Graphical process safety techniques for strengthening safety and resilience in Austrian SMEs

In most countries, small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of economic performance. While progress and innovation are born in these companies, process safety often takes a back seat due to a lack of risk awareness, resources or experience. Risk assessments using process safety techniques are typically considered too complicated, time-consuming, or expensive. While large companies employ their own staff for this purpose, SMEs get along with the protective measures required by law. The paper aims to select techniques from industrial practice in order to provide SMEs with a path to a more safe future. In addition to a literature study on process safety techniques, their applicability is evaluated with a survey in SMEs using graphical process safety techniques. The study showed a high level of agreement among the participants on the proposed techniques and examples. More public awareness work regarding useful process safety techniques would be a future task.