The Importance and Fundamentals of Process Safety

In December, 1984, one of the world’s worst industrial catastrophes resulted in a long term program to establish improved safety, training, and operating procedures for the process industries. On December 3, the release of methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals from a Union Carbide facility in Bhopal, India resulted in over 3,500 deaths and substantial injuries. In March, 1985, AIChE formed the Center for Chemical Process Safety with the primary focus of eliminating catastrophic process incidents. In the past 27 years, significant progress and improvements have been made in the development and implementation of effective process safety programs. This presentation focuses on recent developments in process safety, including loss prevention engineering and risk assessments that benefit industry.