Process Safety Engineer

Honour Lab; Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Pune District; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Honour Lab is seeking an experienced Process Safety Engineer in India to lead and support safety assessments across pharma/chemical processes. The role requires strong hands-on expertise in HAZOP, PHA, LO PA, and reaction hazard analysis, with emphasis on scale-up and technology transfer.

The candidate will review PFDs/P&IDs, establish safe operating limits, and develop safeguards while coordinating MOC, PSSR and incident-risk management activities in a pharmaceutical/chemical setting.

Qualifications

• 5–15 years of experience in Process Safety Engineering or related field.
• BE/B.Tech or ME/M.Tech in Chemical Engineering with 6–12 years in Process Safety.
• Hands-on exposure to HAZOP/PHA/LOPA, Chemical Reaction Hazard Assessment, RC/ARC/ARSST/DSC/TSU testing.

Responsibilities

• Lead and participate in PHA, HAZOP, HAZID, What-If, LOPA and Risk Assessment studies.
• Prepare Process Safety Assessment Reports for new products, existing processes, scale-up and technology transfer.
• Review PFDs, P&IDs, process descriptions, operating procedures and process parameters.
• Identify fire, explosion, toxic-release, overpressure, chemical-reactivity and thermal-runaway hazards.
• Define appropriate preventive and mitigative safeguards.
• Support MOC and PSSR activities.
• Investigate process-safety incidents, root causes, corrective actions and KPI development.

Skills

Process Safety

HAZOP

PHA

LOPA

QRA

MOC

PSSR

Reaction Calorimetry

RC/RC1

ARC

ARSST

DSC

TSU

RSD

TGA

Thermal Runaway

Dust Safety

Explosion Relief

RCA

Education

BE/B.Tech/M.E./M.Tech Chemical Engineering

Job description

Roles and Responsibilities:

• 1. Process Safety Studies
  • Lead and participate in PHA, HAZOP, HAZID, What-If, LOPA and Risk Assessment studies.
  • Prepare Process Safety Assessment Reports for new products, existing processes, scale-up and technology transfer.
  • Review PFDs, P&IDs, process descriptions, operating procedures and process parameters.
  • Identify fire, explosion, toxic-release, overpressure, chemical-reactivity and thermal-runaway hazards.
  • Define appropriate preventive and mitigative safeguards.
  • Support MOC and PSSR activities.
• 2. Chemical Reaction Safety
  • Conduct preliminary and detailed Chemical Reaction Hazard Assessments.
  • Evaluate exothermic reactions, decomposition reactions, gas generation, accumulation and thermal runaway.
  • Assess reaction hazards during scale-up, process development and technology transfer.
  • Establish safe operating limits, critical process parameters, emergency quench requirements and cooling requirements.
  • Interpret reaction-safety test data and translate results into plant operating controls.
• 3. Reaction Calorimetry & Thermal Safety Studies

  Hands-on experience by technical understanding & Interpretation in the process:

  • RC / RC1 / Reaction Calorimetry
  • ARC – Accelerating Rate Calorimetry
  • ARSST – Advanced Reactive System Screening Tool
  • DSC – Differential Scanning Calorimetry
  • TSU – Thermal Screening Unit
  • RSD – Rapid Screening Device
  • TGA / Thermogravimetric Analysis
  • Thermal stability and decomposition studies
  • Adiabatic / runaway reaction assessment
  • Gas-generation and pressure-rise studies

  Current pharma/API process-safety roles specifically mention DSC, RC, ARC, TSU and ARSST testing.

• 4. Powder Safety Studies
  • Conduct/review powder and combustible-dust hazard assessments.
  • Evaluate:
    • Pmax – Maximum Explosion Pressure
    • Kst – Deflagration Index
    • MIE – Minimum Ignition Energy
    • MEC – Minimum Explosible Concentration
    • MIT – Minimum Ignition Temperature
    • Dust explosibility
    • Dust-layer ignition
    • Powder resistivity / electrostatic hazards
    • Combustibility and explosion severity
  • Assess hazards associated with milling, sieving, drying, charging, discharging and powder handling.
  • Recommend explosion prevention, protection, isolation and mitigation measures.
• 5. Explosion & Relief-System Safety
  • Review PSV, rupture disc and emergency relief requirements.
  • Assess runaway reaction, fire exposure, blocked outlet and gas-generation scenarios.
  • Perform/review pressure relief and venting assessments.
  • Conduct or coordinate explosion vent sizing.
  • Review explosion protection, suppression and isolation requirements.
  • Assess pressure/explosion hazards associated with reactors, dryers, filters, mills and powder-handling systems.
• 6. Process Hazard Analysis
  • Facilitate/participate in:
    • HAZOP
    • HAZID
    • What-If Analysis
    • LOPA
    • PHA
    • QRA
    • SIL assessment, where applicable
    • FMEA/FTA/ETA, where applicable
  • Ensure recommendations are technically evaluated and closed effectively.
• 7. Incident & Risk Management
  • Investigate process-safety incidents, near misses and deviations.
  • Conduct Root Cause Analysis (RCA).
  • Identify corrective and preventive actions.
  • Monitor process-safety recommendations and action closure.
  • Develop process-safety KPIs and improvement plans.

Essential Technical Competencies

Chemical Engineering | Process Safety | Reaction Safety | HAZOP | HAZID | PHA | LOPA | QRA | MOC | PSSR | Reaction Calorimetry | RC/RC1 | ARC | ARSST | DSC | TSU | RSD | TGA | Thermal Runaway | Chemical Reaction Hazard Assessment | Powder Safety | Dust Explosion | Pmax | Kst | MIE | MEC | MIT | Static Electricity | Explosion Vent Sizing | PSV | Rupture Disc | Relief System | Risk Assessment | RCA

Preferred Industry Experience

• Pharmaceutical / API manufacturing
• Fine chemicals
• Specialty chemicals
• Agrochemicals
• Chemical manufacturing

Job Requirements :

• 5-15 years of experience in Process Safety Engineering or related field.
• B.E./B.Tech/M.E./M.Tech Chemical Engineer with 6–12 years of experience in Process Safety, preferably in Pharma/API or Chemical manufacturing
• Strong hands-on exposure to HAZOP/PHA/LOPA, Chemical Reaction Hazard Assessment, RC/ARC/ARSST/DSC/TSU testing, Powder Safety, Dust Explosion Assessment, Relief Systems and Process Safety Risk Assessment.