Introduction to Safety

in the Process Industry

Chapter 1 Part 2
ChE 428N Safety in the
Process Industry
Engr. May V. Tampus
 Chapter 1. Introduction to Safety in
the Process Industry
1.1 Definition of Terms
1.2 The Anatomy of an Incident: Incident
Sequence
1.3 The Accident Process
1.4 Acceptable Risk
1.5 Inherent Safety
1.6 Process Safety Management
 What is a Process Hazard?
• Presence of a stored
or connected
material or energy
with inherent
characteristics having
the potential for
causing loss or harm.
What are the Types of
Process Hazards?

Material Hazards

Energy Hazards

Chemical Interactions
 What is a Material
Hazard?
• A contained or
connected process
material with one
or more hazardous
characteristics
(CCPS 2008a)
Hazardous Characteristics are
Inherent Characteristics!
Inherently Hazardous Characteristics:
 Group Assignment
1. Identify the different inherent material
characteristics can be found in the
Materials Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
and in the National Fire Protection
Agency (NFPA) Materials Rating
Diamond?
2. Identify the limitations of MSDS and
NFPA Rating System?
What is an Energy Hazard?
• Some form of
physical energy
contained within
or connected to
the process with
the potential for
loss or harm
 Energy Hazards

Lockout =
Tagout =
 What are Chemical
Interaction Hazards?

• Presence of materials
with the potential
for loss or harm upon
their interaction in
an unintentional or
uncontrolled manner
 Degree of Hazard
More hazardous material
 greater degree of hazard
Farther from zero energy state
 greater degree of hazard
The Incident Sequence

The Basic Anatomy of Process Safety Incidents

The Incident Sequence
What is a Normal Operation?
 During a Normal
Operation…

are contained and

controlled!!!
 Every incident starts with an
Initiating Cause.

also called an initiating event or just a “cause”

 What will happen if Initiating
Cause occurs?
• Once an initiating cause occurs, normal
operation cannot continue without a process
or operational response.
The Incident Sequence
 An immediate result of an
initiating cause is Deviation.

A deviation is an abnormal situation, outside

defined design or operational parameters.
 Designing a Process also
requires one to be prepared for
an abnormal situation.

•Most engineering focuses on designing a

process to work:
(normal situation)
•We must also consider how a process can fail,
starting with an “abnormal
situation” .
The Incident Sequence
 The Loss Event
• A loss event will result if a deviation
continues uncorrected and the
process is not shut down.
What are Loss Events?

Point of time in an abnormal

situation when an irreversible
physical event occurs that has
the potential for loss and harm
impacts.
– CCPS 2008a Glossary
 Characteristics of Loss Events
• generally irreversible process material/energy
release
 Loss event:
Step change in system entropy
“Thermodynamics of Loss Events”
What are specific examples
of loss events?

•Hazardous material
release
•Flammable vapor or
dust cloud
ignition
•Tank or vessel
overpressurization
rupture
 Other Loss Events

Unscheduled shutdown
Ruined batch
Compressor failure
Key Issues in Loss Events

• Why do loss events happen?

• How do loss events happen?
• What must be done to avoid
them?
 Why Do Loss Events Happen?
Harsh Realities
• We choose to handle
dangerous process
materials and energies
– To make a living
– To provide society with desirable
products
• As long as we choose to
handle them, a potential
for loss events exists
Analogy to a Zoo
• We choose to handle
dangerous animals at the
Zoo
– To make a living
– To provide society with desirable
experiences
• As long as we choose to
handle them, a potential for
loss events exists
– Things can be done to reduce
their likelihood and severity to
negligible or tolerable levels
 How do loss events Happen?
Examine the anatomy of an
incident
Examine unsafe acts and unsafe
conditions which led to an
accident
The Incident Sequence
 What are Impacts?
• Impacts are the losses and injuries that
can result from a loss event.

Injury / Fatality
Property Damage
Environmental
Damage
 There are often other, less
tangible impacts too.

• Business Interruption
• Market Share Loss
• Reputation Damage
The Nature of
the Accident
Process
Causes and Effects
Three Types of Chemical Plant Accidents

Type of Probability of Potential for Potential

Accident Occurrence Fatalities for
Economic
Loss
Fire High Low Intermediate
Explosion Intermediate Intermediate High
Toxic Low High Low
Release
 Economic Loss Due to
Accidents

Other, 3%
Vapor Fires, 31%
Cloud
Explosions,
36%
Explosions,
30%

Types of loss for large hydrocarbon chemical plant accidents. Source: Large
Property Damage Losses in the Hydrocarbon-Chemical Industries: A Thirty-Year
Review (New York: Marsh Inc., 1998), b. 2. Used by permission of Marsh Inc.
 Causes of Losses
45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Mechanical Operator Unknown Process Natural Design Sabotage &
Error Upsets Hazards Arson
Accident %

Causes of losses in the largest hydrocarbon-chemical plant accidents. Source: Large Property Damage Losses in the
Hydrocarbon-Chemical Industries: A Thirty-Year Review (New York: J & H Marsh & McLennan Inc., 1998), p. 2. Used
by permission of Marsh Inc.
 Hardware Associated with Losses

Hardware associated with largest losses. Source: A Thirty-Year Review of One Hundred of the Largest Property
Damage Losses in the Hydrocarbon-Chemical Industries (New York: Marsh Inc., 1987). Reprinted by permission.
Loss Distribution for On-shore Accidents

Loss distribution for onshore accidents for 5-year intervals over a 30-year period.
(There were also 7 offshore accidents in this 30-year period.) Source: Large Property
Damage Losses in the Hydrocarbon-Chemical Industries: A Thirty-Year Review (New
York: J & H Marsh & McLennan Inc., 1998), p. 2. Used by permission of Marsh Inc
 3-Step Sequence (Events) of an
Accident

Initiation Propagation Termination

• Event(s) that stops

the accident or
• Event that • Event(s) that maintain
diminish it in size
starts the or expand the accident
accident
Defeating the Accident Process
What must be done to avoid
loss events?
Overview of process safety strategies
Taking advantage of past experience
Defense in depth / layers of
protection
Elements of process safety
management
 Overview of Process
Safety Strategies
• Hazard reduction
Inherent

Generally More
• Process or equipment
design features that reduce
Passive risk without active functioning

Reliable /
Effective
of any device

• Engineering controls
Active

• Administrative controls
Procedural
 Taking Advantage of Past
Experience

“Those who cannot remember the

past are condemned to repeat it.”
- George Santayana
Learnings from past (usually bad)
experiences have been embodied in
various forms:
Regulations Handbooks
Codes Guidelines
Industry standards Procedures
Company Checklists
standards Supplier
“Best practices” Recommendations
 RAGAGEPs
“Recognized and Generally Accepted
Good Engineering Practices “
A term commonly used for non-regulatory codes
and standards
 What can RAGAGEPs do?
Take advantage of wealth of
experience
Pass on accumulated knowledge
Reduce recurrence of past
incidents
Enable uniformity of
expectations
Reduce liabilities when followed
 RAGAGEPs
Alphabet Soup
• IEC • ASHRAE
• NFPA • IIAR
• ASME • ASTM
• ISA • API
• UL • AIChE/CCPS
• FM • IRI
• CGA • Chlorine Institute
• BS • SOCMA
• DIN • Many others
What must be done to avoid
loss events?
Overview of process safety strategies
Taking advantage of past experience
Defense in depth / layers of
protection
Elements of process safety
management
What are Defense in Depth
(DID) or Layers of Protection
(LOP)?
Also called “Safety layers”
Multiple layers may be needed, since no
protection is 100% reliable
Each layer must be designed to be effective
Each layer must be maintained to be effective
Some layers of protection are contain and
control measures
Other layers of protection are safeguards
 Layers of Protection

“Layers of
protection”
between
hazards and
receptors

=
“Defense
in depth”
 Closer Look at
LOP

•Some layers of
protection are
contain and control
measures
•Other layers of
protection are
safeguards
 What is Contain and Control?
• Operational Mode: Normal operation
• Objective: Maintain normal operation; keep
hazards contained and controlled
• Examples of Contain & control measures:
 Basic process control system
 Inspections, tests, maintenance
 Operator training
– How to conduct a procedure or operate a process correctly and
consistently
– How to keep process within established limits
 Guards, barriers against external forces
 Management of change
 Contain &
Control in LOP
An Incident Sequence without
Safeguards is …
• Allowing unsafe acts and condition
precursors to occur
 What is a Safeguard?

• Any device, system, or action that

would likely interrupt the chain of
events following an initiating cause
or that would mitigate loss event
impacts.
– CCPS 2008a Glossary
 What are the
Types of Safeguards?
What are Preventive Safeguards?
Operational mode:
Normal Operation
Objective:
Regain control or shut
down; keep loss events from
happening

EXAMPLES:
Operator response to alarm
Safety Instrumented System
Emergency relief system
What are Mitigative Safeguards?
What are Mitigative Safeguards?
Operational mode:
•Emergency
Objective:
•Minimize impacts

–Sprinklers, monitors, deluge

–Emergency warning systems
–Emergency response
–Secondary containment; diking/curbing
–Discharge scrubbing, flaring, treatment
–Shielding, building reinforcement, haven
–Escape respirator, PPE
Contain & Control: Before Initiating Cause
Safeguards: After Initiating Cause
What is Acceptable Risk?
Are the risks greater than the normal day-to-day
risks taken by individuals in their nonindustrial
environment?
Is it satisfactory to design a process with a risk
comparable to the risk of sitting at home?

Engineers must make every effort to minimize risks within

the economic constraints of the process. No engineer
should ever design a process that he or she knows will
result in certain human loss or injury, despite any statistics
Fatalities in the Workplace
Inherent Safety

Approaches & Techniques

 What is Inherent Safety?
Minimize: Reduce quantity of energy in process
(Intensification)
Substitute: Use less hazardous raw materials
(Substitution)
Moderate: Use lower temperatures and pressures
(Attenuation & Limitation of Effects)
Simplify: Reduce unnecessary complexity in the
design and operation (Simplification &
Error Tolerance)
Inherent Safety Techniques
 What is an
Inherently Safe Process?
Reduction or elimination of the hazards
associated with a process, and this
reduction or elimination is permanent and
inseparable from the process.

Example:
use a less toxic raw
material to produce a
product
 What is an Inherently Safe Plant?

An inherently safe plant

relies on chemistry and
physics to prevent
accidents rather than on
control systems,
interlocks, redundancy,
and special operating *CCPS, Guidelines for Engineering Design for Process
Safety (New York: American Institute of Chemical
procedures to prevent Engineers, 1993).
*CCPS, Inherently Safer Chemical Processes: A Life
Cycle Approach (New York: American Institute of
accidents. Chemical Engineers, 1996).
Inherent Safety Always Starts with an
Inherently Safe Process Design!!!
Possible
Designs

PLAUSIBLE
DESIGNS
Major Approaches to Inherently
Safer Process Designs

Intensification

Substitution

Attenuation

Limitation of Effects

Simplification/Error Tolerance
 What is Functional Safety?
• Functional safety is the part of the overall
safety relating to the process and the Basic
Process Control System which depends on the
correct functioning of the Safety
Instrumented Systems and other protection
layers.
– International Electrochemical Commission 1511-1,
3.2.25 DEFINITION
 What is Process Safety
Management (PSM)?
• The proactive and systematic
identification, evaluation, and
mitigation or prevention of
chemical releases that could
occur as a result of failures in
process, procedures, or
equipment.
Process Safety Management
 What is covered by PSM?
Process Safety Mechanical Integrity
Information Hot Work
Employee Involvement Management of Change
Process Hazard Incident Investigation
Analysis Emergency Planning
Operating Procedures and Response
Training Compliance Audits
Contractors Trade Secrets
Pre-Startup Safety
Review
The AIChE Code of Professional Ethics