of chemical industry experience in process engineering, process and product development, management and safety evaluation, and operations. He holds 10 US patents, several of which are for products and processes that are in full, profitable production today. One factor that makes Mr. Bridges such a sought after consultant and instructor is his wealth of hands-on experience in chemical processing and in implementing PSM in the chemical industry. His last position in the chemical industry was as a chemical plant manager.

Bill has helped many companies in the petroleum, petrochemical, plastic and chemical process industries develop, implement and assess PSM and risk management programs. These programs include consideration of human factors to prevent human error. Bill has written several articles on “how to” prevent human error and how to implement PSM. He serves on the planning committee of AIChE for international conferences on process safety. Bill has taught PSM related courses, including process hazard analysis/HAZOP leadership, incident investigation/RCA, and management of change (MOC) since 1987. He is an instructor for several different courses for PII, and also lectures in American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and he teaches through IIR in the Middle East. He has trained more than 5000 in PSM-related and risk analysis-related topics.
 

Dr. Tony Clark

Dr. Tony Clark began his career teaching chemical engineering to HND and B.Eng (Hons.) students at the Polytechnic of Wales, he then moved into consultancy and has more than 15 years experience in the fields of safety, loss prevention and environmental assessments. His work has included preparation of safety reports and QRA studies for a variety of onshore and offshore oil and gas installations, chemical and petrochemical plants both in the UK and overseas, and in particular the Middle East. In the early 1990’s he was seconded to BP Exploration in Scotland where he was a safety coordinator for a large offshore gas development. Tony’s training experience includes devising and presenting a training program covering the techniques of HAZOP, Hazard Analysis, and elements of PSM to the Chinese in Xinjiang. He has delivered hazard assessment and emergency planning training to Indian engineers, risk assessment and environmental analysis training in the Middle East. Since joining Vectra Group in August 2003 Tony has been involved in research work for the UK Health and Safety Executive and has presented courses on hot work permit systems to British Sugar.
 

Revonda Tew

E-mail Revonda TewRevonda has 12 years experience in the chemical industry, including process development, process engineering, and process safety management and evaluation. She holds one US patent. Revonda has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University and a MBA from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. The first 8 years of her career was hands-on in the chemical industry. In the early 1990’s Revonda led the PSM compliance initiative at a large chemical manufacturing facility, authoring policies and procedures to address industry, regulatory, and company standards, as well as managing their implementation. Revonda has been involved with plant emergency response teams as a responder and an incident command post team member.

Revonda has PSM training from AICHE/CCPS including Process Safety Documentation and Engineering Design for Process Safety. Other training includes PHA Leader and Incident Investigation Leader training. She has significant hands-on experience having participated in, led and documented over 25 PHAs, numerous management of change (MOC) risk reviews, performed many MOC approvals, participated or led several investigations, and participated or led PSM compliance audits. She has also developed customized training materials for various topics, including MOC, PHA leadership, and PSM auditing, and she is a co-instructor for these topics and for incident investigation. Revonda has experience with both community relations and crisis management and is currently involved in LEPC activities, her local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), and is a “Together We Prepare” disaster preparedness volunteer and trainer with the American Red Cross. For the past 4 years of her career, she as been a consultant to the chemical industry, were she has provided PSM-related services on demand, typically as a sub-contractor to PSM consulting firms.
 

For More Information

To learn more about how PII can help you meet your safety, risk, and reliability needs, please call us at 1.865.675.3458 or continue browsing our Web site.

 
 
  

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