How a study runs.
An overview of the workflow from uploading a drawing to issuing the report. This describes how the study is structured and what the engineer is responsible for at each stage.
Getting started
Work in TechPHA is organised into studies. A study holds everything belonging to one hazard analysis: the drawings, the node structure, the worksheets, the safeguards and recommendations, the risk criteria in force and the reports issued from it.
Create a study from the panel, give it the identifying information your procedures require, then upload the P&IDs that define its scope. The free plan covers one complete study so the workflow can be evaluated end to end before committing to a paid plan.
P&ID analysis
When a drawing is uploaded, TechPHA reads it and extracts the objects on it — equipment, instruments, valves, process lines, connections and existing protective devices. Each extracted object is presented with its tag, a description and a confidence value.
Confidence is guidance, not a verdict. Anything the system is unsure of is flagged Engineer Review Required and stays flagged until someone confirms or corrects it. Review the extracted tag list against the drawing before building nodes on top of it — errors caught here are far cheaper than errors caught in the workshop.
What to check first
- Equipment tags that appear on the drawing but not in the list.
- Relief devices and interlocks, which carry the most consequence if missed.
- Line connectivity where drawings continue across sheets.
- Anything marked for review, in confidence order.
Nodes and deviations
A study is divided into nodes — the sections of the process you examine one at a time, such as the feed line into a separator. Nodes come from the extracted drawing and remain fully editable; you decide where the boundaries fall.
Within each node the study works through deviations using conventional guide words: no flow, high pressure, low level, high temperature and so on. TechPHA proposes deviations appropriate to the node, and the team adds, removes or reframes them.
The PHA worksheet
The worksheet is the record of the study itself. Each row takes one deviation and sets out five columns:
- Deviation — the departure from design intent.
- Cause — what could bring it about.
- Consequence — what follows if it does.
- Safeguard — the protection already in place, by tag.
- Recommendation — the action the team proposes.
TechPHA drafts these rows. The team then works down the worksheet in session, and every entry is editable at any point.
Review and approval
Every entry carries a status, and the status only moves when a person moves it:
- AI Generated — proposed by the system, not yet examined.
- Under Review — being considered by the team.
- Engineer Modified — amended from what was proposed.
- Engineer Approved — accepted into the study.
The evidence, the confidence value and the approval history are kept at every step, so a reviewer or auditor can see what was proposed, what was changed and who accepted it.
LOPA and check lists
Where a hazard scenario needs quantified examination, LOPA worksheets sit alongside the HAZOP worksheets in the same study, drawing on the same nodes and safeguards. Check lists cover the structured prompts your procedures require in addition to guide-word analysis. Both are available on the Professional plan.
Risk criteria
Risk ranking uses your criteria, not a default supplied by the software. Configure the matrix your organisation works to — a 5×5 arrangement is typical — along with your severity and likelihood definitions. Rankings recorded in the study reference the criteria that were in force at the time, so historical studies stay interpretable after the matrix is revised.
Reports and export
A study leaves TechPHA as a report. Exports are available in PDF, Word and Excel — Word and Excel being the practical choices when the document has to be merged into a wider safety report or handed to a client for markup.
The free plan previews the report so the output can be inspected in full before upgrading; export is unlocked on the Professional plan.
Data and access
Documents stay with your workspace. AI requests are made through the TechPHA backend, so model credentials never reach the browser. Studies are access controlled and audit records are maintained.
For questions about how a particular deployment handles data, or to request specifics for your own assurance process, contact support@techpha.com.
Next step
The workflow above is best understood by running it once. A single complete study is free, with no card required.