Incorporation of Inherently Safer Design Principles in Process Safety Assurance

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Inherent safety is a proactive approach to process safety in which hazards are eliminated or lessened so as to reduce risk with decreased reliance on engineered (add-on) safety devices and procedural measures. Four basic principles are available to attain an inherently safer design - minimization, substitution, moderation and simplification. The subject of the proposed research is the application of all four principles to the key areas of process safety management and dust explosion risk reduction. The specific objective is to provide a bridge between these inherent safety principles and new strategies for process safety assurance. The motivation for this work stems from the gap that exists between accepted theory (the hierarchy of risk control measures) and industrial practice. A team consisting of well-qualified academic researchers and industrial practitioners has been formed to accomplish the above objective. Innovative methodologies explicitly incorporating the principles of inherent safety will be developed and validated for process risk management, capital project design and review procedures, and dust explosion prevention and mitigation. The research team's combination of theoretical expertise and industrial knowledge will help to ensure uptake of the project deliverables by the intended stakeholders in the process industries both within Canada and internationally. The industrial partner involved in this project will enjoy direct business benefits related to use of the developed process safety methodologies.