Knowra Process safety Process safety Process safety is the discipline of preventing and mitigating fires, explosions, toxic releases, and other major hazards arising from industrial processes. It manages risks created by hazardous materials, operating conditions, equipment, and human or organizational failures.
Process hazard analysis : A systematic examination of process hazards, causes, safeguards, and possible consequences. It organizes the search for hazards and weaknesses in a process.
Bhopal disaster : A 1984 toxic gas release from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, that killed thousands and injured many more. It exposed the human consequences of a toxic release and failed safeguards.
Major accident hazard : A hazard capable of causing multiple fatalities or extensive damage through events such as fires, explosions, or toxic releases. Process safety focuses on preventing this class of high-consequence event.
Process safety management : A management system for controlling hazards associated with highly hazardous chemicals and industrial processes. It structures the policies, procedures, and reviews used to manage process hazards.
Seveso Directive : A European Union directive requiring controls to prevent and limit major accidents involving dangerous substances. It shows how industrial accidents prompted region-wide prevention and preparedness rules.
Layers of protection analysis : A method for estimating risk by evaluating independent safeguards between an initiating event and its consequences. It tests whether safeguards reduce a scenario's risk sufficiently.
Piper Alpha disaster : A 1988 offshore oil-platform fire and explosion in the North Sea that killed 167 people. It demonstrates how maintenance, permit, and communication failures can combine.
Loss of containment : The unintended release of a substance from equipment or a system designed to contain it. It is a frequent initiating event for fires, explosions, and toxic exposures.
OSHA Process Safety Management Standard : A United States workplace-safety regulation requiring specified controls for processes involving highly hazardous chemicals. It sets enforceable requirements for covered facilities in the United States.
UK Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations : United Kingdom regulations requiring major-hazard establishments to prevent major accidents and limit their consequences. It translates major-hazard prevention into duties for UK operators.
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