top of page
Nebula Safety & Environmental
Abstract Structure

RMP, PSM & Process Safety Consulting Services

HAZOP/LOPA Facilitation

Nebula Safety & Environmental provides HAZOP/LOPA facilitation services for hazard identification. This includes PHA planning, organization, implementation, and follow-through efforts all aimed to optimize the process. Additional PHA risk assessment methodologies include:

  • What-If

  • Safety Integrity Level (SIL) Analysis

  • Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

  • Hazard Identification (HAZID)

  • Inherently Safer Design (ISD)

  • Dust Hazard Analysis (DHA) 

  • BowTie Analysis Support

Industrial cityscape at dusk with illuminated facilities and a colorful sky
Interior of a modern industrial facility with safety lighting and worker in green safety vest

Quantitative Risk Evaluation

Nebula Safety & Environmental assists facilities by using quantitative methods to further assess potential consequences and risk. Analyses include:

release rate

  • Vapor/Liquid releases

  • Vapor Flashing

  • Liquid pooling dynamics and evaporation

dense gas dispersion

  • Safe venting

  • Monitoring and emergency response

  • Human vulnerability to toxics

flash fires

  • Ignition probability

  • Human vulnerability

pool fires

  • Burning pool dynamics

  • Ignition probability

  • Heat Radiation

Vapor Cloud Explosions (VCEs)

  • Jet dynamics

  • Flare heat radiation

  • Probabilistic modeling

jet fires

  • Jet dynamics

  • Flare heat radiation

  • Probabilistic modeling

Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosions (BLEVEs)

  • Fireball dynamics

  • Heat radiation

  • Human vulnerability

Nebula Safety & Environmental also conducts comprehensive Facility Siting Studies (API 752 and API 753) and Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRAs). 

Process Safety Program Development

Nebula Safety & Environmental assists in building or refreshing PSM programs and systems. Existing PSM programs are reviewed for effectiveness and gap assessments are conducted to assure compliance with present or future regulations.

Operating Procedures Development

Nebula Safety & Environmental works directly with facility personnel and unit operators to develop concise, step-by-step, OSHA-compliant operating procedures, including safe work practices such as lockout/tagout, hot work, confined space, and temporary exclusion zones. Operating procedures and practices are reviewed for clarity and human factors.

Interior of a large industrial facility with turbines and overhead steel framework
Industrial facility at night with illuminated tanks and safety lighting

Incident Investigations with Root Cause Analysis

Nebula Safety & Environmental provides tools and forms and works directly with facilities to develop an incident investigation policy that meets regulatory requirements, in addition to leading incident investigations. Methodologies include:

  • Taproot

  • Cause Map

  • Why Tree

  • Fishbone

Nebula Safety & Environmental also assists with incident investigation follow-up, including action item completion and root cause trending.

RMP Submittals

Nebula Safety & Environmental supports EPA Risk Management Plans, OSHA Process Safety Management plans, and state chemical process safety programs, including CalARP, TCPA, CAPP, and WISHA. Process safety plans and submittals are coordinated with the applicable administering authority to meet regulatory requirements.

Dispersion Modeling & Offsite Consequence Analysis (OCA)

Nebula Safety & Environmental uses EPA-approved software, including RMP*Comp, ALOHA, SCREEN3, and SLAB, to identify potential impact areas for worst-case and alternative-release scenarios.

Regulatory Support

  • Compliance Audits

  • Maximum Intended Inventory Calculations

  • Emergency Action Plan / Emergency Response Plan

  • Flare Analysis Study

  • Relief Valve Calculations

  • Regulatory interface to provide support for PSM/RMP related citations

Nebula Safety supports responses to regulatory citations and represents facilities in communications with regulatory agencies.

Two industrial engineers in hard hats reviewing facility data on a laptop
Industrial boiler room with red pressure tanks and piping systems

RMP/PSM Program Development and Maintenance

Nebula Safety & Environmental provides RMP/PSM Program Development services to help ensure compliance with the regulations. Nebula Safety can also help track anniversary dates and provide maintenance support. 

  • PSM/RMP & State Specific Applicability Assessments

  • RMP/PSM Program Development (Program I/II/III) 

  • State Specific Program Development – Nevada Chemical Accident Prevention Program (CAPP), New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act (TCPA), Delaware’s Extremely Hazardous Substances Risk Management Act (EHS), Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act of 1973 (WISHA), California CalARP / CalOSHA regulations.

Training

Training on PSM topics including but not limited to the following:

  • HAZOP/LOPA/FMEA

  • EPA RMP/OSHA PSM Program Elements & Maintenance

  • Process Safety Management Culture

  • Compliance Audit Training

  • Quantitative Modeling (i.e., dispersion or fire modeling)

Process Safety Management Training

Teaches regulatory requirements for OSHA PSM and EPA RMP. Provides strategies for improved management of process safety. Advantages of the Nebula Course:

  • Taught by an instructor with a diverse background in process safety, who has worked in the field across multiple industries, not a lifelong consultant! 

  • Content is tailored for the worksite, depending on the type of operations and the EPA RMP Program Level (1, 2, 3, or 4 for some California Operations) 

  • Training includes an interactive learning module highlighting Human Factors and how they can contribute to incidents 

  • Strategies are shared to promote worker engagement, strengthen the culture, and improve process safety performance

Speaker presenting to a group during a technical training session
Industrial refinery skyline reflecting in water at sunset

Process Safety Culture Assessment and Improvement

Nebula Safety & Environmental conducts PSM culture assessments and partners with companies to embed work practices that benefit the culture. Techniques include:

  • Targeted supervisor PSM leadership coaching

  • Industry specific external events learning and application

  • Worker acknowledgement and encouragement

California Services

California State Requirements: CalARP / CalOSHA / Contra Costa County ISO

  • Latent Conditions Checklist

  • Damage Mechanism Review (DMR)

  • Hierarchy of Controls Analysis (HCA)

  • Safeguard Protection Analysis (SPA)

  • Management of Organizational Change (MOOC)

  • Security Vulnerability Assessment (SVA)

  • Inherently Safer Systems Analysis (ISSA)

  • Facility Siting Study

  • Human Factors Study

  • Process Safety Cultural Assessment (PSCA)

  • CalARP Submittal

  • CUPA regulatory support

Contact Us to Speak With a Process Safety Engineer

Abstract Structure
bottom of page