What is Management of Change (MOC)

• “Policies and procedures which ensure that changes do not result in operations outside of established safety parameters”
• Essential element in a plant’s process safety system
• Managing change can mean managing potential incidents

Change is a given in any industrial operation today.  Some possible reasons for change would be:

• New laws and regulations
• Keeping up to date with current technology
• Producing more efficiently to remain competitive

Whenever a change is made, large or small, permanent or temporary, managers and staff should assess the possible impact of the change.

Management of Change is a systematic method used to do just that.

It is defined as policies and procedures which ensure that changes do not result in operations outside of established safety parameters.  This is an essential component of a plant’s process safety system as changes can occur daily in a chemical process plant.

MOC is used to answer the following four questions:

• What could go wrong?
• How could it affect me or others?
• How likely is it to happen?
• What can I do about it?

Since changes are a common cause of accidents, by managing change, we are managing potential incidents.