Introduction1

SAFETY (OR LOSS PREVENTION):: the prevention of accidents through the use of appropriate
technologies to identify the hazards of a plant and eliminate them before an accident occurs.

HAZARD:: a chemical or physical condition that has the potential to cause damage to people,
property or the environment.

RISK:: a measure of human injury, environmental damage or economic loss in terms of both the
incident likelihood and the magnitude of the loss or injury.

Despite safety programs, accidents continue to occur

1Reference: Daniel A. Crowl and Joseph F. Louvar,, Chemical Process Safety: Fundamentals with Applications, Prentice
Hall, 3rd Edition, 2011.
Besides a good safety program we need

appropriate Engineering Ethics

 Good statistics are also important!!

200,000
=

Where does 200,000 come from?

50 work weeks/year x 40 hours/week x 100 worker years = 200,000

=

 Are we safe in a plant?

There are more deaths attributed to smoking than from working in the chemical industry

However, the potential for a large loss gives the impression of unsafe
 The accident pyramid

Inspections will highlight issues

 What is the definition of risk?

magnitude

likelihood

Most companies make choices regarding expenditures based on risk management

The manner in which workplace fatalities occurred in 2006. The total number of workplace fatalities was 5840; this
includes the above plus 14 for bodily reaction and exertion, and 10 nonclassified.
(Data source: Injury Facts, 2009, p. 56.)
Results from a public opinion survey asking the question, Would you say chemicals do more good than harm, more
harm than good, or about the same amount of each?
(Source: The Detroit News.)
News
Accidents follow typical patterns

What are the common ones?

Types of loss for large hydrocarbon chemical plant accidents.
(Data from The 100 Largest Losses,
Losses 19722001.)
Causes of losses for largest hydrocarbon-chemical
hydrocarbon plant accidents.
(Data from The 100 Largest Losses, 19722001.)
1972
Hardware associated with the largest hydrocarbon-chemical
hydrocarbon plant accidents.
(Data from The 100 Largest Losses, 19722001.)
1972
Loss distribution for the largest hydrocarbon-chemical
chemical plant accidents over a 30-year
30 period.
(Data from The 100 Largest Losses,
Losses 19722001.)