What is essential to determine sufficient protection against the consequence of concern in an IPL?

Determining sufficient protection against the consequence of concern in an Independent Protection Layer (IPL) hinges on the integrity of the IPL itself. The integrity refers to how well the IPL can perform its intended safety function reliably and effectively when necessary. This includes assessing whether the IPL has been designed, implemented, and maintained to provide the promised layer of protection against specific hazardous scenarios.

An IPL should be capable of adequately reducing the risk to a level that is acceptable based on risk tolerance criteria for the operation. This involves verifying the performance capabilities of the IPL, ensuring that it meets the required safety integrity level (SIL), and confirming that it consistently operates under the anticipated conditions without failure.

While considerations such as cost-effectiveness, availability of resources, and compliance with regulations play important roles in the overall safety management process, they do not directly address the fundamental question of whether the IPL can effectively mitigate the identified risks. Therefore, the focus on the integrity of the IPL is critical to ensure that the protection measures are robust enough to handle potential incidents.