Our Solutions: Consulting
Basis of Safety Studies (BOSS)
for Safer Project Planning
Sigma-HSE provides Basis of Safety Study (BOSS) consulting services to support early-stage process hazard evaluation. Conducted during the conceptual design phase—before capital approval—this study defines how risk will be managed through engineering and procedural safeguards. The outcome forms the technical foundation for all downstream safety reviews.
Our BOSS studies help you:
- Define process safety expectations before detailed engineering begins
- Identify and document credible hazard scenarios linked to specific equipment
- Establish appropriate layers of protection to reduce risk
- Create traceable connections between early hazard identification and later PHA phases (e.g., HAZOP, LOPA)
- Communicate the Basis of Safety clearly to engineering, operations, and safety teams
What is BOSS?
A Basis of Safety Study (BOSS) is a structured form of Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) conducted during the early design stage of a project—prior to detailed engineering and before capital approval.
The BOSS focuses on key equipment and major process hazards to define how potential events will be managed and what safeguards are required. It establishes the technical foundation for risk management and is further expanded upon in downstream safety reviews, including HAZOP and LOPA.
Get Your Customized Plan
Let our experts create a tailored compliance solution for your facility.
Why It Matters
Integrating hazard analysis during the early design phase improves capital efficiency. According to the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), capital budgets are reduced through:
- Process hazard analyses for new projects to mitigate long-term risk
- Inherently safer designs developed during the conceptual phase
- Lower capital spend enabled by access to accurate safety information
Why is BOSS Important?
Basis of study serves as an initial opportunity to identify and evaluate major process hazards and define protection strategies. This early-stage review supports alignment with corporate risk thresholds and helps guide safety design specifications.
The study highlights safety systems that must be incorporated into the design—such as containment, interlocks, inerting systems, and passive protections—based on hazards linked to each major equipment item.
It also helps streamline HAZOP and LOPA studies by documenting the initial risk controls used in the project.
Benefits of a Basis of Safety Study
- Early Identification of Safety Requirements: A Basis of Safety Study is designed to identify approximately 90% of the safety requirements needed to meet a company’s internal risk acceptance criteria—prior to detailed engineering and capital appropriation request.
- Defines Risk Control Strategy for Operations: The Basis of Safety outlines how process hazards will be managed. It provides a clear reference for operators, engineers, and safety teams during routine operations, start-ups, shutdowns, and abnormal situations.
- Forms a Core Reference During Management of Change (MoC): The documented Basis of Safety should be reviewed during all MoC assessments to confirm that design changes or process modifications do not introduce unaddressed risks or compromise existing safeguards.
The Sigma-HSE Advantage
- Decades of Technical Expertise in Hazard Analysis: Sigma-HSE has delivered Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) services across multiple regions and sectors. Our experience allows us to adapt the Basis of Safety methodology to suit specific project phases and process complexities.
- Delivery of Basis of Safety Studies: We provide complete execution of Basis of Safety Studies aligned with regulatory expectations, internal standards, and international engineering practices.
- Targeted Training on Basis of Safety Methodology: We offers training to help process safety teams understand the structure, application, and value of a Basis of Safety across the project lifecycle.
- Seamless Integration with HAZOP and LOPA: The Basis of Safety Study is developed to support and align with future HAZOP and LOPA studies, creating a consistent and traceable safety framework from concept to operation.
Our Approach to BOSS
The study begins once the major process equipment and general flow are defined. At this stage, BOSS focuses on identifying the types of consequences that may occur due to deviations or failures, including:
- Explosion (e.g., gas or dust deflagration)
- Fire (e.g., pool fire, flash fire, jet fire)
- Vacuum collapse (e.g., during vessel pump out)
- Overpressure (e.g., blocked-in conditions, runaway reactions)
- Loss of containment (e.g., vessel breach, seal failure)
- Toxic release (e.g., reactive or hazardous chemicals escaping containment)
Get Your Customized Plan
Steps in a BOSS
- Identify Equipment: Create a comprehensive inventory of all critical process equipment involved in material handling and processing.
- Document Consequence Category: Determine potential outcomes such as explosion, fire, loss of containment, or toxic release.
- Document Cause Scenario: Map out potential failure modes and credible process deviations that could lead to hazardous outcomes.
- Identify Source of Cause: Pinpoint the exact initiating point or specific component where a potential safety event might originate.
- Analyze Material Characteristics: Examine the chemical properties and potential hazards of materials involved in the process.
- Assess Maximum Temperature: Estimate the highest possible temperature under worst-case scenario conditions.
- Assess Maximum Pressure: Calculate the maximum potential pressure that could develop during process variations.
- Establish Basis of Safety: Develop a strategic approach to risk reduction through inherent safety and protective measures.
- List Safeguards: Catalog all available protective systems, controls, and mitigation strategies.
- Document Safeguard Details: Provide comprehensive documentation of each safeguard’s function, mechanism, and design requirements.
- Determine Risk Ranking: Evaluate and prioritize potential risks based on severity and likelihood of occurrence.
- Make Recommendations: Generate actionable insights and improvement recommendations for future safety implementations.
Want to learn the complete methodology with detailed explanations of each step? Read our comprehensive BOSS guide on our blog
Industries That Require a Basis of Safety Study
Basis of Safety Studies are applicable to any process industry handling flammable, explosive, toxic, or reactive materials. Relevant industries include:
- Chemical manufacturing and formulation
- Petrochemical and refining operations
- Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production
- Food and beverage processing
- Agrochemical and pesticide manufacturing
- Coatings, adhesives, and specialty chemicals
- Oil and gas production, processing, and storage
