(83c) The Path Forward From Facility Siting

Facility siting is the initial step for identifying hazards from accidental explosions, fires, and toxic releases. Due to the large number of processes and buildings involved in a typical facility siting study, cost effective and conservative approaches are used in the engineering analysis. Hence, it is not unusual that many buildings at a site are identified as at risk. One approach to risk reduction is to make structural upgrades to withstand the predicted hazard loads (blast, fire and toxic hazards). Building upgrades can be expensive and can interrupt production. Prior to implementing building upgrades, a combination of scenario reduction and use of advanced analysis should be considered to reduce conservatism in predicting hazard loading.

Hence, the facility siting study should not be seen as the final answer that the facility must conform to without looking further. The study can instead be viewed as a conservative screening tool that will identify critical hazard areas in the facility arrangement, processes and building construction. The path forward from facility siting could include advanced analysis techniques, passive mitigation measures, active mitigation measures and then building retrofits. This approach focuses on accurately determining the hazard and minimizing it before designing and structural upgrades for existing buildings or new structures. This approach can result in fewer buildings requiring retrofit and less extensive building retrofits for those in need.