Lessons learned from past accidents - The integration of human and organizational factors with the technical aspect

It is of prime importance to ensure the safety of chemical process plants due to volatile nature of the industry and drastic consequences of the accidents. A number of parameters can affect the safety of the process plants. One of the main parameters that has the influence on the safety of operations is the Human and Organizational Factors (HOF) as suggested by numbers of existing studies. Therefore, in order to enhance the safety of operations it is required to improve the HOF. These factors can be improved by an integrated approach as proposed in this work, instead looking at these factors in an isolation. A number of existing risk assessment approaches have been analysed in this work and their compliance requirements to the relevant International Standards with respect to the HOF. A new quantitative methodology “Method for Error Deduction and Incident Analysis (MEDIA)” has been developed in this work. During the development of this methodology, practicality; consistency; integration with other risk assessment techniques and efficient use of information were explicitly ensured. The MEDIA can help to integrate the HOF around the technical aspect and can prioritize the follow up actions based on risk. The quantification of this methodology is based on results of the accident analysis, that has been carried out in this work. The accidents of 25 years (1988-2012) in the Seveso establishments and that were reported to the European Commission’s Major Accident Reporting System (eMARS) have been studied. The results from the accident analysis have further used in order to learn lessons and to propose future recommendations. These recommendations are mainly aimed at further integration of the HOF and to improve the overall safety of chemical process plants. More specifically, these recommendations are addressed to the use of organizational checklist during the Hazard Identification (HAZID) study; improvement of existing eMARS reporting structure and the legal obligation towards the EU Member States to report their accidents to the European Commission

Identification and Mitigation of Risk Associated with Eot Crane During Material Handling

Countless manufacturing and construction industry are widely used E.O.T. cranes for their lifting or loading materials from one place to another place, also associated with a large number of hazardous in their operation.depending upon their nature of work it can further divided on their different type of use.the hazard associated with E.O.T. crane a project was performed in tata steel processing and distribution limited(TSPDL), with the help of checklist method and hazard identification & risk assessment, is performed to identified the hazardous condition on 13 E.O.T. cranes installed in TSPDL and their control measures are given.with the help of hira analysis is reviewed and also recommendations are given for further improvement in safety and health aspects.this E.O.T. crane increase output and improves the quality of the product, speed up deliveries and therefore, results that decrease the production cost. As an EHS professional must have sufficient knowledge of L.I.F.E and zero harm/zero injury vision along with inspiring others to behave safely and have due regard for the environment.He must have an ability to finding out the connection between good EHS system and good business practices and have up to date knowledge about EHS.He must have good communication skills to convenience to others and show a leadership skill to all levels of employees and committed to action at all times. Risk assessment has four stages identifying hazards, access the risk, determine the control measures, and implement the control measures, review, and update.With the help of hierarchy control i.e. elimination, substitution, engineering control, administrative control, training and PPE’s those risk assessment approaches are implemented successfully

Risk analysis for equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres

EU Directives 98/37/EC (machinery directive) and 94/9/EC (ATEX 100A) have to be applied by manufacturers of equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres. These Directives include Essential Safety Requirements and place an onus on manufacturers to carry out a risk assessment for the intended use of their equipment. In order to help manufacturers in this task, the European Standards organization, CEN, TC 305 has mandated its WG 4 (terminology and methodology) to write a standard on the risk assessment of equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres. The RASE project was set up as a prenormative research work to define the requirements for developing such a standard as specified in the dedicated call of the European Commission's Standards Measurement and Testing programme concerned with subjects relating to the standardization activities of CEN - Explosive atmospheres - risk assessment of unit operations and equipment. The project (December 1997-May 2000) was co-ordinated by INBUREX with the participation of FSA Germany, INERIS France, HSE England, NIRO Denmark and CMR Norway. Since March 2000, WG 4 (TC 305) is actively involved in preparing the final draft of this standard. This paper describes the objectives and the results obtained to date in RASE project and in WG4. An outline is given of the contents of the standard being developed for the risk assessment of equipment and protection systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres

Dealing with Major Technological Risks

This article is concerned with the management of major hazards stemming from technology and entailing potentially dreadful consequences. It proposes a brief survey of the0501n difficulties and policy issues arising both in public and private decision making when dealing with major technological risks. Three themes are considered: risk assessment, risk sharing and risk control. Issues related to evaluation methods, to risk perception and to the acceptable level of risk are first examined. The article then goes on to explore the problem of optimal risk sharing between the different stakeholders. The firm's liability and extended liability to the firm's partners are considered. Insurance issues are also discussed. Lastly, the survey addresses the control of risks both from a prevention and from a damage mitigation point of view. The various instruments available to the State to reduce risks are reviewed and several issues are also raised with respect to the measures firms can take to reduce risks. Investment in safety, human error, organisational design and information disclosure are addressed in this section. The topics of siting and urban planning are analysed as mitigation strategies, and the important aspect of emergency planning ends the survey. Cet article d'intérêt général porte sur la gestion des risques d'origine technologique aux conséquences potentiellement catastrophiques. Il s'agit d'un document de synthèse destiné à cerner les problèmes fondamentaux en matière de gestion publique et privée des risques technologiques majeurs. Trois thèmes y sont traités: l'évaluation, la distribution et le contrôle des risques. Les questions se rapportant aux méthodes d'évaluation, à la perception des risques et aux difficultés liées à l'établissement d'un seuil de tolérance sont d'abord passées en revue. La seconde partie du document met en lumière les difficultés que présente le partage optimal du risque entre les différents agents. La responsabilité civile de la firme et de ses partenaires est alors examinée. Les problèmes liés à l'assurance contre ce type de risque sont aussi brièvement décrits. Cet article traite enfin du contrôle des risques en couvrant à la fois les approches préventives et les stratégies d'atténuation des dommages. On y aborde premièrement les instruments de contrôle dont dispose l'État pour réduire les risques. Du côté des firmes, les sujets tels que l'investissement en sécurité, l'erreur humaine, le design organisationnel et la divulgation de l'information sont passés en revue. L'aménagement du territoire et la gestion des urgences sont ensuite abordés de façon succincte dans la dernière partie de l'article.Safety, major risks, risk assessment, risk sharing, risk control, prevention, mitigation, Sécurité, risques majeurs, évaluation des risques, distribution des risques, contrôle des risques, prévention, atténuation