With the globalization of the chemical process industries and the recognition of the need to maintain high standards of process safety throughout the enterprise, process safety is now more widely practiced throughout the world. Process Safety incidents are not limited by geography and neither is the implementation of Global Process Safety programs. In the past, some may have viewed Process Safety as a compliance activity and held different regions to different standards based on regulatory requirements, but more companies are implementing global standards for Process Safety for corporate governance and process improvement reasons in addition to the ability to compete on a global stage.

Balancing the facilities in countries that have been subject to regulation and are ready for more sophisticated programs with facilities in other regions or that are struggling to manage basic occupational safety requirements, for example, presents significant challenges. Local customs, value systems, and cultural differences make for significant obstacles in extending a common process safety platform and in expecting common performance.

This paper outlines a process for companies to use when implementing and sustaining a global process safety program. Included is consideration of these site specific differences to allow flexibility, while maintaining strong philosophical fundamentals in process safety programs. Allowing for ‘best practices' to emerge from participatory engagement of leaders throughout the enterprise, rather than top-down demands for compliance, have proven to be successful.