Risk management of terrorist attacks in the transport of hazardous materials using dynamic geoevents

This paper focuses attention on emergency management associated with a terrorist attack in the transport of hazardous materials in urban areas. The case study is in an urban area, a potential target for terrorist attacks due to its high vulnerability. Since it is not possible to predict where and when an attack will occur, the risk associated with terrorism is complex. It is only possible to identify the critical points for potential actions where counter measure must be applied. In the case of incidents which evolve relatively slowly, mitigation actions can be applied. The use of dynamic geoevents permits the immediate location of the event on a georeferenced map and the possibility of having a dynamic evolution of the scenario and of the number of people involved. The dynamic scenario has been created using the output of a consequence simulation code and a GIS software. Some assumptions were necessary but, since the aim of the paper is to define the procedure for the construction of the dynamic geoevent, these can be considered acceptable. The method will be further implemented in future.     

Using game theory to optimize allocation of defensive resources to protect multiple chemical facilities in a city against terrorist attacks

Owing to increasing global terrorist activities, it is highly important to optimize the allocation of a city’s limited defensive resources to protect multiple chemical facilities against terrorist attacks. Considerable research has focused on assessing the risk of terrorist attacks on chemical facilities; however, conventional risk-based methods do not take into account the strategy adjustments of terrorists and cannot identify the optimal global allocation of defensive resources. This study presents a game-theoretic method for optimizing the allocation of defensive resources; it fully considers the strategic interactions between defenders and attackers by integrating game theory with risk assessment. As a case study, we tested the applicability and reliability of our method using eight chemical plants storing explosive materials in a city in China. In this way, we clarified the differences between conventional methods and our presented method; we confirmed the advantage of the presented method in identifying the optimal global allocation of defensive resources.     

Preparing for major terrorist attacks against chemical clusters: Intelligently planning protection measures w.r.t. domino effects

Chemical industrial areas or so-called chemical clusters consist of hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of chemical installations situated next to each other. Such areas can thus be seen as the summation of a large number of structures exhibiting danger to a certain degree for initiating or continuing accident domino effects or knock-on effects. In this article, an approach to investigate in a systemic way the vulnerability of each installation within the larger chemical cluster context, is developed. Our suggested method results in a prioritization of chemical installations with respect to their vulnerability for domino effects. The method can be used for intelligently designed protection of chemical industrial areas against terrorist attacks.     

Modelling accidental releases of dangerous gases into the lower troposphere from mobile sources

The article reports the results of different methods of modelling releases and dispersion of dangerous gases or vapours in cases of major accidents from road and rail transportation in urban zones. Transport accidents of dangerous substances are increasingly frequent and can cause serious injuries in densely inhabited areas or pollution of the environment. For quantitative risk assessment and mitigation planning, consequence modelling is necessary.

The modelling of dangerous substance dispersion by standard methods does not fully represent the behaviour of toxic or flammable clouds in obstructed areas such as street canyons. Therefore the predictions from common software packages as ALOHA, EFFECTS, TerEx should be augmented with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models or physical modelling in aerodynamic tunnels, and further studies are planned to do this.

The goal of this article is to present the results of the first approach of modelling using these standard methods and to demonstrate the importance of the next development stage in the area of transport accident modelling of releases and dispersions of dangerous substances in urban zones in cases of major accident or terrorist attacks.     

Development of generic bow-tie diagrams of accidental scenarios triggered by flooding of industrial facilities (Natech)

Interactions between natural events and industrial installations may lead to dangerous phenomena. According to bibliographical research, the industrial sector is often unprepared for these joint natural and technological or Natech events mainly because of the lack of guidelines on how to apply Natech regulations and the lack of information on the dynamics of Natechs. In order to fill the gaps and provide guidance on Natech risk assessment to operators, a systematic risk analysis methodology was developed and resulted firstly in proposing general reference bow-ties that reconfigure accidental scenarios triggered by flood events. The validation of these scenarios was made in the surface treatment sector. Building on these bow-ties, the risk analysis methodology will be completed and a checklist simple to use, along with a list proposing preventive and protective measures, to be used by operators in order to decrease the vulnerability of their industrial facilities to technological accidents triggered by floods will be developed in future work.     

化工园区应急管理模式研究

在化工园区特点和危险性分析的基础上,建立"风险防控、应急队伍、应急平台、应急组织、应急预案、运行机制"的化工园区应急管理模式;探讨加强化工园区应急管理的对策措施;提出以重大危险源普查与监控、区域风险评价和安全规划为重点,构建风险防控与管理体系;增强包括公安消防特勤队、特种工程抢险队、医疗救护队在内的化工园区应急救援队伍的处置能力;依托园区现行管理体制完善应急组织体制及其运行机制;完善化工园区应急预案体系等。     

突发环境事件应急监测应对措施分析

在发生突发环境事件事件时,污染事件较为常见,为准确采取应对措施,必须有针对性地开展应急监测,及时采取有效的应对措施。对此,本文首先对突发环境污染事件与应急监测响应概念进行介绍,然后对突发环境事件应急监测准备工作以及应对措施进行详细探究。     

Risk assessment of antagonistic hazards

This paper considers the risk to major hazard plant from terrorists deliberately causing catastrophic industrial accidents. The United States of America Department of Justice [Assessment of the increased risk of terrorist or other criminal activity associated with posting off-site consequence analysis information on the internet, 2000] reports that “breaching a containment vessel of an industrial facility with an explosive or otherwise causing a chemical release may appear relatively simple to…a terrorist”. They concluded that the risk of such action is “real and credible”.

Analysis of terrorism is often hampered by its being described as ‘irrational’; one corollary would be that it is unpredictable. However, terrorism may usefully be treated as a rational behaviour and in doing so it becomes possible to assess the risks it causes.

We analyse the vulnerability of major hazard plant to terrorist attack and identify nine factors (access, security, visibility, opacity, secondary hazard, robustness, law enforcement response, victim profile, and political value) that might be used as a starting point for more formal risk assessment and management.     

高层建筑危急情况下的电梯疏散系统

美国的“9·11”事件 ,再次引起了人们对于高层建筑发生危急情况时人员安全疏散问题的关注。笔者首先介绍了在危急情况下 ,高层建筑中利用楼梯逃生的弊端和使用电梯疏散的优越性 ;然后阐述了高层建筑电梯疏散系统的概念和发展 ,最后从原始的电梯紧急疏散系统 (EEES)、人的行为心理与环境因素、风险评估、疏散模型 4个方面介绍了其具体的组成。分析和研讨结果表明 ,电梯疏散系统以其高效、应用面广等特点 ,势必会在危急情况下 ,在高层建筑的人员安全疏散过程中发挥越来越大的作用     

Dynamic probability assessment of urban natural gas pipeline accidents considering integrated external activities

Urban gas pipelines usually have high structural vulnerability due to long service time. The locations across urban areas with high population density make the gas pipelines easily exposed to external activities. Recently, urban pipelines may also have been the target of terrorist attacks. Nevertheless, the intentional damage, i.e. terrorist attack, was seldom considered in previous risk analysis of urban gas pipelines. This work presents a dynamic risk analysis of external activities to urban gas pipelines, which integrates unintentional and intentional damage to pipelines in a unified framework. A Bayesian network mapping from the Bow-tie model is used to represent the evolution process of pipeline accidents initiating from intentional and unintentional hazards. The probabilities of basic events and safety barriers are estimated by adopting the Fuzzy set theory and hierarchical Bayesian analysis (HBA). The developed model enables assessment of the dynamic probabilities of consequences and identifies the most credible contributing factors to the risk, given observed evidence. It also captures both data and model uncertainties. Eventually, an industrial case is presented to illustrate the applicability and effectiveness of the developed methodology. It is observed that the proposed methodology helps to more accurately conduct risk assessment and management of urban natural gas pipelines.     

长株潭城市群核心区重大危险源安全规划研究

笔者结合《长株潭城市群区域规划》,从城市的安全功能区划、重大危险源辨识、重大危险源安全规划对象、风险评价、风险控制等5个方面,初步探讨该市重大危险源安全规划的一般方法和技术要点,初步提出长株潭核心区重大危险源安全规划的编制程序的构想:①重大事故的统计分析和基础资料调查;②确定重大危险源和区域性重大事故风险评价;③确定安全功能区划,提出各类规划对象可接受的风险标准;④确定整治规划方案及实施措施。     

基于机器学习的恐怖袭击事件后果预测方法研究

恐怖袭击事件通常会造成严重的人员伤亡、财产损失和社会影响，针对在不同场景下发生恐怖袭击所造成的后果进行预测是目前应对恐怖袭击事件急需解决的问题之一。利用多源数据，首先基于随机森林算法对恐怖袭击事件是否造成死伤进行分类预测，进而基于岭回归算法预测事件造成的具体死伤人数。研究结果表明:随机森林在测试集上对有死伤事件的召回率达到0.85，岭回归预测死亡和受伤人数的平均绝对误差分别小于1人和2人。研究结果可为反恐资源配置优化、预防恐怖袭击事件和减少其造成的损害提供辅助决策支持。     

Human error risk analysis in offshore emergencies

Human factors play an important role in the completion of emergency procedures. Human factors analysis is rooted in the concept that humans make errors, and the frequency and consequences of these errors are related to work environment, work culture, and procedures. This can be accounted for in the design of equipment, structures, processes, and procedures. As stress increases, the likelihood of human error also increases. Offshore installations are among the harshest and most stressful work environments in the world. The consequences of human error in an offshore emergency can be severe.A method has been developed to evaluate the risk of human error during offshore emergency musters. Obtaining empirical data was a difficult process, and often little information could be drawn from it. This was especially an issue in determining the consequences of failure to complete muster steps. Based on consequences from past incidents in the offshore industry and probabilities of human error, the level of risk and its tolerability are determined. Using the ARAMIS (accidental risk assessment methodology for industries) approach to safety barrier analysis, a protocol for choosing and evaluating safety measures to reduce and re-assess the risk was developed. The method is assessed using a case study, the Ocean Odyssey incident, to determine its effectiveness. The results of the methodology agree with the analysis of survivor experiences of the Ocean Odyssey incident.     

以南疆为例的区域暴恐袭击风险评估

为探寻暴恐袭击高风险区域,推进公共安全精细化管理,以南疆地区为例,采用网格化社会经济数据、遥感数据和兴趣点(POI)数据等多源地理空间数据,从暴恐分子出现可能性、暴恐袭击目标选择偏好和暴恐袭击后果3个方面建立暴恐袭击风险评估指标体系,根据层次分析法(AHP)-Entropy、聚类分区等确定地理空间指标权重,最终得到南疆地区30″×30″(约1 km×1 km)细粒度的暴恐袭击风险的空间分布情况。结果表明:南疆地区的暴恐袭击高风险以上网格主要位于喀什、和田及阿克苏地区的部分市区和县城,与暴恐袭击历史事件的分布较一致,证明风险评估指标体系的合理性和可行性。     

上海市重大危险源监控和应急救援信息系统建设方案研究

通过对上海市安全生产"十一五"发展规划中重大科研攻关项目重大危险源监控和应急救援信息系统建设方案的研究,对整个系统的总体框架的搭建进行了初步探索。整个系统总体框架以企业安全生产管理系统、数据分析评估系统、事故应急救援指挥系统、GIS空间数据管理系统和GIS地理统计分析系统5大部分构成,辅以国际上先进的风险评估软件,使信息系统的建设更具先进性,为上海市预防和遏制重特大事故的发生,提高应急能力提供了保障条件。     

A framework addressing a safe ageing management in complex industrial sites: The Italian experience in «Seveso» establishments

In Europe, the Directive 2012/18/EU (Seveso III) strengthens the obligation to adopt a program assuring the integrity of critical equipment at major hazard establishments, by taking into account actual deterioration mechanisms (internal and external corrosion, erosion, thermal and mechanical fatigue, etc.). The program must cover all phases of the lifecycle and ensure a safe ageing of equipment, particularly when these are reaching the final stage of life. The effectiveness of the integrity program must be carefully assessed during the audits planned by the establishment's operator as well as by inspectors on behalf of the Competent Authorities. The adoption of a Risk Based Inspection scheme provides a valuable help to face this matter. The operator is, anyway, required a considerable effort to face at least three issues related to: (i) the understanding of concurring physical and chemical phenomena; (ii) the management of information associated with each individual component and its history, (iii) the appropriate measurement, including acquisition and management of data. There is a considerable difficulty in understanding these issues during Seveso inspections and external audits, because time and resources are often limited. For this reason, models and methods supporting the definition of the ageing status and trend in industrial sites are needed. This paper analyses the main factors affecting ageing. A framework for “ageing” assessment in complex industrial sites, including “Seveso” establishments, is proposed; then, its validation, by means of data collected during a testing phase carried out in Italy, is also given.     

风险管理在船舶保安中的应用研究

对一艘船舶而言,由于其货物、人员、贸易航线具有流动性、危险性和隐蔽性等特点,存在着不同程度被恐怖主义利用和攻击的威胁风险,并且一旦发生保安事件所带来的后果非常严重,包括人命伤害、财产损失、环境破坏,甚至引起社会恐慌等,因此,船舶保安已成为国际航运界关注的焦点。本文根据风险管理原理,结合ISPS规则要求,确定船舶保安风险管理流程,并对船舶面临的保安威胁进行辩识分析,提出旨在降低船舶可能遭受恐怖威胁的保安措施,以指导航运企业保安工作的开展。     

Inverse calculation approaches for source determination in hazardous chemical releases

Source determination is vital in decision making and emergency planning involving hazardous chemical releases. This work was concentrated on inverse calculation approaches for source determination as well as current trends and future perspectives. In this paper, these different approaches are reviewed by dividing them into two categories: probability modeling methods and optimization modeling methods. The traits of these approaches are comparatively analyzed. Then it is shown how these approaches behave when applied to practical cases, and their feasibility, applicability, stability, and limitation in determining the location and strength are presented. It is argued that when experimenting with potential terrorist attacks involving hazardous chemical releases, observation points should be around the main line of the downwind direction when the source is known; while the uniform distribution of observation points is an efficient solution for unknown incidents. Probability modeling methods are demonstrated to be insufficient during emergency responses due to their lacking of enough prior information of unknown parameters, while optimization modeling methods are efficient and become a new trend in source determination. Findings reflect an urgent need for the development of high-accuracy detectors and further research of data transmission techniques in order to ensure the validity of these approaches.     

灾害应急网络系统中的风险信息传递与沟通

为了探讨灾害的风险传递规律及其风险传递的阻断措施,基于系统理论和信息论的原理,将灾害应急管理体系视为一个复杂的系统,讨论灾害风险传递系统中要素的关联性和信息感知的非线性特性可能产生风险的传递性。结果表明,风险的传递性主要存在于信息缺乏和应急知识的不成熟的灾害应急网络体系中,并且可以将风险传递结构关系分成关系型、层次型、树形和网状型4种类型。最后,利用信息熵的方法表述信息在传递中的损失,指出风险沟通可以阻断风险传递链。     

I-Risk: development of an integrated technical and management risk methodology for chemical installations

This paper presents an integrated quantitative risk assessment method for hazardous installations, taking into account management as well as technical design and producing risk level measures. The key components of the I-Risk methodology are the technical model, the management model and their interface. The technical model consists of developing a master logic diagram (MLD) delineating the major immediate causes of loss of containment (LOC) and associated quantitative models for assessing their frequency. The management model consists of the tasks, which must be carried out systematically in the primary business functions (such as operations, emergency operations, maintenance and modifications). A management audit quantifies the quality of these management tasks. The management–technical interface modifies certain parameters of the technical model on the basis of the quality of the safety management system of the specific installation. The methodology is exemplified through its application to the risk assessment of an ammonia storage facility. A detailed technical model simulating the response of the system to various initiating events is developed along with a detailed management model simulating the influence of the plant-specific management and organisational practices. The overall effect is quantified through the frequency of release of ammonia as a result of a loss of containment in a storage tank and in a pipeline.