Layer of protection analysis (LOPA) is a recently developed, simplified method of risk assessment that provides the much-needed middle ground between a qualitative process hazard analysis and a traditional, expensive quantitative risk analysis. Beginning with an identified accident scenario, LOPA uses simplifying rules to evaluate initiating event frequency, independent layers of protection, and consequences to provide an order-of-magnitude estimate of risk. LOPA has also proven an excellent approach for determining the safety integrity level necessary for an instrumented safety system, an...