1. THE RELATIONSHIP OF SAFETY AND RISK MANAGEMENT TO ENGINEERING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Dr. M. Sam Mannan, PE, CSP
Regents Professor and Director
Holder of T. Michael O’Connor Chair I
Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center
Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering
Texas A&M University System

2. THE FIRST SAFETY CONFERENCE
I am telling you we have to do Risk Assessment for an Asteroid or Comet collision! and if we don’t know the consequences we could be made extinct!
I don’t believe a word!
Don’t worry! We have ruled this planet for 160 million years! and We will always rule it!
Do you know why Dinosaurs are Extinct?
Because they didn’t listen to this smart tall dinosaur. Either they were in denial or arrogant.
Humor aside we can draw parallel with Dinosaur extinction to better our current situation especially from safety aspect
THE FIRST SAFETY CONFERENCE

3. Present
For instance in the world we live in around 37% of the total world population lives either in China or India, Also as you can see these two countries have highest GPD growth for 2010 amongst the G20 countries China especially has double figure growth and India is also not so far behind with 8.5 % growth and it is believed that they are not going to slow down sometime soon. Even developing nations in other parts of the
world are benefiting from this growth.
What does this mean? It means that most lower income population in these developing countries will be moving up the ladder and will become middle income population with higher spending power. This gives me reason for assuming that the 21st Century could be a time of growing
prosperity and global progress. However only if we as a society are able to avoid the traditional pitfalls.
G 20 Countries1

4. Future Energy Demand2 World Commercial Energy Use2
As these countries start catching up with us they will also start demanding more resources. Food, Energy and Health Care will be in major demand. Energy in particular since we all know our reliance on fossil fuel. For instance the chart on right shows energy demand of OECD and Non-OECD countries. It clearly shows that in 2010 the energy demand of Non-OECD countries surpassed the OECD countries and in the future this will grow. And until we have major discovery for alternative energy source our reliance on fossil source for our commercial energy usage will grow.
This will drive us to explore new oil and natural gas resources which are deeper and previous were hard to reach.
Energy Demand2
World Commercial Energy Use2

5. Deep Water Horizon
In September 2009, the rig drilled the deepest oil well in history at a vertical depth of 35,050 ft
On 20 April 2010, while drilling at the Macondo Prospect, an explosion on the rig caused by a blowout killed 11 crewmen
After burning for approximately 36 hours, Deepwater Horizon sank on 22 April 2010
The resultant oil spill continued until July 15
For instance the deep water horizon incident in the gulf is an good example of importance of safety in sustainable development so we can adapt to the demands of a changing world and eco-system.
In September 2009, the rig drilled the deepest oil well in history at a vertical depth of 35,050 ft (10,683 m)
On 20 April 2010, while drilling at the Macondo Prospect, an explosion on the rig caused by a blowout killed 11 crewmen
After burning for approximately 36 hours, Deepwater Horizon sank on 22 April 2010
The resultant oil spill continued until July 15
There are lot of reasons to believe that if proper safety procedure were followed this incidents could have prevented

6. Fukushima Nuclear Incident, 2011
The other such recent incident Fukushima Nuclear Accidents which was caused due to earth quake followed by tsunami in pacific coast of Japan. This incident have caused us to question again the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Although this incident happened due to natural calamity a sound risk management could have averted this incident. For instance instead of having all three generator on same height they could have placed one above other which could have prevented the water damage at least on one generator. The other thing they could done is to have a gravity control water flow to prevent the reactor meltdown.

7. Did the incident happen occasionally?
Over the intervening 33 years, other catastrophic incidents have grabbed the attention of the public and media
These incidents happened all over the world threatening people’s lives and property
Did the incident happen occasionally? NO
Over the intervening 33 years, other catastrophic incidents have grabbed the attention of the public and media
These incidents happened all over the world threatening people’s lives and property

8. Major Incidents from 1977 to 2009
Here is the list of major incidents from 1977 to The worst of them was Bhopal Gas Tragedy. It was a quiet night in Bhopal, India, until a cascading series of catastrophic circumstances, system failures, and management system deficiencies at the nearby Union Carbide India pesticide plant led to the release into the atmosphere of approximately 40 metric tons of acutely toxic methyl isocyanate. The dense cloud of deadly vapor spread over the sleeping community, and within a few days more than 2,000 people had died, official number since the government stopped counting after it reached 2000, and at least 100,000 were injured. It is widely acknowledged to be the worst industrial accident in history, leaving as many as 50,000 people partially or totally disabled as of 1994, according to the International Medical Commission on Bhopal. The incident also left a miasma of civil and criminal litigation in its wake.

9. Safety is a key factor in sustainable development
After so many disasters, more study should be dedicated to prevent incidents- make safety the second nature
New sustainability issues requires:
R&D to be put at the core of chemical industry.
Development of a longer term vision for the chemical
Development of inherently safe design that involves substances without risks for human health and environment
So based on my talk so far we can all agree that the safety is a key factor in sustainable development
After so many disasters, more study should be dedicated to prevent incidents- make safety the second nature
New sustainability issues requires:
R&D to be put at the core of chemical industry.
Development of a longer term vision for the chemical industry.
Development of inherently safe chemicals (ISCs) that involves substances without risks for human health and environment

10. Safety Strategies
Inherent: when the safety features are built into the process, not added.
Passive: for example, safety features that do not require action by any device – they perform their intended function simply because they exist.
Active: for example, safety shutdown systems to prevent accidents (e.g., a high level alarm in a tank shuts automatic feed valves) or to mitigate the effects of accidents (e.g., a sprinkler system to extinguish a fire in a building).
Procedural: or operating procedures, for example, operator response to alarms. Emergency response procedures, safety rules and standard procedures, training.
Safety Strategies which one can implement to improve plant and process safety are
Inherent: when the safety features are built into the process, not added.
Passive: for example, safety features that do not require action by any device – they perform their intended function simply because they exist.
Active: for example, safety shutdown systems to prevent accidents (e.g, a high level alarm in a tank shuts automatic feed valves) or to mitigate the effects of accidents (e.g. a sprinkler system to extinguish a fire in a building).
Procedural: or operating procedures, for example, operator response to alarms. Emergency response procedures, safety rules and standard procedures, training.

11. Framework to Reduce Risk and Consequences of Incidents
Academic Research – improve the science and technology to prevent incidents
Industry Research - improve the regulations and management
Academic and industrial education
A framework where industry, government, academia and other stakeholders can work together to reduce the probability of occurrence and the consequences of such catastrophic incident will help.
Academic Research will help in improving the science and technology to prevent incidents
Similarly the industry research will improve the regulations and management
Academic and industrial education and collaboration will further the science of process safety

12. Academic Research-Reactive Chemicals
Reactivity of Ethylene Oxide in Contact with Contaminants
Self-reacting Chemical Safe Storage Modeling
Study of N-oxidation of Alkylpyridines with Hydrogen Peroxide using Molecular Simulations
Computational Research on Mechanism of Thermal Decomposition of Cumene Hydroperoxide in Cumene & Evaluation of its Reactivity Hazard
Molecular Modeling for Runaway Reactions in Chemical Process
APTAC
We at MKOPSC are actively involved in improving process safety and training our student in this important field. Here I am showing just a few examples. One of the active area of research is reactive chemicals. Here we study the runaway reaction using both experimental and computational techniques.

13. Academic Research-LNG Safety
To support formulating guidelines for LNG fire mitigation and flammable cloud suppression.
Vapor dispersion CFD modeling
Water curtain modeling and design
Foam application optimization
The other area of our research is on LNG safety. We have done medium scale LNG spill and dispersion test in our fire school. We have also developed cfd models to support formulating guidelines for LNG fire mitigation and flammable cloud suppression.

14. Academic Research-Dust Explosion
Methodology: Experimental measurement of dust explosive characteristics
OBJECTIVES
Study influence of particle size distribution in explosive characteristics
Property
Pmax
(dp/dt)max
KSt
LOC
Correlations between particle size distribution and dust explosive characteristics are required to predict explosion behavior.
Analyze influence of humidity content in Explosive characteristics
Dust explosion is the other are of our active research. Here our main objective is to study the influence of particle size distribution in explosive characteristics
Humidity content on dust can significantly affect the explosion hazard.

15. Inherent safety design
Minimize Significantly reduce the quantity of hazardous material o energy in the system, or eliminate the hazard entirely if possible.
Substitute Replace a hazardous material with a less hazardous substance, or hazardous chemistry with less hazardous reactions.
Moderate Reduce the hazards of a process by handling materials in a less hazardous form, or under less hazardous condition, for examples at lower temperatures and pressures
Simplify Eliminating unnecessary complexity to make plants more “user friendly” and less prone to human error and incorrect operation
Finally we also try to implement the inherent safety design principles in some of our research effort.

16. Industrial Research-Process Safety Management
PSM is the application of management principles and systems to the identification, understanding, and control of process hazards to protect employees, facility assets and the environment.
Elements of PSM
Application
Employee Participation
Process Safety Information
Process Hazard Analysis
Operating Procedures
Employee Training
Contractors
Pre-Start up Safety Review
Mechanical Integrity
Hot Work (Non-routine Work Authorizations)
Management of Change
Incident Investigation
Emergency Planning and Response
Compliance Audits
PSM is the application of management principles and systems to the identification, understanding, and control of process hazards to protect employees, facility assets and the environment.

17. Industrial Research- Safety Culture
Leadership and commitment of the Chief Executive and senior management.
The acceptance by line management that they have an executive role to play
The acceptance by all employees that safety must be incorporated into all the organisations activities. It is not just something that is added on at the end.
Good communication and a willingness to communicate.
The understanding of the importance of training and competence assurance.
The understanding that every accident, every incident is an unnecessary drain on the organisations resources.
Leadership and commitment of the Chief Executive and senior management.
The acceptance by line management that they have an executive role to play
The acceptance by all employees that safety must be incorporated into all the organisations activities. It is not just something that is added on at the end.
Good communication and a willingness to communicate.
The understanding of the importance of training and competence assurance.
The understanding that every accident, every incident is an unnecessary drain on the organisations resources.

18. Academic and Industrial Education
Educate a new generation of engineers to whom the principles of process safety are second nature
Graduate students programs
Courses for undergraduate students as core curriculum
Safety Engineering Certificate
Long-distance learning
Training for company engineers
Educate a new generation of engineers to whom the principles of process safety are second nature
Graduate students programs
Courses for undergraduate students as core curriculum
Safety Engineering Certificate
Long-distance learning
Training for company engineers

19. Concluding Remarks
Safety should be included along with environment, economics and social components of sustainable development
Companies cannot be sustainable without successful safety and risk management programs. And thus by extension, it is impossible for society to reach the goals for “engineering for sustainable development” without successful safety and risk management programs.
Our inability to adapt to the demands of a changing world and eco-system has the potential to take us down the same path as “dinosaurs.”
As a concluding remarks Safety should be included along with environment, economics and social components of sustainable development
Companies cannot be sustainable without successful safety and risk management programs. And thus by extension, it is impossible for society to reach the goals for “engineering for sustainable development” without successful safety and risk management programs.
Our inability to adapt to the demands of a changing world and eco-system has the potential to take us down the same path as “dinosaurs.”

20. Thank you
References
CIA: The World Fact Book
BP Energy Outlook 2030