Statistical Analysis of Contributors to Chemical Process Accidents

Abstract

A database study of accident contributors in the chemical process industry (CPI) was carried out. All 364 CPI-related accidents available in the Failure Knowledge Database were analyzed to identify the main and the subcontributors of the accidents. The accident contributors were ranked in accordance with their frequency and importance in accident prevention. The most common accident contributors were the human and organizational aspects in operation (19 % of contributors), contamination (11 %), flow-related issues (11 %), and heat transfer (10 %). In the main contributor analysis, the same classes of contributors were also the most frequent causes of accidents. A four-quadrant analysis identified the most important contributors to be focused on in accident prevention: contamination, flowrelated and heat transfer categories. The relationships between the contributors were also studied using an interconnection matrix, which revealed three functional groups of accident contributors. Their relationships were illustrated through an interconnection diagram.

On the use of the generalized autocatalytic models: The thermal decomposition of 3,5‐dinitro‐4‐methylbenzoic acid

“…evaluated for the different combination of indexes (i,j) 5 (1,2), (2,3), and (1,3) over suitable temperature intervals provide a first estimate of the kinetic exponent p and q which are calculated as the mean values, respectively, of the intercepts and slopes of these lines…”

“…1,2 Thermal unstable compounds or reacting mixtures capable to undergo exothermal decomposition phenomena with a huge heat release and gas evolution have been responsible for catastrophic events during the past [3][4][5] and this despite extensive work devoted to their study. A literature survey clearly indicates that one of the major causes of these incidents can be ascribed to the lack of knowledge of the phenomena involved.…”

Review of Process Industry Accidents Analysis towards Safety System Improvement and Sustainable Process Design

“…Sub‐factors can contribute to various major causes; however, the failures due to technical and human errors are difficult to differentiate, which requires more effective technique with detailed analysis. Process equipment integrity is a significant factor and contributed in 20 % of the accidents reported in Centre for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) PSID , supported in other studies as well , . Equipment failure lies under the technical reasons of failure, which has the biggest share (79 %) for accidents .…”

“…Process equipment integrity is a significant factor and contributed in 20 % of the accidents reported in Centre for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) PSID , supported in other studies as well , . Equipment failure lies under the technical reasons of failure, which has the biggest share (79 %) for accidents . Accident reasons were investigated for individual industries and countries as well , , , .…”

An Empirical Analysis of a Process Industry to Explore the Accident Causation Factors: A Case Study of a Textile Mill in Pakistan

“…A Likert scale (1-5) questionnaire has been developed to collect data for further analysis. A few Unsafe supervision [5,25] Lack of PPEs [15,21] Poor skill [23,26] Job Stress [18,27] Lack of safety training [28,29] Technical error [20,22] Operation error [30,31] Unsafe Process Design [24,32] Lack of rules and regulations [5,33] Design error [34,35] Inherent proneness [36,37] Poor physical environment [38,39] Poor safety culture [40,41] Poor behavior [42,43] Management issues [44,45] questions have been asked regarding demographics of the individuals in the questionnaire and then the questions regarding the mentioned factors have been asked. Questions have been carefully sketched and verified from the research experts.…”