CCPS Beacon: Training After a Change
A Process Safety Evaluation
The CCPS (Center for Chemical Process Safety) has published the May 2026 Process Safety Beacon Training After a Change. This Beacon describes a situation where instrumentation was changed, but there was no follow up training, or an update of the operating procedures. This was a near-miss situation — no one was injured.
The following is an analysis of the Beacon using the ‘top three’ of the 20 elements of process safety as defined by the CCPS.
Note: the analyses provided here are based on facts as reported in the Bulletin.
PSM Elements
In this series of posts we evaluate incidents for process safety insights using the management elements defined by the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS). The elements are:
Process Safety Culture
Compliance
Competence
Workforce Involvement
Stakeholder Outreach
Knowledge Management
Hazard Identification and Risk Management
Operating Procedures
Safe Work Practices
Asset Integrity / Reliability
Contractor Management
Training / Performance
Management of Change
Operational Readiness
Conduct of Operations
Emergency Management
Incident Investigation
Measurement and Metrics
Auditing
Management Review
The ‘Top Three’
Of the elements listed, the following are particularly pertinent to this incident.
Management of Change
This is the dominant element. The installation of vibration monitoring sensors was a physical and procedural change. Later, replacing the motor was also a change affecting the equipment configuration. The change process apparently did not ensure that the sensor remained part of the equipment package, that the affected procedures were updated, or that workers and contractors understood the new requirements.
Training and Performance Assurance
The Beacon’s title points directly to this issue. Workers responsible for operating, maintaining, inspecting, or replacing the equipment needed training after the vibration-monitoring system was installed. Training should have made clear that the sensor was now part of the equipment’s required configuration and had to be reinstalled or reconnected after motor work.
Operating Procedures
The motor replacement procedure apparently did not include instructions to remove, protect, reinstall, reconnect, and verify the vibration sensor. If procedures are not revised after a change, field personnel will often revert to the old task method, which is what appears to have happened here.
Secondary elements
Asset Integrity and Reliability
The vibration-monitoring system is part of the equipment reliability and early-warning strategy. If the sensor is not installed or functioning, the organization may falsely believe that critical rotating equipment is being monitored.
Operational Readiness
After equipment modification or replacement, there should have been a readiness check or inspection confirming that the motor, sensor, wiring, data signal, and alarm/monitoring display were all restored and functional.
This item is a close runner-up for the top three.
Contractor Management
The Beacon states that contractors may not have reinstalled the sensor or may not have had the updated procedure. If contractors perform maintenance on changed equipment, they must receive the same relevant technical information and procedural expectations as employees.
Process Safety Information / Knowledge Management
Drawings, equipment records, inspection checklists, maintenance instructions, and monitoring-system documentation should have reflected the installed sensor. Without updated information, the change becomes invisible to later workers.
