Operational Risk, Process Safety

Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku – is an ancient Japanese text compiled in 901.

It talks about an earthquake and Tsunami that occurred in 869: 

“Then the sea began roaring like a big thunderstorm. The sea surface rose up and the huge waves attached the land”

People died in landslide or were crushed by the collapse of their homes.

A listing of online tools and resources that may interest safety or reliability professionals. Always check how well the tools work before using for serious decisions.

One way to think about risks is in terms of uncertainty. 

Donald Rumsfeld, United States Secretary of Defense, explains the limitations of intelligence reports and issues surrounding risk-based decisions. 

As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.Donald Rumsfeld

Basics

An operating asset, such as a refinery or oil and gas platform, poses risks to people and environment.

A quantitative risk analysis (QRA) quantifies operating risks.

Let’s get the math out of the way!

For quantification, risk is defined as product of frequency and severity. [Read more…]

Pascagoula gas plant receives condensate from offshore Gulf of Mexico.

For separating components at cryogenic temperatures, it used brazed aluminum heat exchangers. These exchanger are susceptible to thermal fatigue due to low temperaures.

1. Do we need to follow all the rules?
2. Are meetings worthwhile?
3. Why does equipment fail in service?

Read Trevor Kletz’s answers to these questions:

It is hard to imagine but only a few years ago not everything was on the internet. Google was established in 1998 and as search became prevalent, there was an explosion of online for anyone to access.

From 2008-2010, I went through exercise of collecting and analyzing incident data from 2000-2010 with help from Dr. Amy Liu. Mostly downstream – refineries and petrochemicals.

California senators introduced a new bill on pipeline safety – The Strengthening Pipeline Safety and Enforcement Act of 2011. A few key elements in the proposed legislature are:

The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reported the following offshore safety  statistics on for 2009-10 period.

A month ago, I wrote about fire in a biodiesel facility – the last one for 2010.

Four days into 2011, a fire was reported at a biodiesel plant in Indiana. A boiler used to heat oil which in turn in used to warm biodiesel caught on fire.

NTSB has issued seven safety recommendations following the September, 2010 San Bruno incident in California.

Here’s a touching ad from WorkSafe, an Australian safety agency, that makes us realize the importance of safety at work.

Below is summary (annualized average) of 20-year pipeline incident data from 1990-2009. [Source: Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration,PHMSA] 

EPA announced that the promulgation of National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers and process heaters is postponed to January 16, 2011. The regulation, commonly referred to as Boiler MACT, will affect approx. 13,500 boilers at various facilities deemed to be major sources of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs).

The third edition of API 752, “Management of Hazards Associated with Permanent Buidlings” came out in late 2009 and there are a few major revisions to consider.