Inherently safer design in offshore oil and gas projects

Like all hazardous installations, inherently safer design (ISD) is one of the key tools in offshore oil and gas projects to minimize risks in offshore facilities. As the life cycle of offshore facilities is relatively short compared with onshore counterparts and there are many projects running every year, the potential is high for raising inherent safety standards and lowering safety risks throughout the offshore industry as old facilities are phased out. This paper gives an overview of offshore facilities and examples of implementation of ISD. Good examples of ISD are numerous. Industry guidance on ISD implementation abound. Yet, the systematic implementation of it in the industry is patchy. There are many reasons for factors which impede the effective, efficient and consistent implementation of ISD in projects. This paper describes some of them and proposes solution to address them. They include (a) the effective integration of ISD into hazard management systems with appropriate language to engage all disciplines in projects, (b) the phasing of resources to enable the project to capture ISD measures which are only available during early phases, (c) application of appropriate ISD goals and ISD performance metrics at various stages and (d) the appropriate use of quantified risk assessment to support ISD.     

Cycle Aware Package: Using Haddon’s matrix to reduce novice driver crashes with cyclists

Abstract

Objectives: What are we teaching drivers about safely interacting with cyclists? This is the main objective of the Cycle Aware project. As part of the study, a teaching and learning package is being developed to fill this gap in Australia.

Methods: Cycle Aware is a major national project that takes a mixed methods approach to investigate how cyclists are taught to share the road with cyclists when learning to drive. The project has five stages: (1) a national review of the driver licensing documentation; (2) interviews with key stakeholders (n?=?35) involved with novice driver education; (3) analysis of cyclist-novice driver crash data to identify the most frequent crash types; (4) develop a teaching and learning package (Cycle Aware Package), and; trial and evaluate Cycle Aware Package.

Results: Overall, drivers are taught little about sharing the road with cyclists. Representation of cyclists in government documentation is mixed and mostly negative and interviews identified driver-cyclist tensions related to attitudes and awareness of sharing the road. Crash types were similar among novice and experienced drivers. The Cycle Aware Package is being finalised and will be trialled in South Australia and Northern Territory in early 2019.

Conclusions: Cycle Aware will provide new insights into the way drivers are taught to share the road with cyclists. The Cycle Aware Package with interactive online content and driver competencies will facilitate a new approach to addressing this gap among Australia drivers.     

Qualitative Assessment for Inherently Safer Design (QAISD) at preliminary design stage

Conventional hazard evaluation techniques such as what-if checklist and hazard and operability (HAZOP) studies are often used to recognise potential hazards and recommend possible solutions. They are used to reduce any potential incidents in the process plant to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP) level. Nevertheless, the suggested risk reduction alternatives merely focus on added passive and active safety systems rather than preventing or minimising the inherent hazards at source through application of inherently safer design (ISD) concept. One of the attributed reasons could be the shortage of techniques or tools to support implementation of the concept. Thus, this paper proposes a qualitative methodology that integrates ISD concept with hazard review technique to identify inherent hazards and generate ISD options at early stage of design as proactive measures to produce inherently safer plant. A modified theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) hazard review method is used in this work to identify inherent hazards, whereby an extended inherent safety heuristics tool is developed based on established ISD principles to create potential ISD options. The developed method namely Qualitative Assessment for Inherently Safer Design (QAISD) could be applied during preliminary design stage and the information required to apply the method would be based on common process and safety database of the studied process. However, user experiences and understanding of inherent safety concept are crucial for effective utilisation of the QAISD. This qualitative methodology is applied to a typical batch reactor of toluene nitration as a case study. The results show several ISD strategies that could be considered at early stage of design in order to prevent and minimise the potential of thermal runaway in the nitration process.     

Kletz's legacy for developing countries: Simple systems based on inherently safer design

The now well-known theory surrounding Inherently Safer Design (ISD) developed by Trevor Kletz has spread worldwide thanks to journals and almost unlimited communication between members of process safety all around the globe. This means that developing countries, such as Colombia, now have the possibility of applying it to their specific situations, which can often be resolved if the safety hierarchy is followed in order to attack problems from the design stage, a solution that might not seem instinctive, but is actually effective since there isn't a “reduction” strategy, but a removal of hazards. To apply this methodology to a specific Colombian case study, a previous quantitative risk analysis of an LPG storage tank farm in Colombia is revised and reformulated by developing an optimization (MINLP) based on the principles of inherent safety in order to design the same process (LPG pressurized storage) so that the available engineering tools can be used to mathematically formulate the inherent safety criteria. This allows determining the design conditions and safety measures needed to reduce the likelihood of an incident, being consistent with the Inherent Safety philosophy, which seeks a change of mental structure when designing processes, just like Trevor Kletz proposed and established as a new paradigm for Process Plants/Equipment design. The results of the project allow obtaining a specific optimal configuration of control, wall thickness, operating pressure and tank dimensions, pointing out a decrease of around 20% on the operating pressure.     

Design for occupational safety and health of workers in construction in developing countries: a study of architects in Nigeria

Purpose. Design for safety (DfS) of workers is amongst the prominent ways of tackling poor occupational safety and health performance in construction. However, in developing countries there is extremely limited research on DfS. This study thus makes an important contribution to the subject of DfS in developing countries by specifically examining the awareness and practice of DfS amongst architects within the construction sector of Nigeria. Materials and methods. A survey of architects, yielding 161 valid responses, was conducted. Results. While there is high awareness of the concept of DfS, the actual practice is low. Additionally, although there is high interest in DfS training, the engagement in DfS training is low. Significantly, awareness of DfS, training and education related to DfS, and membership of a design professional body have very limited bearing on the practice of DfS by architects. Conclusions. The findings are thus symptomatic of the prevalence of influential DfS implementation barriers within the construction sector. Industry stakeholders should seek to raise the profile of DfS practice within the sector. Furthermore, similar empirical studies in the construction sector of other developing countries would be useful in shedding light on the status of DfS in these countries.     

A new training specification for workplace health promotion

The field of workplace health promotion has seen developments of concepts, practice and interest in recent years. However, recent EC wide research has pointed to problems which constrain its development. These include a lack of awareness amongst the major players who are in a position to implement workplace health promotion, difficulties in transmitting the concept of and organising genuine inter-disciplinary approaches to workplace health promotion, and a lack of training courses in the area.This paper describes a project to develop a training specification for workplace health promotion targeted at a range of professional and non-professional groups. These include occupational physicians and nurses, safety engineers, personnel managers, health and safety representatives and others.The project has developed a modular training specification — each trainee group can undertake all modules to an appropriate level of detail. It focuses on two broad areas — the health promotion process and the roles necessary to support that process. The first area defines an idealised health promotion process, which has been divided into 7 phases, while the second area outlines 6 principal roles in relation to interacting with that process. Future work will see the implementation of the training specification in a number of test sites.     

Optimizing the design of storage facilities through the application of ISD and QRA

Four strategies can be used to achieve safety in chemical processes: inherent, passive, active and procedural. However, the strategy that offers the best results is the inherent safety approach, especially if it is applied during the initial stages of a project. Inherently Safer Design (ISD) permanently eliminates or reduces hazards, and thus avoids or diminishes the consequences of incidents. ISD can be applied using four strategies: substitution, minimization, moderation and simplification. In this paper, we propose a methodology that combines ISD strategies with Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) to optimize the design of storage installations. As 17% of major accidents in the chemical industry occur during the storage process and cause significant losses, it is essential to improve safety in such installations. The proposed method applies QRA to estimate the risk associated with a specific design. The design can then be compared to others to determine which is inherently safer. The risk analysis may incorporate complex phenomena such as the domino effect and possible impacts on vulnerable material and human elements. The methodology was applied to the San Juanico tragedy that occurred in Mexico in 1984.     

特大工程建设项目引入职业健康安全管理体系的研究与应用

探讨以工程建设项目为对象,将各参建单位作为相关方来建立职业健康安全管理体系(简称OHSMS),按照体系的要求对建设项目实施系统化管理。在泰州大桥建设项目的实践表明,通过推行OHSMS,使各参建单位明确其管理职责及运行机制,确定各参建方的信息沟通和管理控制程序,可以实现工程建设项目系统化、程序化和文件化的职业健康安全管理。将建设项目各参建方的安全工作纳入系统化、科学化管理,对提高工程项目安全管理水平具有重要作用。     

HAZID方法浅析

结合实际工程建设项目开展危险源辨识（HAZID）分析的情况,介绍了HAZID分析方法的广义和狭义概念内涵,主要分析步骤、每步主要工作内容、典型引导词、分析形式和特点,并将HA-ZID方法与常用的过程危险源方法、尤其是HAZOP分析方法进行了对比,以帮助读者更好地理解、运用此方法。本文拟推荐的HAZID分析方法将危险化学品行业的风险管理向前延伸到项目的早期阶段（如项目论证、可行性研究、基础工程设计或初步设计阶段）,可以帮助项目组在项目建设早期认识与项目有关的健康、安全、环境（HSE）各方面问题的重要性和相关性,所辨识出的关键危险源及其危险,为下一步有重点、有目的地开展项目HSE风险管理确定了关注重点。在早期阶段进行HAZID分析,还可以有机会以最小的代价实现对项目厂址和总图布置的调整、工艺方案和设计原则的优化,可以避免后期再发现HSE隐患、必须整改时可能存在的不可实施性,或对项目费用、进度等产生严重负面影响。     

低山丘陵区铁路建设工程弃渣场水土保持措施设计

弃渣场作为铁路建设项目水土流失最为严重的部分,其防护应提到首要位置。针对低山丘陵区铁路建设涉及的凹地型、坡地型、沟道型弃渣场,从弃渣场选址原则、不同类型的弃渣场比较、防护措施设计进行分析和阐述,构建完整的水土流失防治体系,为同类型铁路建设项目弃渣场防护措施设计提供参考。     

An integrated safety management with construction management using 4D CAD model

This paper describes an integrated system for safety and construction management using the 4D CAD model. Safety is integrated with the construction management process throughout design, planning and control phases. Design information about building components and planning information about activities has been gathered to formulate the 4D CAD model. The rule-based system analyzes this combined information to automatically detect any working-at-height hazards and also indicates necessary safety measures in terms of activities and requirements. These safety measures are inserted into the construction schedule and visualized on the 4D CAD together with the other construction sequences. A prototype is developed and verified with a project case study. The results show that the developed system can be a collaboration tool for designers, project engineers, safety officers, and other project participants. It can raise safety awareness of the team and it leads to revisions of design and plan to be consistent with safety. Safety measures are apparently on the schedule; therefore, right resources are allocated, safety constraints are considered and alleviated ahead of time, and the safety control can explicitly refer to as well. This contributes to the success of safety management in the construction industry.     

基于生活质量指数的风险社会可接受性研究

风险的社会可接受性是风险管理的重要环节,文章从社会公众的角度出发,将风险可接受性看成一个社会事件,基于社会核心指标:人均国民生产总值GDP,人的寿命期望以及人们用来享受健康生活的时间,给出了生活质量指数的概念。利用该指数,结合净收益原则可以确定社会对于安全投入的支付意愿值,即,给出了一个定量的费用支出水平,超过该水平的安全投入就是不合理的。该方法可为评估风险减缓措施的有效性提供依据。     

Inherently safer design based on rapid risk analysis

The importance of inherently safer design (ISD) as a strategy to minimize risk of accidents in chemical process industries is being repeatedly stressed in recent years. The increasing number, frequency, and extents of damage caused by such accidents across the world have contributed to this thinking. However even as the need for ISD is being underscored, there are very few reports on precise methods to implement this concept. Significant recent reports are by Berge (1993Berge, 1995)who has suggested a scenariobased design procedure in which construction of accident scenarios in a structured manner is made the basis of ISD. We have been developing and applying the concept of rapid risk analysis ( [Khan & Abbasi, 1995] , [Khan & Abbasi, 1996] , [Khan & Abbasi, 1997a] , [Khan & Abbasi, 1997b] , [Khan & Abbasi, 1998a] and Khan &; Abbasi, 1998b). In this paper we present an approach to ISD utilizing this concept. We believe, as detailed in this paper, that this approach is a significant improvement upon Berge's procedure in terms of ease, speed, and effectiveness.     

工矿企业实施设备、设施本质安全化探讨

分析了企业生产过程中,设备、设施本质安全化的状况,认为企业安全工作的根本出路在于设备、设施本质安全化.提出了通过加强企业领导安全意识,提高生产系统的安全投入,在建设项目的设施过程中力争提高设备设施的本质安全化水平,抓好新建、改建、扩建工程项目的"三同时"管理和安全评价,生产单位通过认真做好生产过程中的维护管理等途径提高设备、设施本质安全化.     

Project safety as a sustainable competitive advantage

Introduction: To be consistently profitable, a construction company must complete projects in scope, on schedule, and on budget. At the same time, the nature of the often high-risk work performed by construction companies can result in high accident rates. Clients and other stakeholders are placing increasing pressure on companies to decrease those accident rates. Clients routinely demand copies of safety plans and evidence of past results at the “pre-qualification” or “request for proposal” stages of the procurement process. Are high accident rates and the associated costs just a part of business? Findings: Companies that deliver on scope, schedule, and budget have a competitive advantage. Is it possible for projects with low accident rates to use it as a competitive advantage? Is the value added by safety just a temporary or parity issue, or does a successful safety program offer significant advantage to the company and the client? Impact on Industry: This article concludes that in the case of a high-risk industry, such as the construction industry, an organization with a successful safety program can promote safety performance as a sustainable competitive advantage. It is a choice the company can make.     

Method for identifying errors in chemical process development and design base on accidents knowledge

It has been claimed that the high accident rate in the chemical process industry is due to poor dissemination of accident knowledge that affects directly the level of learning from accidents. In response to this situation, this paper utilized past accident knowledge as a basis to develop a safety oriented design tool whereby the accident information were directly disseminated into plant design. The method was developed based on our previous accident analysis of design error in which the common design errors were ranked in accordance to their frequency and its origins during normal plant design project. Based on the design error ranking and its origin at a specific design phases, a method for design error detection is proposed. The method is expected to be able to identify the possible design error and its causes throughout chemical process development and design. The main objective is to trigger safe design thinking at the specific design phases so that appropriate action for risk reduction could be timely implemented. The Bhopal and BP Texas tragedies are used as case studies to test and verify the method. The proposed method can detect up to 74% of design errors.     

湖南省山洪灾害综合风险分析及安全减灾研究——以2006年衡阳市山洪灾害为例

利用衡阳市2006年山洪灾情数据,引入综合灾情指数对湖南省衡阳市山洪灾害进行综合灾情损失评估,得出耒阳市的综合灾情指数最大;灾情重的直接原因是暴雨大,水位短时间上升快。同时,暴雨-山体滑坡-泥石流灾害链放大了灾情;农村地区防灾减灾意识淡薄、防洪工程标准偏低以及减灾措施不当也加剧了山洪灾情。为此,要通过加强工程建设与山洪灾害危险性宣传来提高农村抗灾能力,达到安全减灾目的。     

共同管沟深基坑现场变形监测与数值模拟分析

为了分析共同管沟深基坑边坡的变形规律及其对邻近建筑物的影响作用,以三星深基坑工程为例,采用数值模拟分析并进行现场变形监测验证。结果表明:降水措施对深基坑开挖引起的水平位移作用不大,而对竖向位移作用较大;随着深基坑开挖深度的不断加大,边坡土体的水平位移和竖向位移总体呈现增大的趋势,最大水平位移值表现为从坡脚向坡脚上方移动;原地下水位线以上所开挖边坡的最大竖向位移都发生在坡脚处,采用降水措施后,原地下水位线以下所开挖边坡的最大竖向位移出现在原地下水位附近。现场变形监测与数值模拟计算结果吻合度较高,说明土体参数的选取合理。研究成果可提升城市共同管沟深基坑建设安全设计及施工水平、降低工程风险损失。     

Incorporating inherent safety during the conceptual process design stage: A literature review

This paper reviews principal concepts, tools, and metrics for risk management and Inherently Safer Design (ISD) during the conceptual stage of process design. Even though there has been a profusion of papers regarding ISD, the targeted audience has typically been safety engineers, not process engineers. Thus, the goal of this paper is to enable process engineers to use all the available design degrees of freedom to mitigate risk early enough in the design process. Mainly, this paper analyzes ISD and inherent safety assessment tools (ISATs) from the perspective of inclusion in conceptual process design. The paper also highlights the need to consider safety as a major component of process sustainability. In this paper, 73 ISATs were selected, and these tools were categorized into three groups: hazard-based inherent safety assessment tools (H-ISATs) for 22 tools, risk-based inherent safety assessment tools (R-ISATs) for 33 tools, and cost-optimal inherent safety assessment tools (CO-ISATs) for 18 tools. This paper also introduces an integrated framework for coordinating the conventional process design workflow with safety analysis at various levels of detail.     

Design as a contributor to chemical process accidents

The paper discusses the design errors in chemical process industry (CPI) by analyzing major equipment related accident cases from Failure Knowledge Database (FKD). The aim is to recognize the contribution of design to chemical process accidents and to evaluate the time of occurrence of the errors in a plant design project. The analysis of accident cases found out that the contribution of design to accidents is very significant: 79% of accident cases analyzed were contributed by design errors. The most critical design errors were poor layout (17%), insufficient consideration of chemical reactivity and incompatibility (16%) and incorrectly chosen process conditions (16%). The design errors were initiated at basic (32%), detailed (32%) and preliminary (22%) design phases of the project. Errors in fundamental aspects of chemical processes e.g. route selections are more severe (as compared to others errors class) and might creates many similar errors in later phases of design project. Based on the accident information gathered, a straightforward point-to-look list for error detection and elimination was suggested for process lifecycle stages.