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Simply scroll up and down the page to view the Incidents & Information. Where there are multiple entries grouped together, click the SHOW MORE EVENTS field to expand the list. The Search page is used to find text or content within the site.

Use the icon at the bottom right of each page to quickly return to the top of the page.

Event Header

Events are interpreted as shown below with assigned categories shown in the event header which are explained in the Categories section below:

Accident anniversaries show the current year and the year the incident occurred is shown in the event title.

There are 2 types of events:

  • Incidents
  • Information (Media)

Both of these have and show different categories. These categories can be filtered (multi-selection options) to narrow the list of events in Lists, Calendars & Maps using the Filter icon & options or the Search icon & field.

Clicking on the Event Header will open up to show the details described below:

Event Detail

EVENT DETAILS may be textual or embedded media (e.g. video or podcast). Event images are included wherever available or appropriate. A thumbnail of the event image is included in the Event Header.

LEARN MORE is a hyperlink to a more detailed page e.g. incident investigation report or media.

Click on the RELATED EVENTS icon to view incidents or information related to the event. Relating past Incidents to current Information/Media is what distinguishes this knowledge source from other accident database as these relationships provide context to focus resources on the most appropriate corrective & preventive actions. Relationships work both ways i.e. from Incidents to Information and from Information to Incidents.

Incident times are not included – for specific details follow the LEARN MORE link.

If the Incident LOCATION is given either a Google Maps address or lat/long coordinates then a Google Map extract will be included in the event.

The ORIGIN on the event card is the:

  • Incident source
  • Information/Media publisher

Click for a hyperlink to the relevant Source/Publisher web page.

Relevant LESSONS & TOPICS can be directly accessed via hyperlinked text:

Events can be shared via the Social Media icons at the bottom of the event card.

Taxonomy

Events are categorized to enable focus on specific topics of interest:

GENERAL

The following categories apply to Incidents & Information:

Key Learnings

Incidents & Information both lessons to be learned and all use the following categories as well as a general Process Safety Management category to cover the overall topic:

These have been developed from established Process Safety Management (PSM) frameworks including Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), Energy Institute (EI), IChemE Safety Centre (ISC) and Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center (MKOPSC) which are described here .

Industry

The type of Industry (e.g. Refining) which experienced the Incident or which the Event or Media is most relevant to.

Country

The country where the Incident occurred or where the Event is held or where the Media originated from.

Language

The language (using ISO 639-1 2-letter codes e.g. EN = English, ES = Español etc) in which the Incident, Event or Media is documented.

INCIDENTS

In order to provide a consistent language or dictionary for classifying Incidents , the following have been adopted:

LoC

The CCPS have published a list of the most common Loss of Containment (LoC) Causes which is listed here. These are summarised in the following categories:

  • DISCHARGE
    • Genuine release – e.g. process relief or dumping requirements
    • Component malfunction – maloperation of equipment in service, e.g., spurious relief valve operation or rupture disk failure, etc. Also includes control failure.
    • Operator error – e.g. drain or vent valve left open, misrouting of materials, tank overfilled, unit opened up under pressure, etc.
  • DEGRADATION
    • Deficiency – imperfections arising prior to commissioning and not detected before start-up (due to poor inspection or testing procedures)
    • Deterioration – imperfections due to equipment deterioration in service and not detected before the effect becomes significant (due to inadequate monitoring procedures in those cases where deterioration is gradual)
    • Maintenance error – imperfections arising from routine maintenance or minor modifications not carried out correctly, e.g., poor workmanship, wrong materials, etc.
  • DAMAGE
    • Impact – e.g. by cranes, road vehicles, excavators, machinery associated with the process, etc.
    • Confined explosion – accumulation and ignition of flammable mixtures arising from small process leaks, e.g., flammable gas build-up in analyzer houses, in enclosed drains, around submerged tanks, etc.
    • Structural settlement – geological or climatic factors or failure of structural supports due to corrosion, etc.
    • Transport – damage to tank trucks, rail cars, containers, etc., during transport of materials on- or off-site.
    • Fire exposure
    • Adjacent explosion – blast effects from a nearby explosion (unconfined vapor cloud explosion, bursting vessel, etc.), such as blast overpressure, projectiles, structural damage, etc.
    • Natural event – “acts of God” such as windstorms, earthquakes, floods, lightning, etc.
  • DEVIATION
    • Overpressure – connected pressure source, rising process temperature, internal explosion or inducted forces or stresses
    • Underpressure – equipment not capable of withstanding vacuum e.g. connected vacuum source, movement of liquids, cooling or dissolution of gases/vapours
    • Overtemperature – loss of strength e.g. fire or flame impingement, excessive heating or inadequate cooling
    • Undertemperature – cold embrittlement e.g. excessive cooling, inadequate heating or depressurisation
    • Material incompatibility – wrong process materials or abnormal impurities (causing accelerated corrosion, chemical attack of seals or gaskets, stress corrosion cracking, embrittlement, etc.)

Incident

The type of Incident (e.g. Jet Fire) from the Accident Description categories in the EU eMars database.

Hazard

The hazards of the materials (e.g. Flammable) processed during the incident according to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS)

Cause

The dominant or immediate Cause (e.g. Operator Error) from the Causes Description categories short-listed in the EU eMars database.

Impact

The type of effects (e.g. On site Fatalities) from the Consequences Description categories in the EU eMars database. Only the primary (dominant) effects are recorded however where these were not realised the potential impacts are noted (e.g. On site

Consequences

The primary Safety (e.g. 1-10 Fatalities) or Environmental (e.g. Water Release) effects of the incident. This category provides scale to the Consequences categorized above and is colour coded as follows:

> 100 FATALITIES
11 – 100 FATALITIES
1 – 10 FATALITIES
≥ 100 INJURIES
< 100 INJURIES
ENVIRONMENT IMPACT

Equipment

The type of equipment (e.g. Pipeline) where the incident occurred.

Activity

The activity (e.g. Startup) being performed when the incident occurred.

Material

The chemicals (e.g. Propane) released during or involved in the incident.

SPECIFIC

The following categories are specific:

Media

The type of Media e.g. Video, Podcast etc

Topic

The topic, subject or theme of the Event or Media e.g. Cyber Security etc

TAGS

Events may include tags (or keywords) to organize and draw attention to the content.

Information

Information or Media events are listed in descending order i.e. most recent first by default.

Media which relates to Alerts are highlighted in red to focus attention on potentially urgent information.

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