G. Purdy et M. Wasilewski, RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR CHLORINE INSTALLATIONS, Journal of loss prevention in the process industries, 7(2), 1994, pp. 147-156
Installations which make, handle and store liquid chlorine represent o
ne of the largest groups of hazardous plants which pose high levels of
risk to off-site populations. For such installations, risk analysis i
s one of the most important tools now being used to improve safety, by
aiding decisions on the acceptability or tolerability of the risks an
d thereby ascertaining the need for and nature of risk reduction measu
res. This paper describes a study undertaken following a regulatory au
thority requirement to enclose a particular chlorine plant in a 'conta
inment' system. We seek to demonstrate how 'peopleware' issues such as
human factors, training, emergency planning procedures and so on can
be properly represented in a conventional quantified risk analysis, an
d show how a containment system, as shown by the accurate modelling of
release conditions, may not actually reduce risk to off-site populati
ons. By giving proper credit to detection and response arrangements, p
rocedures, training and emergency planning, aspects which most safety
professionals consider to be very valuable components of a risk manage
ment strategy, we were able to design a package of measures that would
produce a net risk reduction significantly better than that produced
by a containment approach.