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The Current Situation |
Utility companies (electric, gas, nuclear, sanitation and water treatment and distribution companies) operate in a highly regulated industry and must conform to demanding EH&S requirements set forth by federal, state or provincial, and local agencies. Each different utility faces its own unique environmental health and safety challenges.
With many utility companies being accountable to the public, they are under significant pressure from forced downsizing due to cost pressure, mergers and acquisitions and deregulation, it is becoming more difficult for their overburdened EH&S staff to adequately focus on all of the EH&S functions. Using PHA-Pro reduces the time spent on HAZOP and other PHA studies, allowing the EH&S staff to reallocate the resources that they would have spent on PHA and PSM studies to other projects.
Utility companies (electric, gas, nuclear, sanitation and water companies) operate in a highly regulated environment and must conform to demanding EH&S requirements set forth by federal, state or provincial, and local agencies. Protecting the health and safety of thousands of employees requires constant vigilance and rigorous adherence to health and safety regulations. ANSI B11 and Behaviour Based Safety are often used as risk analysis methods.
After the events of September 11th, utilities around the world are taking a more careful look at security and vulnerability concerns at their facilities. This is especially true in the nuclear industry whose facilities contain radioactive material that can be used to create either a weapon or a catastrophic event. An incident at a water filtration plant could also have fatal consequences, while an attack on the electrical grid could bring on massive power outages. Since 9/11, security teams conducting risk studies consider the threats posed by terrorists or other malevolent forces.
The Utilities sector is regulated by various government agencies including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy (DOE), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
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