Overview

Accident prevention and mitigation of consequences is the focus of a number of industry programmes, regulatory initiatives. As part of these programmes and regulations, accident history data is often collected. There are two basic types of information. One is a database consisting of standardized fields of data usually for a large number of incidents. The second are more detailed reports of individual incidents.

Analysis of these accident history databases can provide insight into accident prevention needs. While the analysis and conclusions obtained from the accident database is often limited by the shortcomings of the databases themselves, the fact remains that accident history databases are very useful and can be a powerful tool in focusing risk reduction efforts. The conclusions can be used to systematically identify the greatest risks to allow prioritization of efforts to improve process safety. At the plant level this might entail identifying certain processes, types of equipment, chemicals, operations and other factors most commonly associated with incidents. Databases that cover a very large number of facilities are likely to reveal trends and patterns that no one company or facility could determine from their own experience.

Statistical knowledge of the likelihood of the release of certain types of chemicals could help emergency responders, state emergency response commissions, and local emergency planning committees determine the most likely and most serious chemical releases in their areas and plan appropriate chemical accident responses.

Incident databases may also help identify technologies and practices to prevent chemical accidents, or the need to...