Version 2008.0.14

March 2008
This release was replaced with 2008.0.15 to (1) eliminate a nuisance message when installing from a CD, (2) correct a minor issue in the Copy Utility, and (3) improve exception handling code in the publishing module.

Version 2008.0.12

February 2008
This release was replaced with 2008.0.14 to (1) restore the capability to publish risk rankings in color, (2) change the location of the toolbar settings file to a folder that is always writable, (3) modify the LOPA wizard to work around Excel's truncation of data items longer than 255 characters, and (4) provide additional LEADER-related shortcuts on the Windows Programs menu.

Version 2006.0.08

September 2006
New Features

• Publish all available worksheet fields. This long-awaited feature is now available in HazardReview LEADER 2006. The Worksheet Report Settings dialog has been redesigned to include format options for each of the major worksheet columns (Causes, Consequences, Safeguards, and Action Items). These format options allow extra fields in each of these grids to be appended in any order to the end of each item in a worksheet report.

• Publish risk rankings in full color. Now, when you publish a worksheet report with risk columns, cells containing risk rankings are colored in based on the cell colors defined on the related risk matrix in LEADER.

• Publish leader links as real hyperlinks. The unique LEADER links feature has gone interactive in published worksheet reports. Persons viewing your reports can click on linked causes and consequences to jump to the related deviations in the report. When a report is saved from Word as an HTML file and placed on your intranet, it becomes a fully navigable hazard model of your process.

• Group analysis sections. The Navigator can now display analysis sections within expandable/collapseable group folders. Group folders are created by entering text in the Group column of the Sections Master List. For example, you may want to conduct a checklist review for a storage tank based on a corporate standard and then group the checklist review in a folder with the HAZOP of the tank. In this way, you can maintain the original analysis section numbers while grouping newly added sections together with older sections.

• Automatically select new causes when added in cause-by-cause (CBC) mode. When using CBC mode, it is often desirable to select a new cause immediately upon adding it in order to expedite the association of consequences, safeguards, and action items with the newly added cause. HazardReview LEADER 2006 automatically selects new causes when they are added, helping improve the efficiency of CBC mode. At the same time, LEADER keeps the focus on the AddNew row to continue facilitating quick entry of additional causes.

• Automatically associate new items with selected cause(s) in CBC mode. When using CBC mode, many users like to go ahead and associate a new item (a consequence, safeguard, or action item) with one or more causes when the new item is added. HazardReview LEADER 2006 does this automatically, eliminating multiple mouse clicks and making CBC mode more efficient.

• Make CBC the default mode for new sections. When creating custom project templates (a new feature in 2005), users may want to create/modify analysis methods to use CBC mode by default. The latest Library Editor utility provided with HazardReview LEADER 2006 allows you to set CBC as the default mode for each Method-Type combination, enabling the creation of blank project templates with analysis methods that default to CBC mode.

• Filter action item types in reports. The Publish to Word Wizard now provides the ability to select which types of action items to include in reports. For example, you may have Recommendations, Open Items, and Production Issues in your project but only want to list the official Recommendations in your report.

• Customize your risk matrix orientation. Some organizations have risk matrixes that do not match the standard orientation with the lowest risk being in the lower left corner and with severity categories on the horizontal axis. The latest Risk Matrix Editor utility provided with HazardReview LEADER 2006 allows you to specify the lowest risk corner of your matrix as well as whether the severity categories are on the horizontal or vertical axis. This allows LEADER to display your risk matrix exactly the way your organization has laid it out.

Enhancements

• Improved risk ranking picklists. When risk ranking in a worksheet, it is no longer necessary to select a risk matrix if using the first matrix in the project file. In fact, if you only plan to use a single matrix, you can hide the Matrix column altogether. When the user selects a severity or likelihood category, the first risk matrix in the project file is automatically selected by default (if the user has not already selected one). Also, the severity and likelihood columns have been enhanced to provide a two-column picklist showing both the category name and the longer category description. This eliminates the need to look at the descriptions on the risk matrix when selecting a category.

• Improved LOPA wizard. The LOPA wizard has a number of improvements based on user feedback. In particular, there are new buttons on the scenario selection grid for selecting/deselecting a grouping of scenarios (e.g., all the scenarios for a particular consequence or for a certain analysis section). There is also a new feature for selecting which risk matrix(es) to use for identifying candidate scenarios; for example, you may choose to use LOPA to evaluate only the safety-related scenarios. In addition, the opening screen of the wizard now explains how the wizard works and provides a button to view/customize the LOPA Excel template before generating LOPA scenarios.

• Improved LOPA Excel template. The LOPA Excel template continues to grow, providing new and better features based on user feedback. The new Team tab allows you to list LOPA team members and keep track of their participation in the various LOPA scenarios. The Scenarios summary tab now provides hyperlinks to allow quick navigation between LOPA worksheets, as well as providing the scenario status (+,=,-) and LEADER link path. The summary and hyperlinks update automatically as scenario worksheets are added, moved, deleted, or renamed. And, the scenario worksheets now automatically add generic comments describing the basis of the selected initiating event and protection layer types/values.

• Improved Library Editor. The Library Editor utility now has a more user-friendly interface, making it easier to select, add, edit, and delete methods, types, deviations/topics, etc.

• Improved Search Utility. The Search Utility has received a facelift of sorts, with more consistent appearance and sorting of all search windows/tables. Also, risk rankings can now be modified in the Consequences search window.

• Improved Action Items Manager. There are several under-the-hood improvements to the Action Items Manager utility, as well as upgrades to the user interface. The main screen now lists all the included projects and provides a more user-friendly way to filter/view the action items of interest. The Action Items Manager also prevents adding duplicate projects, eliminates the need to provide a project name where none exists (it uses the project's filename instead), and updates projects based on their filenames/paths, which are now stored in the Action Items Manager.

• Action item type picklists default to most recent type used. Users often need to add multiple action items of the same type (e.g., Open Items, Drawing Changes) one after another during an analysis meeting. To accommodate this need, the Type picklists in the Action Items Master List and the Action Items grid of the Worksheet now default to the last type of action item added. This keeps the most frequently used types of action items at the top of the picklist.

• Drawing/Procedure Type picklists default to most recent type used. Users often like to add drawings, procedures, or other types of reference documents in bunches of the same type. To accommodate this need, the Type picklists in the Drawings/Procedures Master List and the Drawings/Procedures grid of the Worksheet now default to the last type of item added. This keeps the most frequently used types of items at the top of the picklist.

• More helpful tooltips on master list shortcuts. The tooltips displayed when hovering over the Master List shortcut buttons are now more descriptive to improve comprehension of these buttons' purposes.

• More flexible AutoBackup options. The AutoBackup options on the Tools/Program Options dialog now allow you to type in a desired number of minutes and desired number of backups, even if the typed-in values are not among those included in the picklists.

• More user-friendly filenames for publish settings. The example publish settings files provided with the program are now more complete and descriptive, making it easier to load the desired settings file.

Updates

• Home directory now gets registered appropriately when program is installed by someone other than the end user. This allows LEADER to find the location of the Leader.dot file when publishing to Word.
• The History menu is now disabled if a conflict occurs with Chinese character sets (in Chinese versions of Microsoft Windows).
• The user guide (compiled HTML help [.chm] file) is now installed locally on the user's machine instead of in the application directory (which could be on a network). This allows the Help file to be viewed on systems where Windows security updates prevent viewing .chm files on a network.
• The Type picklists in the Action Items Master List, Drawings/Procedures Master List, and Worksheets now automatically refresh when a new Type is added on the Types tab.
• AutoLinkText now updates appropriately when a deviation is edited in the deviation text box at the top of a worksheet.
• Action items now automatically renumber as intended when an action item is deleted from the Master List after deleting the last reference to the action item in a Worksheet.
• The descriptions of the Library options on the Library tab of the File/Properties dialog, the Tools/Program Options, and the Advanced Types dialog are now more complete and descriptive for new users.
• The obsolete Modify button on the Library tab of File/Properties dialog has been removed.
• Obsolete list items on the File Locations tab of the Program Options dialog have been removed to minimize any confusion.
• The Edit Shorthand dialog has been improved to show the current shorthand filename and help minimize mistakes when loading/saving shorthand files.
• Several nuisance message boxes have been eliminated, and others have been improved to provide more helpful information.
• The Copy Utility has been revised to address issues associated with copying of risk rankings. Duplicate matrix names no longer grow in length on repeated copy operations, and only matrixes in use in the selected sections are copied.

Version 4.2005.11

November 2005
New Features

• Manage and track changes. The new Changes Master List allows you to create and manage change sessions, quick-compare two versions of the same project file, and publish changes to Microsoft® Word.

• Do LOPA on demand. While working in an analysis section, right click on a consequence to instantly create layer of protection analysis (LOPA) spreadsheets for the consequence.

• Publish full report. The Publish to Word wizard now allows you to publish an entire report to a single Word document, including a title page; lists of team members, drawings, recommendations, and analysis sections; and worksheets

• Save project as template. The new “Save as template” item on the File menu allows you to create a “corporate template” project file (e.g., for PHAs, for MOCs) and then save the file as a project template (.ldt file) for use when creating new files.

• Create new project from template. Specify a saved project template when creating a new project. Standard project templates include PHA, revalidation, pre-startup safety review, procedure writing, and functional/component failure analysis.

• Copy columns of data from Microsoft Office. For example, now you can copy a checklist of questions from a Word table or Excel spreadsheet into LEADER in a single step. Or, copy a list of persons/companies/titles or drawings/titles/revisions into a Master List.

• Customize report/presentation/LOPA templates. New menu items allow you to customize your Word report template, PowerPoint templates, and LOPA Excel template directly from LEADER.

• Time your breaks. The popular ABS Consulting Break Timer is now integrated with LEADER to help you manage breaks during hazard review meetings.

• Quickly adjust screen font size. The new fonts toolbar allows you to quickly adjust the font size and characteristics used in all LEADER grids; particularly helpful for improving readability on a projection screen.

• Activate Access utilities with one click. The new Access utilities toolbar provides shortcuts to the popular Access utilities.

• Readily modify library import options. Now you can right-click in the Sections Master List to change the library import options before adding a new section.

Enhancements

• Improved LOPA wizard. The popular LOPA wizard now adds a reference for each protection layer back to the safeguard or action item record in the source LDR file, allowing the record to be updated in the LDR file after the protection layer is edited in the LOPA spreadsheet.

• Redesigned LOPA Excel template. The LOPA spreadsheet template has been significantly revamped to include lookup tables for initiating event frequencies and probabilities of failure on demand for protection layers. The template also has an improved interface for specifying risk tolerance criteria and evaluating SIL requirements. In addition, the template provides new results summary pages for LOPA/SIL evaluation reports.

• Improved action items master list. This master list now functions more consistently with the other master lists and reenables copying multiple items, dragging items to worksheets, and dragging items to Excel.

• Improved Access utilities. Numerous functional and cosmetic improvements. For example, the Action Items Manager now includes a Status picklist to help provide consistent entries to aid filtering/reporting.

• Improved publish to Word wizard:
  • Selection lists now display custom field names rather than the generic field names
  • More user-friendly settings dialog with fewer tabs and better organization
  • Automatically saves customized publish settings as the default for your next publish to Word session

Updates

• End user logon no longer required for installing the software; software automatically verifies/corrects registry settings on startup.

• Capability to add new analysis methods reenabled.

• Obsolete/unused menu items and dialog items removed.

• Selecting a recent file from the File menu now resets the recent file list appropriately, which also helps ensure that the correct file is used in the Access utilities and Word macros.

• Library import options on Advanced Types dialog now work correctly when adding an analysis section with multiple section types.

Version 4.2005.10

October 2005
This release was replaced with 4.2005.11 to further enhance the new feature that automatically verifies/corrects registry settings on startup. This new feature was not verifying/correcting the registry setting for the Home directory, which occasionally resulted in an inability to publish reports to Word. Otherwise, it was the same as 4.2005.11.

Version 4.1.17a

July 2004
New Features and Enhancements

• Office XP-style menus, toolbars and shortcut buttons. Not only is HazardReview LEADER extremely versatile, but its ease of use is comparable to the Microsoft® Office Systems.

• New LOPA wizard. This new wizard rolls up linked scenarios to create LOPA spreadsheets in Excel after filtering scenarios based on your risk screening criteria.

• New custom help menu button.  A new "Custom Help" button on the 'Help' menu opens the new CustomHelp.htm file.  You can modify or replace this file to provide customized help topics for LEADER users across your organization.

• New publish to Word wizard with improved worksheet publishing options:

  • Specify the width of each worksheet column

  • Specify the order in which columns appear (e.g. safeguards before risk rankings)

  • Show only the risk ranking columns you choose (e.g. severity only)

  • Publish multiple consequence-related columns in a worksheet (Comment, EXF1, EXM, etc.)

  • Append multiple action item-related data to each action item in a worksheet report (Responsibility, Due Date, etc.) and customize the format for the additional data.

  • Save multiple sets of custom worksheet report settings in named files for later use (HAZOP.txt, What-if.txt, HAZOP with mitigated risk rankings.txt, etc.).

• Improved action items master list. New Outlook-style grouping and sorting capabilities allow you to sort action items on any column (ascending or descending) and group action items by multiple fields to create multiple expandable/collapsible views.

• Action item tracking in Outlook and Lotus Notes. Now you can click a button to send your action items to Outlook or Lotus Notes.  LEADER creates a task (or To Do) item for each action item, ready to be assigned and sent to the responsible person(s), enabling periodic e-mail reminders and tracking of related activities and action item status.

• Completely redesigned copy utility allows you to quickly copy data between projects.  Select the desired analysis sections to copy and choose which types of data to copy (e.g. deviations and safeguards only).  Copying maintains links, cause-by-cause associations and risk rankings.

• New macros in advanced reports and actions utility allow you to quickly convert all deviations to cause-by-cause mode or to deviation-by-deviation mode.

• New PowerPoint templates provide richer, more professional presentations of analysis data.

• Upgraded system compatibility.  LEADER has been successfully tested with Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Novell Netware.  LEADER is also compatible with all versions of the Microsoft Office System, including Office 2003.

Updates

• Several minor issues in version 4.1.16 fixed, including incompatibility with Office 97, contact phone number on Registration dialog, progress bar for master list reports on Publish to Word dialog and several outdated Help topics.

• Customize Master Lists dialog and Customize Worksheet dialog revised, reversing the "Hidden" column to a "Show" column to better match user expectations.

• Obsolete Risk Mode tab no longer displays on the Project Properties dialog when creating a new file.

• LEADER no longer holds a newly created database opened exclusively.  This corrects a bug that appeared in version 4.0.107 that caused an error when publishing from a newly created file or attempting to import data into a newly created file.

• Copy Risk Matrixes function in Risk Matrix Editor utility fixed — copying risk matrixes to the Library no longer causes problems with the Library.

Version 4.1.17

June 2004
This release was replaced with 4.1.17a to (1) fix a table borders issue when publishing a cause-by-cause worksheet and (2) fix several issues in the copy utility. Otherwise, it is the same as 4.1.17.

Version 4.1.16

May 2004
This release was replaced by 4.1.17 due to incompatibility with Office 97 and other minor issues. Otherwise, it was the same as 4.1.17.

Version 4.0.107

June 2003
New Features and Enhancements

• New AutoBackup and Save Backup As features help you save point-in-time snapshots of your project file before updating the file during management of change or revalidation studies. The AutoBackup feature can also help you "undo" a series of actions by reverting to a recently saved backup.

• Create professional-looking PowerPoint presentations easily and quickly by clicking Present in PowerPoint on the File menu.

  • The Analysis Outline provides an overview for the team.

  • The Recommendations slideshow is excellent for presenting a summary of recommendations to management.

• New and improved Access utilities:

  • Library Editor utility is more user friendly, automatically opening your current library rather than having you browse to locate it.

  • Risk Matrix Editor utility is more user friendly and provides the ability to copy risk matrixes to and from other projects and libraries.

  • Advanced Reports utility allows you to perform advanced actions, such as:

    • Add drawing/procedure references to your action items based on the deviations associated with the action item

    • Copy risk rankings from related accident scenarios to the priority column for each action item

• New and improved Word macros:

  • Publish "blank" worksheets and click a button to format the worksheets for taking handwritten notes in a meeting-perfect for the electronically challenged scribe.

  • After publishing worksheets, click a button to add other report elements to the same Word document, including:

    • Report title page including project number, title, leader, scribe and meeting dates

    • List of team members

    • List of drawings/procedures

    • Summary of recommendations

    • List of analysis sections (nodes)

    • All of the above: this option allows you to produce an entire PHA report in a single Word document!

Updates

• "Global update" bug: Under certain circumstances, all items of a certain type would be inadvertently updated to the same value. For example, all deviation numbers might be updated to '3' or all deviation text updated to 'Low pressure.'

• Missing borders: Table borders are no longer missing when publishing to Word 2002 (XP).

• Error 5 when publishing: The error message, "Invalid procedure call or argument" would sometimes appear just before the document was displayed. Clicking 'Ignore' worked around the problem without harm. This error should no longer occur.

• Utilities: The appropriate version of Access is now launched when opening the utilities. Previously, a message prompting the user to convert the file would be displayed if Access 2000 or Access 2002 was installed.

Version 4.0.106

May 2003
This release was replaced by 4.0.107 due to incompatibility with Word 97. Otherwise, it was the same as 4.0.107.

Version 4.0.98

January 2003
Repaired the spell check feature that may have been disabled after updating to version 4.0.97.

Version 4.0.97

October 2001
New Features and Enhancements

• Network licensing option: LEADER may now be installed on a network server for shared use on any PC with access to the server. Five LEADER licenses, for instance, would allow up to five PCs to run LEADER concurrently. When a PC exits the software, that license slot is then made available to other computers on the network. Contact us for more information on implementing this feature.

• Improved Risk Matrix: display multiple matrices simultaneously, filter scenario counts by section, print the matrix to Word.

• New and Improved Word macros.

• Improved Access utilities.

Version 4.0.73

May 2001

Two new utilities made their debut in this release: Search and Action Items Manager.  Performance and stability were also improved with the correction of a significant resource leak.

Search Utility
The Search utility allows you to search your project data globally to help ensure consistency and completeness in your documentation.  In addition to basic find and replace operations, the Search utility also performs advanced searches.  For example, you can find all the deviations where there are consequences but no safeguards or action items.  And, if you prefer cause-by-cause HAZOPs, the Search utility allows you to audit your project to ensure that all consequences, safeguards and action items are associated with at least one cause.

Action Items Manager
The Action Items Manager brings centralized action item management to the HazardReview LEADER environment.  Action items from multiple projects can be prioritized, assigned and tracked in a centralized database that can be sorted and filtered a variety of ways.  And, unlike many workflow management solutions, this centralized action management database shows the analysis nodes, deviations/topics, consequences and risk rankings related to each action item to help the responsible party understand the importance of the action item and why it was generated.  This utility produces reports that can be e-mailed in a variety of formats, including HTML.  Finally, when the responsible parties have responded, the original project files can be updated (at the click of a button) to include information added to/modified in the centralized database.  This will prove to be an invaluable resource when it is time to revalidate.

New Features and Enhancements

• Risk Matrix: Output to printer or save to HTML

• New Access-based utility to perform search and replace operations

• New Access-based utility to manage action items from multiple projects

• File maintenance: the user now has the opportunity to retry the maintenance activity that normally occurs when LEADER closes a file.  The most common scenario is when a LEADER project file is also open in Access.  The user can now close the file in Access and retry the maintenance operation

• Help file: updated content and improved format

Updates

• Dates may now be entered or edited in the Drawings Master List and other locations.  (This bug was limited to version 4.0.57.)

• Worksheet: errors no longer occur while editing Risk columns.  (This bug was limited to version 4.0.57.)

• Worksheet Report: the option to hide the Consequences column has been temporarily removed.  (This option will return in an upcoming release.)

• Worksheet Report: an error no longer occurs when printing Risk columns in Cause-by-Cause mode.  (This bug was limited to version 4.0.57.)

• Corrected GDI resource leak.  This results in improved performance and stability of the software, especially during long work sessions.

• Corrected resource leak that caused 1%-7% of System and GDI resources to be lost each time a Worksheet or Master List was closed.  (The leak was due to a confirmed bug in Microsoft's tools.)

Version 4.0.57

March 2001

This release improved program stability/performance and enhanced flexibility in the Worksheet report.  In addition to several bug fixes, it also included a major update to the Access-based utilities (Library and Risk Matrix Editors, Advanced Reports and Copy Utility).

New Features and Enhancements

• The file is now compacted at the end of each session (when LEADER is exited or a different file is opened).  This results in improved stability and performance.

• Worksheet Report: the Safeguard and Recommendation columns can now be hidden.  This is of particular benefit when printing Checklist sections where the Safeguard column is not used.

• Hyperlink shortcuts for common tasks now on Master Lists and other dialogs  (WordWrap on/off, Show/Hide AddNew row, Refresh, and other commands).

• Drawings Master List, Associations tab: items are now sorted like the master list (by the sort order for the Type, then by Drawing Number).

• Direct menu links to Utilities: Copy, Advanced Reports, Library Editor and Risk Matrix Editor (click Utilities on the My Leader menu).

• Increased functionality and improved user interface for all Utilities.

• Direct menu link to the LEADER Web site (click Leader on the Web on the Help menu).

Updates

• Worksheet Report: data is no longer omitted from the report when in CBC mode, displaying risk columns, and one or more causes exist that have no associated consequences.

• Publish to Word: documents now have proofing activated so that additional spell checking can be performed in Word.

• Publish to Word: the Cancel button now exits gracefully from the Worksheet report.

• Spell Check: Change All no longer generates an error when an item from the suggestion list is selected as the replacement word.

• Worksheet: the dropdown list for risk columns would occasionally be displayed in other columns.  This has been corrected.

Version 4.0.53

March 2001
Several spell checking problems were corrected.

Version 4.0.51

August 2000
New Features:

• Integrated Spell Checking
• Importing of PHA LEADER 3 Catalogs
• Improved Risk Matrix Editor
• Improved Library Editor
• New Report Styles
• Advanced queries and reports with Microsoft® Access
• Create recommendations presentation in Microsoft® PowerPoint
• Create Team Participation Matrix in Microsoft® Excel
• Enhanced Online Documentation

Several bugs were also addressed, particularly in the Publish to Word feature.