Beyond Regulatory Compliance, Making Safety Second Nature-I 999 Development and Application of Accident History Databases Session

Abstract

Even though chemical process accidents do not have the same severity, they are usually reported without a (semi) quantitative indication of severity. Sometimes attempts are made to identify those accidents where significant injuries and/or in a major financial impact resulted. However, it is generally the case that those interested in the details are left to seek out the published reports and deduce a severity level based on their own judgment. There is another consequence of not providing accident severity information. Thorough accident reporting often means that attention is being paid to the minor accidents and incidents indicating increased compliance with the process safety program. Without knowing the severity of each accident and incident, the increasing number of reported accidents could be interpreted as decreased compliance with the process safety program. The Accident Severity Index project addresses this paradox of an increased number of accidents actually being a sign of a healthy and active program. Being in possession of an objective indicator of accident severity allows management to judge the effectiveness of the process safety program. It also provides the necessary details about the extent to which company personnel pay attention to the process safety details concerning handling and use of hazardous chemicals. The goal of this project is to provide a tracking and evaluation system for process safety incidents and accidents. In order to accomplish this it is necessary to assess the actual and potential severity of an accident, in an objective manner, using the information obtained during the accident investigation. The severity information is then used by the program to derive a two-part severity rating that addresses the actual and potential severity. This presentation will describe a prototype database and assessment system that will accomplish these criteria.