Accident and Loss Statistics

Chemical Process Safety

ChBE 4140
Overview
 Accidents
 Models
 Engineering Ethics
 Loss Statistics
 Perceptions
 Example
Definition
 Accident –
 is an undesired event that results in
unwanted deterioration of
 health of a living organism

 value of an organization

 quality of the environment

Safety, Hazard, and Risk
 Safety or loss prevention is the
prevention of accidents by the use of
appropriate technologies to identify the
hazards of a chemical plant and to
eliminate them before an accident
occurs.
Safety, Hazard, and Risk
 A hazard is anything with potential for
producing an accident

 Risk is the probability of a hazard

resulting in an accident.
Types of Personnel Accidents
 Struck by  Struck against
 Contact by  Contact with
 Caught in  Caught out
 Caught between  Overexertion
 Foot-level Fall  Fall to below
 Exposure
Accident Causation Theory
 “Acts of God”
 “Pilot Error” – beginning of industrial
revolution
 “Mismanagement” – current legal
leanings
Heinrich Domino Theory
Predictable chronological sequence of
causal factors lead to accidents
 Fault of person

 Unsafe practices

 Unsafe conditions

 Accident, and

 Loss
 Developed by H.W. Heinrich in 1920’s
 Marcum’s 7 Domino Sequence
of “Misactsidents”
Supposes that all accidents can be avoided and that the
liability resides with management
 Inadequate preparation

 Substandard performance

 Miscompensated risks

 Harmful contact incident

 Adverse reaction

 Sustained losses, and

 Incurred costs
 System-Induced Error
An accident occurs if a triggering event
occurs at a time when the innate error
tendencies of humans as determined by
performance influencing factor lead to an
error in an unforgiving environment

Developed during the 1980’s

System-Induced Error
 Innate error tendencies of humans
 Fallible memory
 Reliance on rules
 Information processing limitations
System-Induced Error
 Performance influencing factors
 Physiological and Psychological state
 Low motivation
 Overloaded
 Inadequate training
System-Induced Errors
 Unforgiving Environment
 Absence of barriers (physical) to making
errors
 No support for recovery
 System-Induced Error
An accident occurs if a triggering event
occurs at a time when the innate error
tendencies of humans as determined by
performance influencing factor lead to an
error in an unforgiving environment
 Chemical Engineering Ethics
American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Fundamental Principles
Engineers shall uphold and advance the
integrity, honor and dignity of the
engineering profession by
1 using their knowledge and skill for the
enhancement of human welfare;
2 being honest and impartial and serving with
fidelity the public, their employers, and
clients;
3 striving to increase the competence and
prestige of the engineering profession
Chemical Engineering Ethics
American Institute of Chemical Engineers
more important than
anything else; supreme. Fundamental Canons
1 Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and
welfare of the public in performance of their professional
duties.
2 Engineers shall perform services only in areas of their
competence.
3 Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective
and truthful manner.
4 Engineers shall act in professional matters for each
employer or client as faithful agents or trustees, and shall
avoid conflicts of interest.
 Chemical Engineering Ethics
American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Fundamental Canons
5 Engineers shall build their professional reputations on the
merits of their services.
6 Engineers shall act in such a manner as to uphold and
enhance the honor, integrity, and dignity of the
engineering profession.
7 Engineers shall continue their professional development
throughout their careers and shall provide opportunities
for the professional development of those engineers under
their supervision.
OSHA
 Occupational Safety and Health
Administration

 Established by Congress in 1970 in the

“Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970”
OHSAct

 OSHA has defined terms related to work

related losses
OSHA Definitions
 Occupational Injury is any injury such
as a cut, fracture, sprain, amputation,
etc. which results from an exposure
involving a single incident in the work
environment.
From Table 1.2 in text
OSHA Definitions
 Occupational Illness of an employee is
any abnormal condition or disorder,
other than one resulting from an
occupational injury caused by exposure
to environmental factors associated
with employment. It includes acute and
chronic illnesses or diseases which may
be caused by inhalation, absorption,
ingestion, or direct contact.
OSHA Definitions
 Lost Workdays are those days which
the employee would have worked but
could not because of occupational injury
or illness. Also need to account for
diminished long term performance.
OSHA Definitions
 Recordable Cases are those involving an
occupational injury or occupational
illness, including deaths. Not
recordable are first aid cases which
involve onetime treatment and
subsequent observation of minor
scratches, cuts, burns, splinters, etc.,
which do not ordinarily require medical
care.
OSHA Definitions
 Nonfatal cases without lost workdays are
cases of occupational injury or illness which
did not involve fatalities or lost workdays but
did result in (1) transfer to another job or
termination of employment, or (2) medical
treatment other than first aid, or (3)
diagnosis of occupational illness, or (4) loss of
consciousness, or (5) restriction of work or
motion.
OSHA Definitions
 There are tables of
“lost work days” that
are assigned to
losses of various
members of the
body

 Fatality is equivalent
to 24 worker years
OSHA Definitions
 These “lost work
days” are not only
based on how long
it will take to
recover but also on
the individuals
diminished ability to
carry out the job
function
Injury and Loss Statistics
 There are several different statistics
that have been defined and collected by
government and industrial agencies
 OSHA Injury & Illness Rate
OSHA Injury&Illness Rate =
(# of Injuries&Illness*200,000)/(Total hrs all employees)

Based on 100 worker-years

 40hrs   50wk 
WorkYear      2000 hr
 wk   yr  yr
OSHA Lost Workdays Incidence Rate
 Same bases, but use lost workdays

Lost Workdays Incidence Rate =

(# lost workdays * 200,000)/(Total hrs worked)
 Other Loss Statistics
FAR is the Fatal Accident Rate

FAR=(# of Fatalitiesx108)/(Total hrs all employees)

Based on 1000 workers’ career

 40hr   50wk   50 yr 
WCareer        105 hr

 wk   yr   career  career

Table 1.3 & 1.4 lists several FARs

Other Loss Statistics
 Fatality Rate

 # Fatalities / yr 
FatalityRate   
 Total # PeopleExposed 
 Causes of Accidental Death in US

Figure 1-4 shows 2006 statistics

for on the job incidents
 Major causes of death in US

Table 1-5 has 2009 Statistics

Accident Pyramid
 Typically there are
numerous property
losses and minor
injuries for every
fatality
 “An accident is
usually visible the
day before it
happens”
Risk
 Risk is the product of the probability of the
occurrence of an accident and the severity of
the accident
 The Chemical Processing Industry has the
possibility for severe accidents due to
operating conditions and materials
 Engineers try to reduce the probability of
occurrence to reduce the risk
 In the real world we have to accept some
risks
Public Perceptions
 Public Opinion Poll “Would
you say chemicals do
more good than harm,
more harm than good, or
about the same amount
of each”
 The Chemical
Manufacturers Association
(CMA) changed its name
to American Chemists
Council (ACC) in 2000 to
avoid the word “chemical”
Risk to Human Life Survey
 How would you  Causes of death
rank which causes
the greatest number
of deaths each year?
 Handguns
Smoking

 Motor Vehicles
 Private Aviation
 Commercial Aviation
 Alcoholic Beverages
 Nuclear Power
 Food Preservatives
 Pesticides
 Skiing
Nature of the Accident Process
 Study of 100 largest hydrocarbon
accidents – Types of loss
 Fires and explosions 42%
 Fires 29%
 Vapor cloud explosions 22%
 Other 8%
Nature of the Accident Process
 Study of 100 largest hydrocarbon
accidents – Causes of loss
 Mechanical 53%
 Operator error 18%
 Design 10%
 Natural hazards 8 %
 Unknown 8%
 Process Upsets 3%
Nature of the Accident Process
 Study of 100 largest hydrocarbon
accidents – Hardware involved
 Piping 29%
 Reactors 27%
 Storage tanks 15%
 Unknown 8%
 Remainder in descending order
 Instruments, Heat exchangers, Process towers,
pumps, valves, compressors
Most accidents follow a 3 step
sequence
 Initiation
 Propagation
 Termination
Three step sequence
 Most of this class will deal with how we,
as engineers, can
 Diminish the chance for INITIATION
 Diminish the effects that causes
PROPAGATION
 Increase the chance for TERMINATION
In Class Assignment
The FAR (death/108hr)for travel by car is
reported as 57 while that for travel by air is
240

1) If the average speed of travel is 50 mph by

car and 250 mph by air, determine the
deaths per million miles travel by car or air.

2) If you are required to make a round trip

from St. Louis to Los Angeles, which is the
safer mode of transportation as indicated by
the statistics?
 Solution
1) Calculations

 57deaths  1hr   106


Car        0.0114 deaths
 10 hr  50miles   MillionMiles 
8 MillionMiles

 240deaths  1hr   106 

Air        0.0096
deaths
 10 hr  250miles   MillionMiles 
8 MillionMiles

2) For a fixed distance, air travel is the safest mode