Recipe for a Sizzling HAZOP Chair

A vital element in the success of any HAZOP, or other similar engineering judgment based team Process Safety Review, is the chairman. We all know the benefits of a well ran HAZOP:

• Identifying all the significant hazards and
• Developing SMART actions while
• Meeting schedule and
• Preserving everyone’s sanity

Equally, when things go wrong, few or none of these are achieved. A good HAZOP chair can make the difference. But what does a “good” HAZOP chair look like? How does he, or she, evolve? What is the recipe?

This paper will take a light hearted but empirical look at this important subject. Using the analogy of preparing a good dish, the author will draw on his experience of having run over 60 HAZOPs and similar reviews, in addition to numerous dialogues with other experienced facilitators as well as citing research work which has been carried out in this field, to try to develop a formula for a Sizzling HAZOP chair!