Quantitative assessment of domino and NaTech scenarios in complex industrial areas

Since the late 80s the application of quantitative risk assessment to the issue of land-use planning with respect to major accident hazards emerged as a topic to be addressed within the safety assessment of chemical and process plants. However, in the case of industrial clusters or complex industrial areas specific methodologies are needed to deal with high-impact low-probability (HILP) events. In the present study, innovative methodologies developed for the quantitative assessment of risk due to domino and NaTech scenarios are presented. In recent years a set of models for the calculation of equipment damage probability were developed. A specific effort was dedicated to the improvement of models for the calculation of equipment damage probability in these accident scenarios. In the present study, the application of these models to case-studies was analyzed. The results of the improved models obtained for NaTech quantitative assessment were compared to previous results in the literature. A specific innovative approach was developed to multi-level quantitative assessment of domino scenarios, and its potential was analyzed. The results were examined also evidencing the role and the progress with respect to the pioneering work started on these topics by Franco Foraboschi.     

The implementation of the SEVESO II legislation in the Polish major hazard industry

The paper presents the implementation of the SEVESO II Directive in Poland. Particularly, a systematic approach to the realization of MAPP, Safety Report and Emergency Plan is shown. It takes into account the real technical and organizational standards of the Polish major hazard industry as well. The impact of the implementation of SEVESO II Legislation on safety performance changes in particular major hazard companies was assessed using the questionnaires method of data collection. The fundamental question of that survey was: did that exercise improve safety performance or was it just a ‘paper work’? The majority of survey reported more positive than negative comments. The conclusions were drawn and some suggestions were made to improve major accident control in Poland.     

Quantitative risk assessment of the Italian gas distribution network

European Critical Infrastructures include physical resources, services, information technology facilities, networks and infrastructure assets, which, if disrupted or destroyed would have a serious impact on the health, safety, security, economic or social well-being of the Member States.The gas distribution network is a critical infrastructure and its failure can cause damage to structures and injury to people.The aim of this paper is to analyze and then assess the risk of the Italian high pressure natural gas distribution network.The paper describes an application of a methodology for quantitative risk assessment.Failure frequencies considered in risk calculation were found in the European Gas pipeline Incident data Group (EGIG) database, whereas consequences were computed as a function of pipe diameter and operating pressure for each section of the network. The results of this quantitative risk assessment is the determination of local and social risks for the Italian North East Area.     

Optimization of recertification intervals for PSV based on major accident risk

Overpressure is a major hazard in the process industry with the potential to lead to a major accident. Pressure Safety Valves (PSVs) are often used as the last layer of protection against such a hazard and require regular recertification in order to be dependable. The valve safely vents gas from a vessel when the pressure becomes excessive. It is often the practice in industry to apply one or two years as the normal recertification interval of PSV. However, experience from the Norwegian oil and gas industry is that the recertification process several times have caused leaks of gas. The process thus represents a certain risk in itself and the question is then whether the recertification intervals presently being used actually are optimal from a risk point of view? The objective of this paper is to look into this problem, applying typical data from an oil and gas installation. An optimal recertification interval will be calculated based on minimization of risk to personnel.     

Development of algorithms for predicting ignition probabilities and explosion frequencies

A project was performed for the Explosion Research Cooperative to develop algorithms for predicting the frequencies of explosions based on a variety of design, operating and environmental conditions. Algorithms were developed for estimating unit-based explosion frequencies, such as those reported in API Recommended Practice 752, but in more detail and covering a much broader range of chemical process types. The project also developed methods for predicting scenario-based explosion frequencies, using frequencies of initiating events and conditional probabilities of immediate ignition and delayed ignition resulting in explosion. The algorithms were based on a combination of published data and expert opinion.     

Quantitative risk assessment: How realistic are those frequency assumptions?

Although much has changed in recent decades in how the consequences are treated in risk assessment of major industrial accidents, estimation of frequencies still appears to be largely based on values from several decades ago. This paper reviews briefly some of the implications of this, drawing on lessons not only from the process industries but also from other not so obviously relevant fields such as aerospace and finance, where the significance of such factors such as organizational culture, normalization of deviance, ownership, demographic change, etc. is becoming increasingly recognized in the analysis and hence the control of risk.Failure to consider such factors and their effects can pose a problem, because risk assessment is not simply an abstract concept but can have a real influence on the level of risk. If protective measures such as the safety culture of the site, etc. can be shown to significantly change the risk zone, this can persuade the risk generator to improve those factors or take other steps to reduce the risk such as reducing the inventory in the process. Conversely, assessments conducted for well-run companies may misrepresent the risk if the site ownership changes to a financial holding company with a focus on maximizing short-term profit and resale of the assets, and it can be difficult even for well-motivated management to justify protective measures if they produce no apparent difference in the risk.This paper introduces these and other issues for consideration in the symposium which follows.     

A study of maintenance-related major accident cases in the 21st century

This paper is based on a review of 183 detailed, major accident investigation and analysis reports related to the handling, processing and storage of hydrocarbons and hazardous chemicals over a decade from 2000 to 2011. The reports cover technical, human and organizational factors. In this paper, the Work and Accident Process (WAP) classification scheme is applied to the accident reports with the intention of investigating to what extent maintenance has been a cause of major accidents and what maintenance-related causes have been the most frequent.The main objectives are: (1) to present more current overall statistics of maintenance-related major accidents, (2) to investigate the trend of maintenance-related major accidents over time, and (3) to investigate which maintenance-related major accident causes are the most frequent, requiring the most attention in the drive for improvement.The paper presents statistical analysis and interpretation of maintenance-related major accidents’ moving averages as well as data related to the types of facility, hazardous substances, major accidents and causes. This is based on a thorough review of accident investigation reports.It is found that out of 183 major accidents in the US and Europe, maintenance was linked to 80 (44%) and that the accident trend is decreasing. The results also show that “lack of barrier maintenance” (50%), “deficient design, organization and resource management” (85%) and “deficient planning/scheduling/fault diagnosis” (69%) are the most frequent causes in terms of the active accident process, the latent accident process and the work process respectively.     

易燃易爆重大危险源事故概率计算

分有人介入和无人介入重大危险源监测系统两种情况，运用马尔可夫过程研究了重大危险源发生事故的概率，并进行了实例计算。所给概率模型可用于重大危险源的安全评价。【关键词】##4易燃易爆重大危险源;;马尔可夫过程;;安全评价;;事故概率计算;;安全监测系统     

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the safety management in Italian Seveso industries

The paper discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Italian chemical and process industries, where Directive 2012/18/EU Seveso III, for the control of Major Accident Hazard (MAH), is enforced. The Safety Management System (SMS) for the control of MAH, which has been mandatory for 20 years in Italian Seveso Establishments, has been highly stressed by the external pressure, related in some way to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fairly, most companies, in particular in oil and gas sectors, have demonstrated an adequate capability to reconcile operation continuity and health requirements. This experience is providing the establishment operators and the regulators with valuable suggestions for the improvements of the SMS-MAH. Within this framework, an innovative organisational resilience model is proposed, aiming at the development of a higher capability to face future new crisis. The current SMS-MAH already includes some basic pillars to enhance resilience, which were valuable during the pandemic crisis, but a full and rationale development is still needed. Starting from the first pandemic phase experience, this paper presents a novel tool to assess the degree of “resilience” of a SMS-MAH. It is based on a questionnaire, featuring 25 questions grouped into eight items, according to the typical SMS-MAH structure. A two level AHP model has been developed in order to define the weights to be assigned to each point. The AHP panel included industrial practitioners, regulators, authorities and researchers. The results are based on the COVID-19 experience and consequently the developed model is tailored to face health emergencies, but the approach may be easily transferred to other external crises.     

用于工业机器设计的安全性分析模式及方法研究

工业机器也属职业事故的重要危险源之一。在其设计时 ,有效地进行安全性分析是消除和控制工业机器中存在的固有危险的最佳途径。为此 ,推荐了一种用于工业机器的安全分析模式 ;并对已有的安全分析方法进行了重点选择 ,将供设计人员使用的安全分析方法从百余种减少到 11种 ;还对这些方法进行了分类 ,可供设计人员在设计工业机器时 ,较方便地选择和系统地应用。     

北京市燃气事故风险评估与控制对策

对北京市近年来的燃气状况进行了分析,从燃气系统存在的风险源出发,找出了北京市燃气系统存在的风险以及衍生和次生灾害;运用系统安全分析的＂人-机-环-管＂理论,考虑了燃气设施及管理的风险承受力和控制力,找出了影响燃气突发事件风险发生的可能性因素和后果严重性因素,从而建立了风险可能性和后果严重性的指标体系;利用风险矩阵从多角度对城八区天然气管网系统进行风险评估,确定风险等级,提出了防止燃气事故发生的安全防范措施,以增强北京燃气设施的安全稳定运行。     

城市重大危险源安全规划方法及程序研究

城市重大危险源是影响城市安全水平的一个重要因素,对城市重大危险源的规划和整治是提高城市安全水平的一个重要途径.本文在"十五"国家科技攻关计划课题"城市公共安全规划与应急预案编制及其关键技术研究"第一专题"城市公共安全规划技术、方法与程序研究"的研究成果基础上,提出了城市重大危险源安全规划的一般性方法和技术要点,以期为城市重大危险源安全规划的编制提供技术指导.     

Risk evaluation in Dutch land-use planning

In Dutch external safety policy, the acceptance of risk for the population in areas surrounding hazardous substances establishments is based on a limit value for individual risk (IR). Additionally, changes to societal risk (SR) must be justified. A specific software program (SAFETI-NL) with the associated Reference Manual Bevi Risk Assessments (RIVM, 2009) is legally required for the calculation of IR and SR. This prescribed “Bevi calculation method” forms the basis for decisions with important consequences for industry, land use planning and the protection of citizens. It is important that the outcome of calculations made with the prescribed method can be relied upon when making decisions about land use planning that affects both industry and population. This is the subject of this paper.The prescribed calculation method has been evaluated by performing a case study. The evaluation focussed on risk modelling of a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion (BLEVE) at an LPG filling station, an incident type that plays a significant role in Dutch external safety. The risk modelling of the BLEVE with the prescribed calculation method was found to have a number of serious deficiencies. It is concluded that the prescribed calculation method yields no reliable perspective on the safety of production, use and storage of hazardous substances, nor of possibilities to increase safety.Decision making should not only depend on quantification of IR and SR. Improving the safety-relevance of the prescribed calculation method requires an increase of the number of dimensions of the outcome of risk calculations in order to make feedback possible. It is recommended to incorporate additional, safety-relevant information into planning and decision-making processes. It is envisaged that a more far-reaching change of Dutch QRA practice is needed (medium to long term). In this context, a number of interesting elements have been noticed in decision-making procedures in other EU Member States.     

Design for safety in Safecharts with risk ordering of states

Safecharts is a variant of Statecharts intended exclusively for safety critical systems design. With two separate representations for functional and safety requirements, Safecharts brings the distinctions and dependencies between them into sharper focus, helping both designers and auditors alike in modelling and reviewing safety features. Safecharts incorporates ways to represent equipment failures and failure handling mechanisms and uses a safety-oriented classification of transitions and a safety-oriented scheme for resolving any unpredictable non-deterministic pattern of behaviour. It achieves these through an explicit representation of risks posed by hazardous states by means of an ordering of states and a concept called risk band. Recognising the possibility of gaps and inaccuracies in safety analysis, Safecharts do not permit transitions between states with unknown relative risk levels. However, in order to limit the number of transitions excluded in this manner, Safecharts provides a default interpretation for relative risk levels between states not covered by the risk ordering relation, requiring the designer to clarify the risk levels in the event of a disagreement and thus improving the risk assessment process.     

Overcoming the blame game to learn from major accidents: A systemic analysis of an Anhydrous Ammonia leakage accident

This article aims to demonstrate the need for changing the methods with which accidents are analyzed, if we truly wish to use what we uncover from them to learn and enrich our knowledge base of organizational management. The goal is to relinquish the broadly adopted and rather simplistic paradigm that accepts the search for human error and unsafe acts performed by workers, and produces “guilt diagnostics”. Instead, we use a systemic accident analysis methodology, based on the sociotechnical principle of understanding the real operating conditions in which accidents take place. In order to demonstrate the benefits of the theoretical framework, we compare the analyses of an Anhydrous Ammonia gas leakage accident in a fish processing plant using the traditional accident analysis model based on unsafe acts and the proposed systemic approach. The results favor the latter since it tends to be more reliable and offering useful recommendations to safety management processes, thus helping to prevent accidents, especially in complex systems.     

保险对企业安全监督管理之作用

通过开展适合于保险与安全监管工作的风险评估体系的研究 ,充分发挥保险在安全监管工作中的作用 ,从而为降低职工、企业乃至全社会的风险水平 ,为经济的可持续发展和社会稳定提供必要的保证条件。     

基于贝叶斯网络的危化品爆炸事故电力系统风险评估模型

为提高危化品爆炸事故电力应急预警的准确性,建立基于贝叶斯网络的危化品爆炸事故电力系统风险评估模型.基于危化品爆炸事故电力应急典型情景分析,建立综合考虑突发事件、承灾载体和应急管理等风险因素的贝叶斯网络结构.应用概率刻画风险因素信息的不确定性及其相互影响,定量分析事件后果.结合一般条件和典型情景等的应用实例,分析评价方法...     

Prevention and mitigation of injuries and damages arising from the activity of subliminal enterprises: A case study in Slovakia

The paper focuses on risk sources under no legislative pressure in the field of prevention of major accidents. Despite this, they can represent significant sources of risk of accidents.The aim of the paper is to present the results of the risk assessment associated with the operation of enterprises not regulated by the SEVESO III Directive (the so-called subliminal enterprises), to provide information on possible operational problems and to verify the applicability of recognized risk analysis methods for these specific sources of risk. Last but not least, its purpose is to point out that subliminal enterprises, due to their location close to residential areas or areas with a high concentration of population, pose a serious risk to the population.The paper summarizes the results of the quantitative risk assessment of a specific enterprise not included in the Seveso Directive – a filling station. Filling stations are frequently located in built-up areas with a dense coefficient of habitability. Due to their number, location (e.g. close to residential areas), frequency of occurrence of persons in the area and handling of dangerous substances during normal operation, they can have negative or even tragic consequences to the life and health of the population.Due to the non-existent risk assessment methodology for enterprises with subliminal quantities of dangerous substances and the lack of a systematic search for risk sources, a risk assessment procedure for these companies is designed.     

Adversarial safety analysis: borrowing the methods of security vulnerability assessments

INTRODUCTION: Safety and security share numerous attributes. The author, who heads the (Security) Vulnerability Assessment Team at Los Alamos National Laboratory, therefore argues that techniques used to optimize security might be useful for optimizing safety. OPTIMIZING SECURITY: There are three main ways to attempt to improve security-security surveys, risk assessment (or "design basis threat"), and vulnerability assessments. The latter is usually the most effective. SAFETY ANALOGS: Vulnerability assessment techniques used to improve security can be applied to safety analysis--even though safety is not ordinarily viewed as having malicious adversaries (other than hazards involving deliberate sabotage). Thinking like a malicious adversary can nevertheless have benefits in identifying safety vulnerabilities. SUGGESTIONS: The attributes of an effective safety vulnerability assessment are discussed, and recommendations are offered for how such an adversarial assessment might work. CONCLUSION: A safety vulnerability assessment can potentially provide new insights, a fresh and vivid perspective on safety hazards, and increased safety awareness.