Expert insight and guidance on integrating safety into design to significantly reduce risks to people, systems, property, and communities
Safe design refers to the integration of hazard identification and risk assessment methods early in the design process so as to eliminate or minimize the risks of catastrophic failure throughout the life of a system, process, product, or service. This book provides engineers, designers, scientists and governmental officials with the knowledge and tools needed to seamlessly incorporate safety into the design of civil, industrial, and agricultural installations, as well as transportation systems, so as to minimize the risk of accidents and injuries.
The methodology described in Safety in Design originates from the continuous safeguarding techniques first developed in the chemical industry and can successfully be applied to a range of industrial and civil settings. While the author focuses mainly on the aspects of safe design, he also addresses procedures which have a proven track record of preventing and alleviating the impacts of accidents with existing designs. He shares lessons learned from his nearly half-century of experience in the field and provides accounts of mishaps which could have been prevented, or significantly mitigated, based on data collected from approximately seventy incidents that have occurred in various countries.
- Describes the application of safe design in an array of fields, including the chemical industry, transportation, farming, the building trade, and leisure
- Reviews the history of intrinsic process safeguarding, which was first used in the chemical industry to minimize the risk of human error or instrumentation failure
- Describes dozens of preventable incidents to illustrate the critical role safe design can play
- Provides expert guidance and valuable tools for seamlessly weaving safety into every phase of the design process
Safety in Design is an indispensable working resource for chemical, civil, mechanical, risk, and safety engineers, as well as professional R&D scientists, and process safety professionals. It is also a useful reference for insurers who deal with catastrophic loss potentials, and for government personnel who regulate or monitor industrial plants and procedures, traffic systems, and more.
Table of Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Intrinsic Continuous Process Safeguarding 1
1.3 The Flixborough Accident in the United Kingdom in 1974 2
1.4 The Seveso Emission in Italy in 1976 3
1.5 The Bhopal Emission in India in 1984 5
1.6 Concluding Remarks 5
2 Procedural, Active, and Passive Safety 7
2.1 Introduction 7
2.2 Definitions 8
2.3 Four Failures of Emergency Power Units 8
2.3.1 Introduction 8
2.3.2 Twenteborg Hospital at Almelo in The Netherlands in 2002 8
2.3.3 Westfries Gasthuis (Hospital) at Hoorn in The Netherlands in 2003 9
2.3.4 ZGT Hengelo Hospital at Hengelo (O) in The Netherlands in 2011 9
2.3.5 Chemical Plant 10
2.3.6 Additional Remarks 10
2.4 The Failure of the Blowout Preventer (BOP) at the Gulf Oil Explosion in 2010 10
2.5 The Safeguarding of Formula One Races 13
2.6 Dust Explosion Relief Venting 14
3 Safety Improvements over the Years 17
3.1 Introduction 17
3.2 Transport 17
3.2.1 Road Transport in The Netherlands 17
3.2.2 Unidirectional Road Traffic in Tunnels 18
3.2.3 Rail Transport in The Netherlands 19
3.2.4 Chlorine Transport by Rail 20
3.2.5 Sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 20
3.2.6 Oil Tankers with Double Hull 21
3.2.7 Two Comet Accidents in 1954 22
3.2.8 Helium Gas for Zeppelins - Zeppelin Crash in 1937 26
3.3 Industry 26
3.3.1 Cotton Spinning Plants 26
3.3.2 Akzo Nobel Extracts Salt Without Subsidence 27
3.3.3 Two New Cocoa Warehouses at Amsterdam in 2011 28
3.3.4 Flame Retardants 29
3.3.5 Clamp-on Ultrasonic Flow Measurement 30
3.4 Society 32
3.4.1 Inundation of Part of The Netherlands in 1953 32
3.4.2 Replacement of Coal Gas by Natural Gas in The Netherlands 34
3.4.3 CFCs 35
3.4.4 Dioxin in Feed 36
3.4.5 Street Motor Races in The Netherlands 36
3.4.6 An Unexpected Effect: Squatters Wear Moped Safety Helmets 37
4 Safety Aspects Need Attention 39
4.1 Introduction 39
4.2 Transport 40
4.2.1 Bus on Natural Gas Afire at Wassenaar in The Netherlands in 2012 40
4.2.2 Light Trucks with Trailers are Dangerous 42
4.2.3 Car Refrigerants 44
4.2.4 The Eschede Train Accident in Germany in 1998 45
4.2.5 Burning Battery in Boeing 787 Dreamline in 2013 47
4.2.6 Ferry Service on the North Sea Canal in The Netherlands 50
4.3 Society 52
4.3.1 Earthquakes Related to the Production of Natural Gas in the Northern Part of The Netherlands 52
4.3.2 Fire at Chemie-Pack at Moerdijk in The Netherlands in 2011 56
4.3.3 Inflammable Building Insulation Material 59
4.3.4 Rolling Shutters 60
5 Make Accidents and Incidents Virtually Impossible 62
5.1 Introduction 62
5.2 Transport 62
5.2.1 Bus Accident near Barcelona in 2009 62
5.2.2 Bus Accident in Hungary in 2003 63
5.2.3 Two TrainTruck and Trailer Collisions at Gronau in Germany in 2011 and 2013 64
5.2.4 Derailment at Wetteren in Belgium in 2013 66
5.2.5 Derailment at Santiago di Compostela in Spain in 2013 67
5.2.6 Derailment at Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA in 2015 67
5.2.7 Sinking of the Baltic Ace in the North Sea in 2012 68
5.2.8 Aerotoxic Syndrome 69
5.3 Society 71
5.3.1 Death in a Container for Used Clothes at Hannover in Germany in 2012 71
5.3.2 Death in a Restaurant at Zutphen in The Netherlands in 2014 71
5.3.3 Traffic Accident at Raard in The Netherlands in 2013 72
5.3.4 Accident at a Soccer Match at Eindhoven in The Netherlands in 2013 72
5.3.5 A Gust of Wind at Delden in The Netherlands in 2013 73
5.3.6 Boy Falls into Water Basin at Hengelo (O) in The Netherlands in 2013 74
5.3.7 Damaged Cow Teats at Losser in The Netherlands in 2009 75
6 Design with Ample Margins 77
6.1 Introduction 77
6.2 Transport 78
6.2.1 Coach Accident in the Sierre Tunnel in Switzerland in 2012 78
6.2.2 Accident with a Bus at Almelo in The Netherlands in 2003 79
6.2.3 Accident in a Cable Railway at Kaprun in Austria
in 2000 79
6.2.4 Flashing Red Lights for Rail Transport 80
6.2.5 Luge Accident at Whistler in Canada in 2010 81
6.2.6 Concorde Accident at Paris in 2000 81
6.2.7 Space Shuttle Challenger Accident in 1986 84
6.2.8 Space Shuttle Columbia Accident in 2003 86
6.2.9 Air France Flight AF 447 Accident in 2009 87
6.2.10 Turkish Airways Flight TK1951 Accident Near Amsterdam in 2009 89
6.3 Society 91
6.3.1 Mine Accident at Lengede in Germany in 1963 91
6.3.2 Collapse of Terminal 2E of Roissy Airport at Paris in 2004 92
6.3.3 Escape of a Gorilla in a Zoological Garden at Rotterdam in The Netherlands in 2007 95
7 The Risks of Enclosed Spaces 98
7.1 Introduction 98
7.2 Transport 99
Lethal accident aboard the Dutch ship Lady Irina in 2013
7.3 Industry 104
Lethal accident during maintenance of a phosphorus furnace at Flushing in The Netherlands in 2009
7.4 Society 111
7.4.1 Fire in a Nightclub at West Warwick, Rhode Island in the United States in 2013 111
7.4.2 Slurry Silo at Makkinga in The Netherlands in 2013 112
8 Examples from the Chemical Industry 121
8.1 Introduction 121
8.2 Runaway Reaction at T2 Laboratories at Jacksonville, Florida in the United States in 2007 122
8.3 Reactions with Epoxides 124
8.4 Explosions at Shell Moerdijk at Moerdijk in The Netherlands in 2014 125
8.5 DSM Melamine Plant Explosion at Geleen in The Netherlands in 2003 131
8.6 Dryer Explosion in a Dow Plant at King’s Lynn, Norfolk in the United Kingdom in 1976 136
9 Gas Explosions 140
9.1 Introduction 140
9.2 Flashing Inflammable Liquids 141
9.3 Mexico City in 1984 143
9.4 Nijmegen in The Netherlands in 1978 147
9.5 Los Alfaques in Spain in 1978 151
9.6 Viareggio in Italy in 2009 153
9.7 A Narrow Escape at Tilburg in The Netherlands in 2015 154
9.8 Diemen in The Netherlands in 2014 160
10 Nuclear Power Stations 167
10.1 Introduction 167
10.1.1 General 167
10.1.2 Physics 168
10.2 Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) and Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) 170
10.2.1 Introduction 170
10.2.2 PWR 172
10.2.3 BWR 174
10.3 Three Mile Island (TMI) 175
10.4 Fukushima Unit 1 180
10.5 High‐Temperature Gas‐Cooled Reactors (HTGRs) 186
10.5.1 Introduction 186
10.5.2 Safety Aspects of HTGRs 189
10.5.3 PBR 190
10.5.4 Prismatic Block Reactor 196
10.5.5 Comparison Between PBR and Prismatic Block Reactor 198
10.6 Comparison Between Light Water Reactors (LWRs, i.e. PWRs and BWRs) and HTGRs 199
Index 203
