Potential impacts to process safety management from mergers, acquisitions, downsizing, and re-engineering

Corporate organizational mergers, acquisitions, downsizing, and re-engineering can greatly impact Process Safety Management (PSM) programs and, ultimately, PSM performance. Almost every organization has experienced some degree of change in organizational staffing. A primary objective of this paper is to identify potential adverse impacts to PSM resulting from ineffectively managed organizational changes. Several process safety incidents are examined from an organizational change perspective. In addition, options and strategies are offered for preventing or mitigating adverse consequences associated with these changes.