Development of an Expert System for the Analysis of Technological Disasters in Malaysia

Malaysia has experienced several technological disasters in the last decade due to the operation of Major Hazard Installations (MHIs). Currently Malaysia operates 177 MHIs and Malaysia is witnessing continuous growth in MHIs. The number of MHIs increases at an average rate of 19 installations per year. This study reviews and analyses technological disasters (TD), which has occurred in Malaysia. The objectives of this study were to identify factors responsible of technological disasters, a combination of which triggered the technological disasters, to develop a model describing the pre-technological disaster stage, and an Expert System that could be used to aid the management of MHIs to control their installation. To achieve these objectives, a review of previous studies on disaster management in Malaysia was carried out together with an analysis of the technological disaster inquiry reports. A field survey and interview of the domain experts was also done.Information research accidents, which occurred in Malaysia, was obtained from several sources. It has been found that Malaysia has experienced 28 disasters during the period 1968 to 2002. The disasters have resulted in 1,635 fatalities, 1,929 injuries, and caused severe damage to properties. Seven technological disasters have resulted in 104 fatalities and 201 injuries. Four technological disaster inquiry reports have been reviewed in detail. This study shows that the factors, which contributed to the technological disasters in Malaysia, were mainly due to Social, Technical, Organizational, Operational, Investigational and Defences errors. It has been found from international experience that there are only a few models describing the disaster precondition stage. This study has produced a pre- technological disaster model. The model is called the Ibrahim-Razi model for technological disasters. This model describes the sequence of development of the pre- disaster stage in eight phases. A field survey was carried out through a questionnaire. The targeted respondents were the Safety, Health and Environment Managers at the MHIs. Domain experts interviews were also conducted. Descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis were used for the data analysis. CLIPS (C Language Integrated Production System) was used as a medium for the development of Technological Emergencies Expert System (TEES). The TEES is versatile, portable, reliable, and applicable to other emergencies applications. This study provides a tool as an aid for the Safety Managers, as well as the DOSH in decision making and to assess the state of the MHIs

An overview on the offshore emergency response planning in Malaysia

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide some definition and foundation principles regarding emergency and emergency management and to give an overview on the emergency response effectiveness at an offshore installation in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: The primary approach used is retrieval of the archived historical complex B emergency drills exercise records from 1997 to 1999. Retrieval of the historical records was made aimed at establishing a baseline information on the level of compliance with the required standards on emergency drills exercise of all the exercise conducted in the complex B for the three years. The secondary data required to complement the primary data are the level of competency gained by the complex B platform personnel as a result of their participation in their platform emergency drills exercise. A questionnaire survey was conducted where the objective of the survey was to map out the sample of general attitude profile and knowledge competency. Findings: The emergency drills on the Baram B complex are only partially adequate in nurturing effective emergency response preparedness. To achieve completeness and effective emergency drills performed as a conditioning process for an emergency response, the human resources knowledge and competency must be maintained and continuously enhanced. Continuous review for improvement purposes is required. The continuous improvement process should be parallel, covering both human resources and physical infrastructure. Originality/value: This paper presents an overview on the emergency response effectiveness at a complex B offshore platform. Benefits can be gained from the Malaysian experience

Technological emergencies expert system (TEES)

Purpose - To provide the graduate students, researchers, responsible personnel at major hazards installations (MHIs) with background on the technological emergencies, expert system (ES), and technological emergencies expert system (TEES) development. Design/methodology/approach - The design and development of an ES is achieved through six recommended phases. The assessment phase represents the problem feasibility and justifications. In TEES, the problem was identified that Malaysia has experienced several technological disasters. The process of acquiring, organizing, and studying knowledge is known as the knowledge acquisition. The qualitative and quantitative knowledge are needed to build the TEES. A general knowledge was obtained from the literature sources. The quantitative knowledge was obtained through a field survey and domain expert interview. The information, which has been obtained from the field survey through the questionnaire, was arranged and coded into software called Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Regression models were derived. The regression models were incorporated into the TEES. wxCLIPs have been used as a medium for the development the ES. Findings - It provides the background and basis for further research in disaster management in Malaysia. The TEES can be employed to control the major hazards at the MHIs through the identification, control, and mitigation programs. The knowledge, which has been put into the system, can be modified, updated, and reproduced. Originality/value - The TEES is versatile, portable, reliable and applicable to other emergencies applications. The system can be saved on CD and distributed to MHIs managers and related authority. The system, therefore, can contribute to improve awareness through providing information and knowledge to end-users. The ES also can be used for classroom instructions

Technological disaster prevention – the case of Malaysia

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide some definition and foundation principles regarding disaster management. The paper also tests the Malaysian major hazard installations through the awareness and application of the Malaysian National Security Council (MNSC) directive 20. Design/methodology/approach - Questionnaire was circulated on 177 MHIs throughout Malaysia. Respondents of various demographic characteristics answered the questionnaires. It is believed that people of different age, sex, educational level, experience, and management levels are expected to have different perception and response to disaster management questions. A total of 65 completed questionnaires were answered. Findings - The analysis of the disaster management questionnaire highlighted that more than half of the MHIs in Malaysia are multinational installations. The analysis revealed that 61 per cent of the Safety, Health and Environment Managers were aware of the MNSC directive 20 and 62 per cent said that the MNSC directive 20 is relevant to their facilities. The analysis further showed that 62 per cent of the respondents think the MNSC directive 20 is essential to their MHIs. However, 31 per cent of the respondents said that the emergency response plan (ERP) is used as an alternative to the MNSC directive 20. In the light of this, more than half of the MHIs are not local organizations; the Safety and Health Managers apparently are familiar with the safety guidelines of their parent organizations. Therefore, the authorities that are responsible for the enforcement of the MHIs' relevant regulations should be vigilant and follow up the MHIs to apply the relevant regulations, which suit the safety culture of Malaysia. Originality/value - This paper presents an overview on technological disaster prevention. The paper also shows the results of testing of the Malaysian major hazard installations which are aware of the MNSC directive 20. The Malaysian experience can be beneficial

A review of disaster and crisis

A disaster and a crisis are two different, and related events. The two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Man‐made disaster that occurs at an industrial organization, may develop into an industrial crisis. Crisis can happen to any organization. It has been noted that there were no universally accepted definitions yet developed for disaster and crisis. There is also no universally available criteria, to define the disaster in terms of the consequences, such as the casualties and the cost of damage. This paper reviews the definitions, types, characteristics, criteria and models of disaster and crisis. Also the types of crisis were rearranged and the differences between the disasters and crises have been summarized