Process Safety Information (PSI) Solutions
When drawings, equipment data, and design documents disagree with the field, every downstream study starts with uncertainty. Cognascents Consulting Group helps you verify and organize process safety information so PHAs, procedures, mechanical integrity work, and operating decisions rest on a reliable picture of the facility.
When Clients Engage Us
Common reasons organizations engage PSI services
Organizations typically engage Cognascents for Process Safety Information solutions when they are facing:
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▸Piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), process flow diagrams (PFDs), or electrical area classification (EAC) drawings that no longer reflect field conditions
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▸A PHA that can’t proceed because PSI hasn’t been validated
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▸Equipment and instrument datasheets scattered across systems or missing entirely
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▸Safety data sheets or chemical compatibility matrices that need consolidation
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▸Relief system, flare, or ventilation design basis documentation that needs updating
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▸PSM audit findings tied to incomplete or inaccurate PSI
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Our Approach
Process safety information your team can actually trust.
Process safety information (PSI) is the written compilation of chemical hazard, process technology, and process equipment information that OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119(d) requires before any process hazard analysis is conducted, and that EPA requires for RMP Program 3 processes under 40 CFR 68.65. It covers toxicity, reactivity, and other chemical hazard data under (d)(1); process chemistry, maximum intended inventory, and safe upper and lower limits under (d)(2); and P&IDs, electrical classification, relief system design and design basis, and documented RAGAGEP compliance under (d)(3). Cognascents helps you build, validate, and maintain PSI that reflects how your facility actually operates today.
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Step 01
Documentation Assessment & Field VerificationWe review your existing P&IDs, PFDs, EAC drawings, plot plans, and equipment datasheets against current field conditions through field verification walkdowns, identifying where documentation has drifted from reality. |
Step 02
Development & ConsolidationWe create or update P&IDs, CAD drawings, safety data sheets, chemical compatibility matrices, and relief system design basis documents, consolidating scattered information into a single reliable source. |
Step 03
Ongoing Management & ComplianceWe establish practical PSI management and document control workflows for document ownership, revision control, retrieval, and updates through management of change. Your team can keep information current and prepare the documentation needed for PHAs, engineering studies, and PSM compliance audits. |
Why Cognascents
Why choose Cognascents for process safety information
ENGINEERING AND FIELD CONTEXT
Documentation Checked Against the Process
Our process safety and asset integrity engineers understand how equipment data, drawings, and design information support hazard analysis and safe operation. We evaluate records against plant conditions and identify discrepancies that affect the decisions your team needs to make. |
MULTIDISCIPLINARY EXPERTISE
The Engineering Behind the Information
Cognascents brings together 65+ engineers across process safety, asset integrity and reliability, and process engineering. We can address process hazards, relief systems, equipment design, degradation mechanisms, and operating limits within one team. This helps resolve inconsistencies across PSI documents and gives downstream studies a coherent technical basis grounded in applicable codes and standards. |
AI EFFICIENCY WITH ENGINEERING OVERSIGHT
More efficient document review with engineering oversight
AI-assisted process safety information review can accelerate data extraction, document organization, and preliminary gap identification. Engineers validate source information and resolve discrepancies before incorporating results into PSI deliverables. |
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“A P&ID that doesn’t match the field isn’t documentation. It’s a liability with a revision number.”
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Standards & Codes We Work To
The regulatory requirements and RAGAGEP that govern Process Safety Information.
OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119(d) — process safety information, compiled before any process hazard analysisOSHA 29 CFR 1910.119(d)(3)(ii) — documentation that equipment complies with RAGAGEPEPA 40 CFR 68.65 — process safety information for RMP Program 3 processes (68.48 for Program 2)API RP 500 and API RP 505 — electrical area classification documented under 1910.119(d)(3)(i)(C)API Standard 520 Part I and API Standard 521 — relief system design basis documented under 1910.119(d)(3)(i)(D)
WOULD YOUR P&IDS SURVIVE A FIELD WALKDOWN?
Let’s talk about the gap between your documentation and your actual field conditions.
Our engineers will give you a direct read on where your PSI has drifted and what it would take to bring it current.
Keep reading for what accurate PSI delivers and the services that connect to it. ↓↓
What You Gain
Process safety information that reflects reality, not just history.
PSI is the foundation the rest of your PSM program is built on. Cognascents helps make sure that foundation is actually solid.
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A RELIABLE FOUNDATION FOR YOUR PROGRAM
PSI other PSM elements can actually depend onValidated process safety information gives your PHA, operating procedures, mechanical integrity program, and engineering studies a consistent picture of chemical hazards, process technology, and equipment. |
REDUCED PROJECT DELAYS
PHAs and studies that don’t stall waiting on documentationOrganized, reviewed PSI reduces time spent searching for missing records or reconciling conflicting data during process hazard analysis, relief studies, and PSM audits. |
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REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
Documentation that satisfies OSHA PSM Element 2A structured PSI assessment identifies documentation gaps against applicable OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119(d) requirements and provides a practical basis for addressing them. |
OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY
One consolidated, accessible source instead of five scattered onesConsolidating your PSI into a coherent, accessible set of documents saves your team time every time they need to reference it. |
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Related Services
Supporting services that depend on your PSI
Cognascents connects PSI to the studies, procedures, and design work that depend on it.
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THE STUDY THAT DEPENDS ON YOUR PSI
Process Hazard Analysis (PHA)A PHA can’t proceed without validated PSI. We help make sure your documentation is ready before the study starts. |
THE PROCEDURES YOUR PSI SUPPORTS
Operating Procedure GenerationAccurate PSI is the foundation good operating procedures are built on. We keep the two connected. |
THE DESIGN WORK YOUR PSI FEEDS
Pressure Relief System DesignDocumented and validated relief system design basis is a frequent area of PSI deficiency. We have the deep expertise to help you with it. |
Related Content
Process safety information articles and case studies
Case studies and technical articles from the engineers who lead these engagements.
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ARTICLE | PROCESS SAFETY
Postpone the PHA Rather than Start Without the Validated PSIWhy starting a PHA without validated Process Safety Information undermines the entire study, and what to do instead. Read: Postpone the PHA Rather than Start Without the Validated PSI → |
ARTICLE | PROCESS SAFETY
Staying Safe During Field WalkdownsWhat it takes to verify P&IDs, electrical area classifications, and facility siting documentation are actually accurate. |
ARTICLE | PROCESS ENGINEERING
What’s In Your Pipes?Reconstructing process chemistry and heat and material balances from limited documentation, a common PSI challenge. |
PROCESS SAFETY INFORMATION QUESTIONS, ANSWERED DIRECTLY
Frequently asked questions about process safety information (PSI)
What is process safety information (PSI)?
PSI is the written compilation of information on the hazards of the highly hazardous chemicals in a process, the technology of the process, and the equipment in the process, required under 29 CFR 1910.119(d) and, for RMP Program 3, 40 CFR 68.65. It is the factual basis for the PHA, operating procedures, training, mechanical integrity, and management of change, which is why errors in PSI propagate into every element that relies on it.
What must PSI include?
Paragraph (d)(1) covers chemical hazards: toxicity, exposure limits, physical, reactivity, corrosivity, and stability data, and the hazardous effects of inadvertent mixing. (d)(2) covers technology: a block flow or simplified process flow diagram, process chemistry, maximum intended inventory, safe upper and lower limits, and consequences of deviation. (d)(3) covers equipment: materials of construction, P&IDs, electrical classification, relief and ventilation design basis, design codes, material and energy balances for processes built after May 26, 1992, and safety systems.
Does PSI have to be complete before a PHA?
Yes. Paragraph (d) requires the employer to complete the compilation of written PSI before conducting any process hazard analysis required by the standard. A PHA run on unverified P&IDs or an undocumented relief design basis evaluates a process that may not exist in the field, and its safeguards, recommendations, and revalidation inherit that error. When PSI cannot be validated in time, postponing the PHA is usually the more defensible choice.
How is PSI kept current?
Through management of change. Under 1910.119(l)(4), when a change covered by MOC alters required PSI, that information must be updated accordingly. In practice, drift comes from changes that bypass MOC, field redlines never incorporated into master drawings, and replacements that were not truly in kind. Periodic P&ID field verification is how a facility demonstrates its PSI still matches the plant.
What if design documentation for existing equipment is missing?
Paragraph (d)(3)(ii) requires documentation that equipment complies with RAGAGEP, and (d)(3)(iii) requires equipment built to codes no longer in general use to be documented as designed, maintained, inspected, tested, and operating in a safe manner. Missing data must be reconstructed from field verification, nameplate and inspection records, and engineering calculations, not assumed. Our Pressure Relief System Design team often closes the relief design basis gap directly.
Talk to an engineer about your process safety information
Tell us about your PSI and where you think the documentation has drifted from the field. One of our engineers will give you a straight answer about what it would take to bring it current.