With production running ever closer to equipment and facility operating limits with fewer people, alarm management has become a key to achieving operational excellence, increasing plant safety, and reducing unplanned downtime. Changing the practices and procedures used in the plant has become easier and more important with the June 2009 release of a new ISA standard on alarm management -“Management of Alarm Systems for the Process Industries”. The ISA-18.2 standard, which provides a framework for the successful design, implementation, operation, and management of alarm systems in a process plant, is expected to be adopted by regulatory agencies and insurance agencies as“good engineering practice”. This presentation will provide an introduction to the new standard and discuss how it will affect the process industry.