Your cart is empty.
Keep shopping
HAZOP & LOPA: Process Hazard Analysis & SIL Determination
96 students
HAZOP & LOPA: Process Hazard Analysis & SIL Determination
Node selection, guide words, IPL credits, initiating event data & SIL determination — two full worked studies
Last updated 7/2026
English
English [Auto],
What you'll learn
- Select HAZOP nodes from a P&ID, write clear design intent statements, and apply the full guide word and deviation matrix to any process system
- Conduct LOPA using correct initiating event frequency data from CCPS, OREDA, and ISA TR84.00.02 sources for common process and utility failures
- Calculate the unmitigated consequence frequency from a LOPA scenario and determine the required SIS PFD and SIL target from the risk gap
- Apply IPL credit values for BPCS loops, operator response, pressure safety valves, and independent trips — and test whether each safeguard qualifies as an IPL
- Identify credible causes and consequences for each HAZOP deviation and determine which safeguards qualify as Independent Protection Layers
- Complete a HAZOP worksheet to the standard required for regulatory submission, safety case documentation, and independent third-party review
- Apply CHAZOP guide words to control system logic, cause and effect charts, and DCS shutdown sequences to identify control system hazards
- Write a Safety Requirements Specification entry for a Safety Instrumented Function derived from LOPA output
- Select SIS architecture — 1oo1, 1oo2, 2oo2, 2oo3 — based on the SIL requirement and the spurious trip rate constraint
- Apply HAZOP and LOPA in upstream oil and gas, gas compression, chemical processing, and power generation scenarios through worked case studies
- Understand proof testing obligations, bypass management requirements, and Functional Safety Assessment scope under IEC 61511
- Contribute to, lead, and independently review HAZOP and LOPA studies to the standard expected by competent authorities and independent verifiers
Explore related topics
Course content
6 sections • 36 lectures • 6h 52m total length
Requirements
- No prior HAZOP or LOPA experience is required — the course builds from first principles through to applied methodology and worked calculations
- Any engineering, science or technical background is enough to follow the course
- Basic familiarity with process plant concepts is helpful — knowing what a P&ID shows, what a separator does, or what a compressor station consists of will help context land faster
- No software is required — HAZOP and LOPA are documented in spreadsheets and structured worksheets; the course focuses on methodology, not tool selection
- Those with existing IEC 61511 or functional safety exposure will find the course reinforces and deepens their knowledge — the material complements rather than duplicates introductory functional safety content
Description
▸ Every major accident in the process industries shares one root cause: hazards that were known, and risks that were not adequately controlled.
Bhopal. Texas City. Piper Alpha. Buncefield. In each case, process hazard analysis tools existed that could have identified the failure modes before the event. HAZOP and LOPA exist precisely to prevent these outcomes — and in regulated industries, conducting them is not optional.
This course is the complete practical guide to HAZOP and LOPA for process, safety and C&I engineers.
▸ Why these two methods
HAZOP — Hazard and Operability Study — is the primary technique for identifying hazards in process plant design. It is required by IEC 61511 as part of the functional safety lifecycle, by OSHA PSM for covered processes in the United States, and by COMAH for major hazard sites in the UK. If you work on any process plant, pipeline or offshore installation, HAZOP is a professional requirement rather than a preference.
LOPA — Layers of Protection Analysis — is the semi-quantitative method that bridges HAZOP and SIL determination. It takes the scenarios a HAZOP identifies and quantifies whether existing safeguards provide sufficient risk reduction, or whether a Safety Instrumented System is required and at what SIL. It is the most widely used SIL determination method in the process industry globally, and the one most often challenged by competent authorities and independent verifiers.
▸ Two complete worked studies
A full HAZOP worksheet worked through a three-phase gas separator, and a LOPA taking a compressor station high-pressure scenario from HAZOP finding through to SIL 2 assignment — with every number shown and justified. These are examples you can hold up next to your own study.
▸ Course structure — 36 lectures across 6 sections
Foundations of Hazard Identification & Process Safety — why process safety matters, the regulatory and standards landscape, the hazard identification toolkit, risk concepts and tolerability, and the end-to-end HAZOP and LOPA workflow
HAZOP Methodology — Principles & Practice — study structure and preparation, nodes and design intent, guide words and deviations, causes, consequences and safeguards, a worked gas separation example, CHAZOP for control systems, procedural HAZOP for batch processes, and managing actions to close-out
LOPA — Layers of Protection Analysis — the accident scenario, initiating event frequency, consequence severity and risk targets, independent protection layer criteria and PFD credit values, the full calculation and SIL determination, a complete worked study, and the limitations and common errors
SIL Determination & SIS Design Fundamentals — from LOPA to the Safety Requirements Specification, PFD calculation methods, SIS architecture, proof testing and bypass management, functional safety management and the FSA, and a worked example from SIL assignment through to SIS design
Applied HAZOP & LOPA — case studies in upstream oil and gas, gas compression and pipelines, chemical and petrochemical processing, and power generation, plus HAZOP leader facilitation and competence
Course Exams — two full mock examinations
▸ Where the numbers come from
Initiating event frequencies drawn from CCPS, OREDA and ISA TR84.00.02. IPL credit values for BPCS loops, operator response, pressure safety valves and independent trips — with the test for whether each safeguard actually qualifies as an IPL. This is the part most often challenged in review, and the part most training leaves vague.
▸ Certification relevance
HAZOP and LOPA methodology is directly examined in the TÜV Functional Safety Engineer (IEC 61511), TÜV SIS Engineer and CFSP certifications. A dedicated exam preparation lecture covers the key concepts and the questions most commonly asked.
▸ What you get
Nearly 7 hours of structured video across 36 lectures and six sections
Two full mock examinations — timed, scored and retakeable
Two complete worked studies, HAZOP and LOPA, with every number justified
Applied case studies across four industry sectors
Lifetime access, mobile and TV access, and a certificate of completion
Udemy's 30-day money-back guarantee
▸ Built by a practitioner
Taught by a practising engineer with over fifteen years delivering safety-critical control system projects across oil, gas and energy infrastructure — including live HAZOP and LOPA studies, SIL determinations, Safety Requirements Specifications and Functional Safety Assessments on active major hazard installations. The methodology is explained as it is applied, not as abstraction.
▸ No prior HAZOP or LOPA experience is required — the course builds from first principles through to applied methodology and worked calculations. No software needed: HAZOP and LOPA are documented in structured worksheets, and the course focuses on methodology rather than tool selection.
If you are a process, safety or C&I engineer, or a project manager working on any plant containing hazardous substances or energy, this course gives you the methodology, the worked examples and the reference material to contribute to studies, lead them, and review their outputs.
Enrol now and walk into your next study able to contribute, lead or challenge it.
Who this course is for:
- Process engineers on oil & gas, petrochemical, chemical, LNG, or pipeline projects who need to contribute to or lead HAZOP studies as part of the engineering lifecycle
- Safety engineers and functional safety practitioners who conduct LOPA and SIL determination studies and need a structured, defensible methodology with correct IPL credit values
- Control and instrumentation engineers who participate in CHAZOP sessions and need to understand how SIL requirements are derived from the LOPA studies that define their SIS design
- Project managers and engineering leads on major hazard installations who need to plan, scope, and manage HAZOP and LOPA study programmes and understand what good outputs look like
- HSE professionals, safety case writers, and competent authority reviewers who review HAZOP and LOPA documentation and need to assess the quality and completeness of study outputs
- Engineers preparing for TUV Functional Safety Engineer (IEC 61511), TUV SIS Engineer, or CFSP examinations where HAZOP and LOPA methodology is directly tested
- Graduate engineers entering process, safety, or C&I roles who need a structured introduction to the process hazard analysis methods they will encounter on every major project