Is HAZOP mandated by law? Where can I learn about it?

Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP for short) is a highly popular Risk Assessment method that is the de-facto primary way of studying the amount of risk in any process industry operation. By process industry we mean Oil & Gas, Power Generation, Mining and similar sectors. In this method, we break down the process units into smaller sections called nodes and every such node is studied in depth with respect to what can go wrong and if it does then what? These are known as deviations.
The short video below gives an idea of the process.

All this is known, but the question that is asked by many is whether there is any legal basis for carrying HAZOP? Well, the answer is Yes and No. If you are looking for some Bill passed in Congress or some Act of Parliament in some country that says you must do a HAZOP, then no. There is to the best of my knowledge, no such law. BUT many of the legal acts in various countries and other rules and regulations have some references. For example in the US, following OSHA guidelines is mandatory by law and their 14 elements of Process Safety Management (PSM) do include Risk Assessment of the process, where HAZOP is specifically mentioned.

So while there is no direct law that says that you must do it, there are many indirect legal references that say that you must do it. Finally, all that matters is that if ever there is an accident AND the matter goes to court, the judge will be mighty annoyed if he/she discovers that you were not carrying out Risk Assessments such as HAZOP, especially when everyone else is doing it and it is given in OSHA guidelines and the fact that it costs much much less, than the cost of the plant (or the cost of the accident, which will be anyway more than the cost of the plant).

So now take your pick , whether to do it or not.

HAZOP Training Video

Here's an excellent video to everybody who wants to learn about Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP) technique, in one easy video that takes baout 5 minutes to watch.

The video is in a very interesting format. It tells the concept in the form of a story of a greenfield chemicals manufacturing project. A young project engineer, wishes to know more about why they need to do a hazop study for it. Her boss, who is the project manager, explains in a very easy way of why and how it is done.
Do watch it to get new insight on the topic. As usual if you need more information on this then the best thing to to visit the HAZOP Training page and get trained and certified!

HAZOP training

April 14, 2014- For those of you who wish to know and understand more about HAZOP (Hazard and Operability Study) and associated stuff, there are basically three ways to do it. Here is a list  of them with their associated advantages and disadvantages:
a) Surf the web- just like you likely found this page while searching for terms like HAZOP or HAZOP Study free pdf.There will be hundreds or even thousands of articles that range from the fairly easy to understand to the completely complex ones which may leave you gasping for breath (or bored enough to go to sleep). Also the variety and scope will be mind boggling. You will learn all the jargon though...to impress your friends who have no idea about HAZOP studies.
b) Read a book. There are a few about Risk Assessment and HAZOP. None of them covers everything though, so you will have to buy at least three of them to learn anything of value. Of course even if you read them and understand the concepts, you will have nothing in your hand that proves to the world that you know your stuff!
c) Download the HAZOP e-learning course from Abhisam, that covers everything about HAZOP  in one, short, easy to understand course. There are several animations and simulations that explain key concepts and make this difficult to understand subject very easy to learn. Besides you can take their online exam and get a Certificate of Competency too, on passing!

HAZOP Video-Training Course

Here's a great video about HAZOP training that is on Youtube. See it below for yourself. The video basically tells you about HAZOP and how you can learn it in the comfort of your own home or office. Attending classroom trainings can be a pain these days, as you will have to spare time as well as a great deal of money AND be away from work to attend it. At the end of the day you may forget everything!

So here's an alternate way to learn all about the HAZOP process and also get certified in HAZOP! Note that it is not just a HAZOP ppt, it is a complete course.