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HAZOP — Hazard & Operability Study ​

Walk a P&ID node-by-node with guidewords to surface design-intent deviations, score the risk, and track follow-up actions — IEC 61882.

Overview ​

A HAZOP (Hazard and Operability) study systematically examines a process for ways it can deviate from its design intent. ErgoPlanner structures the study the way a HAZOP team does: the plant is divided into nodes, and for each node you apply guidewords (No, More, Less, …) to process parameters (Flow, Pressure, Temperature, …) to generate deviations, each with its causes, consequences, safeguards and recommendations.

A one-click Auto-analyze generates the standard guideword deviations for a node so the team can focus on assessment rather than transcription, and a risk matrix and action register keep the study auditable. Multiple team members can work on the same study in real time.

In this guide you'll learn

  • How to create a HAZOP study and divide the plant into nodes
  • How to generate and assess deviations, including the one-click Auto-analyze
  • How to score risk on the severity × likelihood matrix
  • How to manage the action register and export the study

Estimated Time: 25 minutes Difficulty: Intermediate

Prerequisites ​

  • A signed-in account — HAZOP is available to all authenticated users (it is a base feature, not gated to a higher plan)
  • Optionally, a P&ID drawing to reference when defining nodes and P&ID locations
  • Familiarity with the HAZOP method (guidewords, deviations, safeguards)

Where to find it ​

Navigate to /hazop/studies for the study list, and open a study to reach its detail view at /hazop/studies/{studyId}.

Workflow ​

Step 1 — Create the study ​

  1. Go to /hazop/studies and click Create Study.
  2. Give the study a name (required) and an optional description. Study Leader defaults to you, the signed-in user, but you can pick anyone in your company from the dropdown — it is required. Optionally link an Associated Drawing (a P&ID) so the study is discoverable from that drawing later.
  3. Click Create Study. The dialog closes back to the studies list — find the new study by name (or by filtering on status) and open it.
  4. A new study starts in the Planning state. Studies progress through Planning → In Progress → Review → Approved → Closed (Overview tab, "Change status").

The study detail view is organised into tabs: Overview, Team, Nodes & Deviations, Actions and Audit Trail. (There is no separate Reports tab — a study's PDF report is always generated fresh from the Generate Report button in the study header; ErgoPlanner does not keep a history of previously generated reports.)

On the Team tab, click Add Member to assign someone from your company to the study with a role (Chairman, Secretary, Process Expert, Instrument Expert or Operations Expert). Remove a member from the row-level action in the team table.

Step 2 — Define nodes ​

A node is a section of the process with a single design intent (for example, "pump suction line" or "reactor feed").

  1. On the Nodes & Deviations tab, click Add Node.
  2. Enter a Node Tag (required — e.g. N-101), a Description (e.g. "Clarifier feed line"), and the Design Intention (e.g. "Maintain design flow to the clarifier").
  3. Click Add Node. The node appears in the Study Nodes list; click it to expand and reveal its worksheet rows.

Step 3 — Generate deviations ​

For each node you examine each guideword against each relevant parameter.

Guidewords (IEC 61882): No, More, Less, As Well As, Part Of, Reverse, Other Than, Early, Late.

Parameters: Flow, Pressure, Temperature, Level, Composition, pH, Viscosity, Time, Sequence.

You can add deviations (worksheet rows) two ways:

  • Manually — expand a node and click Add Row. Pick the Guide Word and enter the Parameter and Deviation (all required), then fill in Causes, Consequences and Safeguards. The new row appears immediately under the node with its deviation count updated.
  • Auto-analyze — click Auto-analyze on a node to generate draft guideword deviations, causes and consequences for it. A progress indicator shows while it runs, then the node expands and each generated row is marked Auto-generated, needs review. Nothing is accepted automatically: for every generated row you can Accept it as written, Edit it, or Discard it. Accepting or editing a row makes it a manual entry, so re-running Auto-analyze will not replace it; re-running replaces only the drafts you have not yet reviewed and never touches manual rows. If the node description does not name a recognisable equipment type, nothing is generated and you are told so. Auto-analyze is a deterministic guideword rule engine (it fills the guideword/parameter scaffold for the team to assess), not an AI generator, so it needs no AI provider. HAZOP is a Professional-plan feature: on a lower plan the button reports that the plan is required.

Step 4 — Score the risk ​

Each deviation is scored on a 5 × 5 risk matrix:

  • Severity (S) — 1 to 5: Negligible, Minor, Moderate, Major, Catastrophic.
  • Likelihood (L) — 1 to 5: Rare, Unlikely, Possible, Likely, Almost Certain.

The combined risk rating is shown as a colour-coded band — Very Low, Low, Medium, High, Very High — so the team can prioritise the worst deviations. Toggle between the Table and Matrix views to see deviations either as a worksheet or plotted on the grid.

Step 5 — Manage actions ​

Recommendations become trackable items in the action register (Actions tab):

  • Click Add Action to track a follow-up directly — enter a Description (required), an Owner and a Due Date. New actions start in the Created status.
  • Assign an owner and a status.
  • The register flags overdue actions and supports bulk status updates.
  • Action-status changes are broadcast in real time to everyone viewing the study, so a distributed HAZOP team stays in sync without refreshing.

Step 6 — Export and report ​

From the study header:

  • Export the worksheet to CSV or XLSX for offline review or import into a corporate register.
  • Generate Report to produce a formatted PDF of the study for the safety file.

Real-time collaboration ​

HAZOP studies support live multi-user editing. When you open a study you join its collaboration session; node, deviation and action changes — including action-status updates — propagate to other participants as they happen. Sessions are tenant-guarded, so only members of your organisation can join a study.

For the general collaboration model (sharing projects, permission levels, cursor presence, offline sync) see Real-time collaboration.

Use cases ​

  • New-plant HAZOP — Divide a freshly drawn P&ID into nodes, Auto-analyze each node to scaffold the guideword grid, then walk the team through assessment and scoring.
  • Management-of-change review — Create a focused study covering only the nodes affected by a modification, and track the resulting actions to closure.
  • Periodic revalidation — Re-open a prior study, re-run Auto-analyze (which preserves the existing assessments), and confirm safeguards are still valid.
  • Audit evidence — Export the action register to XLSX and the full study to PDF for the safety file and regulator review.

References ​

  1. IEC 61882 — Hazard and operability studies (HAZOP studies) — Application guide
  2. CCPS — Guidelines for Hazard Evaluation Procedures