Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) is a key element of every successful Process Safety Management (PSM) program. The purpose of such an analysis is to identify hazards within the subject process. This is achieved by systematically reviewing the process and subsequently eliminating or controlling conditions that could lead to hazardous events.
A PHA is directed toward analyzing potential causes and consequences of fires, explosions, releases of toxic or flammable chemicals and major spills of hazardous chemicals, and it focuses on equipment, instrumentation, utilities, human actions, and external factors that might impact the process