What is SWIFT

SWIFT is a the Structured What-If Checklist Technique for Hazards Identification. It has been developed as an efficient alternative to HAZOP for providing highly effective hazards identification.

 SWIFT is a thorough, systematic,

multi disciplinary team, team-based study , it is oriented analytical technique.

What is the difference between HAZOP & SWIFT ? HAZOP examines the facility itemby-item, procedure-by-procedure while SWIFT on the other hand examine complete systems or subsystems, it is a system oriented technique.

Requires the input of a team of experts to evaluate the consequences of hazards, might result from various potential failures that been identified

 While answering questions, team

assesses the likelihood of an incident, the potential consequences and the adequacy of safeguards to prevent or mitigate the occurrence.
Efficient technique, avoids lengthy

discussion, hazards well understood

 Its effectiveness in identifying

hazards comes from asking questions in a variety of important areas, covers various type of errors which are likely to result in a hazard.
Checklist applied at conclusion

resulting additional thoroughness

Utilizing a set of prompt words or phrases that is used by the facilitator within a workshop to stimulate participants to identify risks.

The facilitator and team use standard what-if type phrases in combination with the prompts to investigate how a system, plant item, organization or procedure will be affected by deviations from normal operations and behaviour.

SWIFT was originally designed for chemical and petrochemical plant hazard study, the technique is now widely applied to systems, plant items, procedures, organizations generally. In particular it is used to examine the consequences of changes and the risks thereby altered or created

Adequate preparation is vital to the success of a SWIFT analysis. Initial discussion :

Leader should brief on how the SWIFT analysis will be conducted

Study involve analysis of a proposed change in the process or mode of operation, details should be discussed :

 - technical reason, expected impact, need to modify SOP & intended time frame Ground rules can be established included setting the boundaries of the system, type of issues & defining other objectives

 Selecting a study section:

System divided into small subsystems

Examining at a system level makes easier to recognize interactions of various components

 Selecting a study section:

Each item is not being individually treated as in a HAZOP, caution should be exercised so that any error is on the side of being too detailed.
A team should be able to review unit operation size sections with no trouble.

Conducting the

discussion:

oOnce the section is defined & marked on the drawing, the design intent, condition & other appropriate details should be discussed & entered into the study log.

 Conducting

the discussion:

oSWIFT review similar in all aspects encountered during HAZOP study oTeam members should participate & permitted to express their opinions & concerns.

Conducting the discussion: o Leader should summarize team input on the following regulatory requirement : - hazards of the activity or procedure hazards info from MSDS or from equipment manual - previous incidents list of date & location of any incident with catastrophic potential, discussed by team & cover at least 5 years before

- engineering & administrative control Interlocks, shutdown system & programs (LOTO, PTW, LOF & etc)

- consequence of failures of engineering & administrative control Loss of containment, release of vapor cloud of flammable material above its flashpoint
- sitting / layout issues Equipment spacing, orientation or air intake which may impact by the safety of the process

- qualitative evaluation of safety & health summarize the potential known hazards (toxicity, fire, explosion & etc)

- other regulatory issue Other regulatory consideration (Environmental, occupational safety, process safety, etc) as team consider important

Conducting the discussion by stating the category of questions.

o Structure for questioning in the original SWIFT is provided by the following categories
Material problems (MP) External effects or influences (EE/I) Operating error & other human factors (OE & HF) Analytical or sampling errors (A/SE) Equipment/instrumentation malfunction (E/IM)

Conducting the discussion:

o Structure for questioning in the original SWIFT is provided by the following categories
Process upsets of unspecified origin (PUUO) Utility failures (UF) Integrity failure or loss of containment (IF/LOC) Emergency Operation (EO) Environmental release (ER)

The What if steps :

1.

2.

3.

Divide the system up into smaller, logical subsystems Identify a list of questions for a subsystem Select a question

The What if steps :

4. Identify hazards, consequences, severity, likelihood, and recommendations 5. Repeat Step 2 through 4 until complete

 The What if questions :

May begin with the words What if, How could, Is it possible , what would happen if, could someone or something, has anyone or anything ever.

 The intent is to stimulate the study team

into exploring potential scenarios, their causes and consequences and impacts
It is best to record as many questions as

possible in a brainstorming manner before trying to answer them.

 Equipment failures

- What if a valve leaks? How could a valve leaks ?

Human error

- What if operator fails to restart pump? Is it possible .operator fails to restart pump ?

Leader should ask the recorder to read each what if question and ask the team to comment on how the system, adjoining systems or the whole unit is likely to respond.

The recorder enter a brief summary of the

discussion into log sheet inclusive of consequences, safeguards or mitigation and followed by next questions.

Focus on question which appear to involve the most severe potential consequences then team can make more comprehensive recommendation which covers many issues which will be identified during the discussion of the remaining questions.

Using the SWIFT checklist : a. Consult checklist when team unable to imagine any additional what-if b. Initial brainstormed required for the structured category c. Before moving on to other category (EE/I), MP checklist should be completed

a) Include a brief description of the potential hazard, equipment, instrumentation or procedure currently in place are relied upon to prevent the development of the hazard.

b) SWIFT team responsible to identify & explain what hazard might be present to management
c) Flexible, clearly state the perceived deficiency and objectives which the team considers important for eliminating or managing the hazard.

 When analysis completed, procedure is repeated for any remaining sections.

Continue until scope has been satisfactorily addressed.

 The report format for a SWIFT analysis should be no different from that of a HAZOP and the recommendations should be prioritized, tracked and completed in the same manner.

 A team comprised of from 4 to 8

members including the leader & technical recorder is recommended

Team should consist of person who

have expertise in process technical issue and relevant operating experience

 The reference documents necessary

for conducting a SWIFT review are identical to those required for HAZOP.

SWIFT analysis is recorded on a log sheet SWIFT study will need same facility for conducting HAZOP such as adequate space, flip charts, markers & refreshments & etc

 Major different is SWIFT review will

not last long as most HAZOP studies.

 SWIFT analysis is applied to non-

continuous & in some instances startup, shutdown & activity divided into subsystems.

Leader should be aware of several potential differences which may require added intention when changes in noncontinuous operation.

 It is important to realize the significant

differences are :
(a) Increased errors the result of additional operator interface

(b) Increased incident magnitude a result of error & malfunctions.

 Review of procedure similar to non-

continuous system
It is preferable to review procedures after

the process has been reviewed and the hardware changes have been identified.

 It is helpful to divide the procedure into

steps or major groups of steps for review purpose.

When analyzing procedures, all

question categories should be addressed, however MP, OE&HF and EO are most likely to produce the most significant discussions.

it is widely applicable to all forms of physical plant or system, situation or circumstance, organization or activity;

it needs minimal preparation by the team;

it is relatively rapid and the major hazards and risks quickly become apparent within the workshop session;

the study is systems orientated and allows participants to look at the system response to deviations rather than just examining the consequences of component failure; it can be used to identify opportunities for improvement of processes and systems and generally can be used to identify actions that lead to and enhance their probabilities of success;

it needs an experienced and capable facilitator to be efficient;

if the workshop team does not have a wide enough experience base or if the prompt system is not comprehensive, some risks or hazards may not be identified;

Scenario : You and your family are on a car trip in the middle of the night. It was raining heavily. Suddenly, you received a message in your cell phone. You reply the message while driving at 100 km/h. The car hits a deep hole and the front tire blows. You press the brake. The car skidded and was thrown off in to a deep cleft.

 Do a SWIFT analysis, identify at least : 5 intent/category 2 or more question per intent/category. Please use given log sheet and determine recommendations